The Truth

All right, we're going to go ahead and get started this morning. Last week, I sort of started a little series that's based out of John chapter 14. We talked about how Jesus is the way and all the different things that that means and maybe not all of the things that that means, but some of the things that that means and how we can apply that to our lives. And I just had this verse that really stayed with me over the last several weeks as I was reading it. Again, it's John 14 chapter 14 verse 6. And Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. I am the way, the truth, and the life." We're going to take it a step further this morning and we're going to talk about the truth, the truth. I think we live in some really interesting times. Amen, anybody? I think this is some interesting times. I think probably some of the most, if not the most interesting times. This is some strange things going on in the world today. And because of the way that our culture is right now, it's difficult to know what's true. Does anybody had that same sense? It's like you'll see something on social media or you'll watch something on the news and you'll go, "Is that really true? Can I trust that source? I don't know what's true and what's not anymore with AI and all of these things. They can make a video of somebody saying something that they never said and it looks just like them sounds, just like them. It's really compelling. It's hard to tell the difference between what's true and what's alive." Amen, anybody. So I thought, whenever I read this, Jesus is the way and the truth, that this would be a good opportunity for us to just really make sure that we are anchored solidly in the truth of who Christ is and what it is that He came to do and what He came to accomplish in each and every one of our lives. So as we're talking about Jesus, this is the whole point. I started out last week telling you guys, like Jesus is the center of everything and we need to keep Jesus at the center of everything in our lives. And as we come into this place and talk about all of the different things that we talk about in here, it's really all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's about who He is and it's about who He says we are and it has nothing to do with man's opinion, has nothing to do with our feelings. It has nothing to do with what the world says about us. It has to do with who is Jesus and who does Jesus say that I am. So I'm here today to talk to you about the truth. Jesus in John chapter 18, now we were in John 14 last week when Jesus made this statement that He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And at this particular moment, He was in the upper room with His disciples the night before He was crucified and He's had a special time with His disciples. He's washed their feet. He's taught them a lot. In fact, there's just several chapters of nothing but Jesus, just all the last things that He says to His disciples there the night before He is crucified. And one of those things is, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." So He goes on later that night to the Garden of Gethsemane. We know how the story goes. We were just celebrating Resurrection Sunday a few weeks back and Jesus goes to the garden and He is there, betrayed and arrested. And He's taken to the High Priest's house, their Caiaphas. And Caiaphas house, there's actually a courtyard there where they took Jesus and they had some sort of mock trial in the middle of the night and accusing Jesus of all sorts of blasphemy and different things. And so they've arrested Jesus, but they didn't have the authority to put Jesus to death because the people at that time in Israel were under Roman occupation. So even though they still had their own sort of government setup, it was set up in a way that was under the thumb of Rome. And Rome was the ultimate yes or no on whether or not you were able to be put to death. So we know that they couldn't just take Jesus out and kill Him. That would have been against Rome and the law. And then they would have been in trouble with the Romans. So what do they do? They waited until daybreak. We know that because Jesus told Peter, he says, "Before the rooster crows at the break of day, you'll deny that you've known me three times." And so then we read the story where it talks about the rooster crows. And at that point, Peter had just denied Christ, knowing Christ for the third time. And the Bible gives us this epic, dramatic moment where Jesus and Peter lock eyes with one another after that rooster crows. And I mean, it's just powerful. But then they take Jesus at daybreak to the Roman governor, Pilate. And Pilate lives in what's called the Pretorium. It's a government official building where his quarters were there. And court sessions were held there. And I don't know if Pilate was even awake yet. They kind of, it kind of sounds like when you read it that they sort of rushed him out of bed and they brought him and said, "Hey, we've got a problem. We've got this guy, Jesus." And he's guilty of all of these things. And we want to kill him. We feel like that he's deserving of death. And so, but we don't have the authority to take out this execution. So we're going to bring him to you and we're going to let you decide what to do with Jesus. And so Jesus is brought before Pilate and Pilate begins to question him. He begins to ask him all sorts of things about the accusations that are made against him. And that's where we're picking up here in John chapter 18, verse 37. So this is the following morning after Jesus had just spent the night with his disciples in the upper room, having the Passover meal, having the Lord supper together. And he made the statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And I'm in verse 37. And therefore said to him, "Are you a king then?" And Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth, that I should bear witness to the truth." Everyone who is of the truth, here's my voice, or that's another way of saying, "Listen to me." And Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" And when he has said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no fault in him at all." I find this part of the story interesting because when Pilate is addressing Jesus, he asks him what seems to be a rhetorical question because he doesn't even give Jesus an opportunity to respond. Or maybe Jesus didn't respond. And so Pilate just walked out. We don't really know. But when Pilate said, "What is truth?" He's looking into the eyes of Jesus. And Jesus just completely bypasses answering the question. It's like it's not even necessary for me to try to give you a definition of truth. You're looking at truth. And Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He is telling us something about truth that we need to understand that truth is a person. Truth is personified in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the embodiment of truth. So what is truth if we could try to define truth without having to go to the dictionary and look it up? What is truth? We all think we know what truth is. But really, it's reality. It's whatever is reality, whatever is real and has not been skewed by any sort of lie or fiction. It is true. And Jesus being the ultimate reality. That's what we're going to talk about here today. This sounds kind of heady and sounds kind of out there. But really, I think it makes a lot of sense that when God showed up 100% God and 100% man, some people think Jesus was half God, half man, that's not true. That's absolutely not true. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. That's why the incarnation of Christ was such a miracle. That had never been seen before. It had never even been thought about before. There were other people that claimed to be the Son of God, but they were claiming to be such that I'm half God, I'm half man because I'm in this mortal body. But Jesus being in the flesh was 100% God, 100% man. And in doing that, he is the ultimate resemblance of what truth is. He is ultimate reality. He is what all of life comes down to, which we're going to talk about next week, if the Lord willing. And so when he answers, I'm sorry, when Paul asks him this question, what is truth? Jesus didn't have to say anything. He just had to stand there. Because his very presence was truth. You are in the presence of truth. What does it mean truth being a person? Well, we think of truth as being a set of facts, things that can be factually proven. If it's factually provable, then that's the truth. But sometimes facts, they can be circumstantial. They can be relative. For example, if I said, man, it's cold, right? You could say, well, if it's cold here, you could say, yeah, that's a fact. It's cold. But if you were to ask somebody at the exact same time, somewhere over in the Sahara, they might say, absolutely not. It is not cold. That is not the fact here. So you can't say that's the truth everywhere. When we're talking about ultimate truth, it is true for all people at all times and in all places. Jesus being the personification of truth. He is the truth for all people at all times in all places. It's not circumstantial. So here's the thing that makes Jesus the only one that can be called the truth. Jesus is the only one that can be called the truth because Jesus is the only one that does not change. He is unchangeable. He is immutable is the word that we use to identify this part of God's nature. The immutability of God's nature is that God does not change. Malachi 3 verse 6 says, "For I am the Lord and I do not change." God does not change over time. I heard somebody was asking a question not to me of somebody else that I knew and this person was trying to figure out how to respond. But they were saying the reason why they see God differently in the Old Testament than God in the New Testament, their theory is that God has changed over time. Like God used to be this way in the Old Testament but by the time we get to the New Testament, God has changed to some other type of God. Or maybe he is in a better mood today than he was yesterday. And let me tell you something, God doesn't have mood swings. Come on, God does not have mood swings. God is consistent. He is stable and he does not change. The same God that was there at creation is the same God who is here in this room with us today that has taken up residence on the inside of you. That same God has never ever changed. We have changed. We change. And so we want to make God in our image instead of being made in his and the immutability of God is such a big part of us understanding in his nature and having that solid foundation in the truth. Because truth is the same way. It is the attribute of God that does not change. Truth doesn't change. That's why in this culture it's silly for us to even compose a sentence that contains the term my truth. Because my truth would assume that there's different truths. That there's a different, you could have a different truth than my truth. And that would mean that truth would have to change. But truth does not change because God does not change. Come on, anybody. You all hear this morning. And this way, you can say, well, there's things that time changes. And culture changes. And people's ideas change and thoughts change. But God does not change and neither does truth. So if it was true then it's true now. And we can't abandon what was true then because we're trying to trade it in for something we want to call true now. If it's truth, then it's always been true. And it will always be true. And Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen, anybody? So we need to understand this truth is a person. Truth is personified. Now what's great about that and why is that necessary? It's great because if it is a person then you can know truth. If truth is a person then you can know truth. You can have a relationship with truth. If truth is just some idea, if truth is just some theory, then you don't have to. You don't have any way of relating to that in a personal way. But because truth is a person you can get to know truth. And this is why living in a confused world that nobody can tell what's real, what's up, what's down, what's true, what's false anymore. This is why you need to be in a personal relationship with Jesus. Because if nothing else is able to be held firm, it is him. Everything else might be shaking but he does not change. Come on somebody. Now, I don't know if there's aliens. Sure looks like there's some weird stuff, A.L. Something weird out there. They got all kind of pictures and all kind of. All right. Well, what is it? Well, you know what John chapter one tells us? Now Jesus says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and it goes on to tell us that everything that was made was made by Him and nothing was made was not made by Him. So that means if there is anything out there, it's Jesus made it. So let me tell you something. Jesus is the creator. He is the author. He is the foundation of all that is. And so I don't know what all is out there. We're still discovering new things all the time. We had no idea existed all the time. And just because we didn't know it existed doesn't mean it didn't exist. Just because we didn't know something or understand something doesn't mean that it wasn't real. Right somebody. I'm not telling you aliens are real. I'm telling you whatever is out there. Jesus is the creator of all things. The devil has no ability to create. Did you know that? He's not creative in the least bit. There's nothing about him that's created to create. Amen. So let's get solid on that. Let's get solid on that. So what did Jesus come to do? He came to show us the truth. He came to show us the truth in himself. He didn't just come to tell us true things. Although he did tell us true things. But he also came to demonstrate the truth about some certain things. So I want to talk to you about a couple of things, particularly three particular things this morning that Jesus came to show us the truth about. You ready? Now I got a bunch of scripture. So I'm going to run through these kind of quick. So I would recommend start bringing something right with the church. Because you're going to want to write some of this stuff down. But the first thing that Jesus came to communicate truth to us about is the father. The truth about the father in John chapter 1 verse 17. It says, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." No one has seen the father at any time. Right? He just talked about Moses. And he said Moses didn't even see this. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father he has declared him. In other words, Jesus came to tell us and show us what the father's like. We took a little time on this last week talking about how Jesus is the way to be reconciled to the father and how the father never turned his face away from the son and he'll never turn his face away from you. And he was showing us demonstrating for us the nature of the father. When Jesus shows up on the scene and starts talking about my father and your father, he's doing something that culturally at that time just blew their minds. In fact, this is one of the things they hated about Jesus was that he claimed that God was his father and not only that, but he's your father too. And he's making these claims and they hated that about Jesus because they couldn't see God in that sense of being father. There was so much muddiness about the nature of who God is that they could not allow themselves to see God as father. He got to think about it. This is a group of people that came out of Egyptian slavery, 400 years of Egyptian slavery and bondage under the thumb of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. And they were taught about all of these pagan gods and idols and all of this worship of all of these gods whose primary disposition toward human beings was anger. The primary disposition that these gods have towards human beings is anger. This is why you've got to make so many sacrifices. This is why you've got to cut yourself and you've got to perform all these rituals and you've got to make sure that you do all of these things just right because if you don't, then the anger of this God will not be subsided against you. It will only increase. So they have this built-in assumption of an angry God and angry God that any moment is going to strike you down if you don't do what you're supposed to do. And so there are assumptions about God were built out of that Egyptian system. And they came out of Egypt and they carried with them the same assumptions about who God is and they carried that all through their history. And then Jesus shows up on the scene and his disciples are sitting around with him one day and they say, "Hey, Rabbi, will you teach us how to pray?" And he says, "Sure. When you pray, pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven, how would be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. He's talking about a relationship with a Father and they're saying, "Wait a minute. That's different than what I thought. That's totally different kind of relationship to this God. He's not just this angry deity out there that I've got to figure out how to appease somehow and keep Him on my good side. He is a good, gracious, providing, generous Father." And Jesus came to teach us that. He came to show us the truth of who God is. And so when Moses came, he came bringing the law. But Jesus came bringing grace and truth to demonstrate for us what the Father is really like. Now when Jesus is telling them this right before, he speaks to them about, "I am the way, the truth in the life. He's telling them he's going away. He's telling them to go to the Father and he says, "I'm going to prepare a place for you in the Father's house." And he's giving them these words of comfort. He's saying, "I know it looks bad right now, guys. I know this is going to be a hard time. And next few days are going to be rough." Don't let your hearts be troubled. He says, believe you believed in God, believe also in me. But then he also, when he says, I'm going to the Father and Philip asks him and says, Lord, we don't know where you're going. We don't know the way. And Jesus says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. And he says, but will you just show us the Father? Will you just show us the Father? And Jesus responds in verse nine, John 14.9. He says, I have, I've been with you so long and yet you've not known me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? If you've been with me, you've been with the Father. If you've touched me, you've touched the Father. If you've talked with me, you've talked with the Father. You have encountered the Father. You know who the Father is. You know who we are. Jesus is the perfect representation of truth because He is the perfect representation of the Father. And all of reality comes through Him. Jesus demonstrated what the Father is like perfectly. He didn't miss it at all. He never missed the mark at all. You know, it's kind of fun. I was putting up a flag pole in my house. I just decided 250 years. We're going to sell out. I wanted to put a new American flag out from my house and whatever. So I had this flag pole. And I wanted to put it up there. And me and Ben were actually out there. We dug the hole and we got it all. Situated, we got it concrete in the hole and had to have this thing, you know, and get the pole down in there. And got the pole in there. And I'm getting a level, right? And I'm going around and around and around that pole. And then we'd move it a little bit and adjust it a little bit and going around and around. And I'm telling Ben, I'm trying to explain to him, son. If you're off just an eighth of an inch down here, you're going to be off two feet up there. By the time you get to the top of that thing, it's going to be leaning. So you got to get it perfectly level at the bottom, at this foundation. Because if you're wrong there, you're going to be way off up here. And so there's some things that Jesus was trying to communicate to us about the Father and let us know. Because if we're off on any of these little things down here, it's going to make us way off and some other things over here. Does that make sense? And so he's trying to demonstrate, and he does it perfectly. He's not even one degree off. He shows us through his actions and his teaching and the compassion that he has. And I just want to share a little bit of that with you one of the things, the ways that Jesus demonstrates who the Father is, is he shows that the Father is compassionate and that he's a healer. And Jesus revealed a God that cares deeply for the brokenness of humanity. He showed us that God actually cares. You see, in their minds in that day, they didn't think God really cared about them. They thought God's motivation to try to get them to do certain things or to perform certain ways. It was some sort of, you know, God just being, you know, authoritative. But it wasn't God just being authoritative. It was God being caring. It was God being kind and compassionate. And first Peter chapter five, it says in verse six and seven, says, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you." And Jesus came to show us that there is a Father in heaven that cares for you. He is deeply caring about the brokenness in your life. He's deeply caring about the wounds in your life and the pains that you go through. And he came to demonstrate that and to prove it to us. He even came to suffer, to show us that God knows what it's like to suffer. He knows what it likes to be rejected. He knows what it's like to be lied about. He knows what it's like. And he comes to identify with our pain. I'm thankful for a God like that. Not like one that they worship in Egypt. He came to show us that the Father is unconditional love and full of grace. See, Jesus interacted with lots of people in the gospels that we have record of. And he was always on a mission to find somebody, to reach somebody, to go after someone who was lost. And he found this woman at the well. And you remember, he didn't come and condemn her for the dysfunction in her life. And she'd been married a whole bunch of times and was shacked up with a guy. And there was all sorts of dysfunction in her life. And she wanted to talk politics and religion. And Jesus is like, now we're gonna get down to the heart. And he gives her some heart truth. And he loves on her. And he came after her to find her, to seek and save. That which was lost. And then he was another time, he's walking down the road and there's thousands of people all around him. And he goes to find this one little guy that climbed up in a tree. Remember his name? Remember Zacchaeus? He was a wee little man. A wee little man was he, you remember him? Well, a wee little man was in the tree. And Jesus goes up to him and he's like Zacchaeus. I wanna come to your house. This guy was a tax collector in a center and an outcast. Somebody, nobody else thought anybody that was holy should be hanging around with. And Jesus said, no, no, no, I'm coming to your house today. I wanna spend time with you today. What is that showing us? What the Father's really like? That the Father's not waiting on you to clean yourself up before he wants to come get involved in your life? That the Father's not waiting for you to get your act together to get in your life and be a part of what's going on with you. He said, I wanna come be with you, even in the state you're in right now. Before you ever change anything Zacchaeus, I love you. It is his unconditional love. And he's demonstrating to us that there is a Father that is both forgiving and he is actively seeking the lost. Luke 19 verse 10 says, "That which is lost, he's demonstrating "this is the heart of the Father. "Ultimate, the ultimate picture "of the Father's heart was given to us on the cross." And see, we need to understand something though that this by many in the crowd and by many in religious circles today was assumed to be the wrath of God being poured out on this man. And when you look at the cross, you actually find out that it was God in Christ reconciling the world to himself, demonstrating his love for us in Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It was the Father demonstrating his love, demonstrating for us ultimately on the cross, John 3:16, for God's so loved the world. He's showing us what the Father's really like. What this God is really like. Jesus came to shatter the misconceptions of a distant and angry God by showing that the Father is a loving, present Father who desires to dwell with humanity. That's always been who he is. Truth does not change. That's always been his heart. It's always been who he is. Second thing that Jesus came to show us the truth about and demonstrate the truth to us about was humanity. And I brought this point up because I want to make sure and point out that Jesus did not come to point out the sins of humanity. Jesus didn't come preaching a gospel of sin and a list of wrongs. Jesus didn't come pointing at people's sin. People were very aware of their sin. In fact, we find out that later in the New Testament it tells us that it's the law that reveals sin in us. And so it's the law that actually points us to our sinful nature. It's the law that convicts us that shows us that we are broken and that we've got issues and dysfunction. It's the law. And so Jesus didn't need to come preach that message. That message had already been preached. What do we just read in John chapter one? He said that for Moses, by Moses came the law, but grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ brought grace and truth, with Moses brought the law to point out our sin, to point out our brokenness, to point out what was wrong with us. And thankful that the law did that because if the law hadn't pointed out how screwed up we were, we wouldn't know how desperately we need a savior. We wouldn't know how desperately we needed to be redeemed. If we didn't know that we were broken to begin with, if we didn't know that there was something about us that needed to change, or something about us that needed to be transformed, and you don't have to point at people's brokenness, they're aware of their brokenness. Humanity's aware of its brokenness. Creation's aware of its brokenness. That's why Romans eight says that all the creation groans in itself up into now because it's looking forward to a day of total redemption. And listen, every human being knows that there's something broken on the inside of them if they need a savior. They just may not know what to do about it and the man not know who the savior is yet. But he came to demonstrate what humanity should be. He came to show us what it means to be human, what it's really like to be human. And I want you to think about it like this. He is the truth about humanity. He is the truth about who we were really created to be. I gotta get moving here. So Romans chapter five, verse 19. It says, "For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." That's Adam. One man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Also, by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. So what's he teaching us here about what Jesus came to do? To show us the truth about humanity being perfect in obedience. I believe that we can become perfect in obedience to God. I know that seems like a tall order and that seems like a lot of work. But if you think about it that way, then you're thinking about it like religion tells you to think about it. But by the spirit, I know this, that I am being transformed into his nature, I am being transformed into his likeness and I am being made to be just as he is. And so as I am growing and gaining and growing closer to the image of the Lord Jesus in my life and this is the process and the path that we are all on in this room. And you know, perfect people here, Amen, we ain't there yet. But one day we're gonna be like him and we're gonna be conformed to his image and likeness in such a way that we will walk in perfect obedience the way just the way that he did. He walked in perfect obedience. He's showing us what it means to be human. A human, a real human that is made in the image and likeness of God walks in perfect obedience and lives in selfless sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated what selfless sacrifice looks like. That true greatness is found in serving others. He's talking to his disciples in Matthew chapter 20 about how these religious leaders like they keep their thumb on you and they just get a kick out a boss in you around and telling you all the things that you all to be doing better at. And these religious leaders, he says, but yet it shall not be so among you in verse 26. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. He's showing us something about what it means to be human that we weren't meant to be selfish. We were meant to be selfless. We were meant to serve. We were meant to give. We were meant to be compassionate and looking for opportunities to demonstrate goodness and kindness and mercy. So he came to demonstrate what that looks like to be a human as a human ought to be. Remember, he's fully God and fully man. And as fully man, he's showing us what it means to be a real man. He is showing us what it means to be human in that we're meant to be compassionate and empathetic. He comes and he embraces every sphere, every part of the spectrum of human emotion. You know, when his friend Lazarus dies, even though this fully God, fully man, fully knows he has authority over death and ultimately will call him out of the grave. It's still touched his heart. shortest version of the Bible, who knows that one? Jesus wept. It actually shed tears over this loss that everybody was experiencing and he cries with us. He's showing us what it really means to be human is to be compassionate, is to be serving selfless and to live in divine dependence. He lived a constant communication, communion with the Father. And this was not just a discipline that he had established. We do know that he went away and he prayed and he spent time alone in secluded places to spend time with his Father. He but he's showing us that this is a lifestyle of relationship with God, not just a God that I serve or not just a God that I learn about, but a God that I intimately know because I talk to him. Hello anybody, talk to him lately in our song goes like that. Maybe all countries I don't know. Maybe talk to him lately. Do you sing that one in church? I think anyway, it doesn't matter. He lived in divine dependence in this communion with God. He said things like in John chapter five verse 19, he said most assuredly, I say to you, the Son of man can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do for whatever he does, the Son does in like manner. He's saying, I am living my life ultimately dependent on God and him, that's what it looks like to be a real human, is to live independence on God. You know why? Because that keeps God in his rightful place in our lives. It's when we make other things God, our dependence and listen, this is why you gotta check your heart whenever you get worried about finances or you get worried about different things, going on in the economy and whatever. Cause listen, your job is not your source, your Father is. Right? Your job's not your source. Your boss is not your source. He might sign that paycheck, but God is your source. Your Father is your source. And when we learn to live in rest in him and knowing that I can lean into him, he is gonna be the one that provides for me ultimately I can live in dependence on God. And it keeps God in the right place in my life. Some of us are so stubborn and hard headed, we make ourselves our own God. And we are only dependences on me. I don't lean into God for anything. So in other words, if I'm going through something, I'm just gonna scrap and fight and get my way through it rather than bringing it to the one that cares for me. Like he said, cast all your care upon him. Cause he cares upon you for you when you carry it on your own, when you're trying to carry it by yourself, when you refuse to come and to get locked into a family of faith and believers that can pray for you and encourage you and cheer you on and even weep with you when you're weeping and shout with you when you're shouting and celebrate when you're celebrating. When you don't wanna be a part of any of that and get in relationship with others, then you are in yourself saying, I'm dependent on me. But listen, I want you to know, like I need you. I need you and you need me and we need one another. And God gave us to each other. He's the source of this and we need one another. Well, I need you to pray for me. Man, somebody the other day, I was getting ready to go on a trip and me and my boys were going, all your acts are going to Louisiana. I was at the gas pump at the gas and go right here in town. I was standing out there pumping gas and somebody from our church just saw me out there pumping gas and knew I was leaving to go out of town and stop what they were doing, parked their car, came over there to where I was and I was like, hey man, how you doing? He's like, I'm great. I just wanna pray for you before you leave. I was like, oh, I'm the pastor here. Like I'm supposed to be praying for you. You going on a trip too, aren't you? But no, he just wanted to pray, listen, I need that. You need that. We need that in our lives. That encouraged me so much, man. I'll never forget that. I'm so thankful for people that are willing to be there for each other because that's a gift from God. Amen? He's showing us what it means to be human and that's part of it. Divine dependence. Here's the last one I wanna give you about that and it's radical forgiveness. It means that as a human should be radically forgiving. He displayed this ultimately on the cross by forgiving even the ones that nailed him to it. He said, father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Radical forgiveness. Man, if anybody didn't deserve forgiveness that day, it's those punks that held those nails that pulled out his beard, that spit in his face, that custom mouth, that whipped his back. If anybody you think God would say, all right, everybody else I'm cool with, but these guys are on my ex list. Now, radically forgiving, this is who we're meant to be. It's who we're meant to be. See, the law came to tell us all the ways that we weren't measuring up, but Jesus came to show us what it looks like when you do. And he lived it out perfectly. I'm gonna save this last one for next time, you to come up here and play for me, but we're gonna continue and talk about the truth in the life next Sunday, but I just wanna close today by sharing this verse with you. It says in John chapter eight, verse 32, Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You shall know the truth. Truth is knowable. Truth is Jesus." He says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." There's plenty of lies out there. Plenty of lies. I bet half the stuff we see on social media, it ain't even real. It probably more than that. If we knew the amount of fake garbage we're crammed down our throats on a daily basis, I think it would shock us. I mean, really, who knows? And here's the thing, I can look at all of these things that I don't know, and I can get all caught up in all of that, or I can just look at it all and go, "You know what? I don't know any of that, and that's okay. Because what I do know is who the truth is. I do know where truth can be found. And if I don't have to know all these other details, I mean, I'll have questions, sure. But questions are not about me figuring out where truth is. Those questions might be just curiosity, but really and truly, what really matters is where I find real truth. What is the reality that Jesus came to demonstrate for us? Both what God is like and what we're really like. It makes me wanna live in the truth. It makes me wanna live in the truth, it makes me wanna be like Jesus. It makes me wanna live the truth like He lived the truth. Ultimate reality. The Bible describes him as the last Adam. We just read about how by one man's disobedience, sin came into the hearts of humanity. But by one man's obedience, there was salvation and redemption for all of humanity. Jesus is called the last Adam. That's important, the last Adam. There was a first Adam that got it wrong. And then there was the last Adam that got it right. He showed us what the Father was like and he showed us what it was really looked like to be human. The last Adam reversed the failures of the first Adam. Come on, that's a big statement right there. The last Adam, Jesus, reversed the failures of the first Adam by living as a real human, a real man, who embodies the intended image of God for humanity. Jesus, he undid everything that was broken and showed us what it was really supposed to look like to begin with. And look, here's the good news. You ready for it? Is that he says I'm making all things new. He started with our hearts, but he's going to bring all things, all things, back around to God's intention. It's all coming back. Praise the Lord. That's where this is all heading. And that's why I have a ton of hope today. So whatever's going on in your life, whatever's happening, and maybe wondering what does this whole tree thing have to do with me? Well, I think this much that there's a lot of us in here that have lived a lot of our lives believing lies about who we are, believing lies about who we are. And if we don't actually come to the truth and say, "Jesus, I want to see myself the way you see me. I want to believe the things about me that you believe about me, then we will continue to live in those lies." He said, "If you know the truth, the truth will make you free. But if that's true, then the opposite is also true. That if you continue to believe the lie, you're going to continue to be bound." And there is freedom found in the truth. And he is the truth. And so I can come to him today and say, "Jesus, break off every lie that I believe about myself. Break off every lie that I believe about who I am. Break off every lie that I've believed about who God is. And what God has to say about me. And I want to believe the truth. I want to come into perfect alignment with the truth so that I can live in the freedom that you came to give to me." Can I pray for us this morning? Jesus, you are the way, you are the truth, and you are the life. And today we can boldly come to the throne of grace because we see you as you are. You are truth, and you are the reality, the ultimate reality of all existence. You're exactly what God looks like. And then you showed us exactly what we look like to you. And so Father, we just ask you this morning, Lord, that you would open our eyes to the truth. Lord, there are so many lies that are all the time being told to us. And some of them are silly. They don't affect really who we are, but they chip away at our soul. And Lord, I pray that we would be wise enough, Lord, to ground ourselves in the truth and not given to every wind of the lies of the enemy. And Lord, I pray for maybe there's somebody in here this morning, Lord, that has not given themselves the forgiveness that you have. They're still believing a lie about who they are. They're still believing a lie about what you think about them. And Lord, I pray that they would feel your embrace this morning, that they would feel your acceptance, that they would feel your grace and your mercy, that they would lean into that truth, and that they would take hold of it for themselves, that they are loved, that they are valued, that they're not really broken. They may need healing, but you are the healer. And so Lord, do what only you can do in each one of our hearts today. And Lord, I pray that if there's somebody in here that hasn't fully put their trust in you, and hasn't acknowledged who you are, but you are the risen Son of God that came to seek and to save. That which was lost, that you lived and that you died, that you rose from the dead for me, that you demonstrated the love of the Father for me on that cross. And if there's anybody in here today that's never fully put their trust in their hope in you, Lord, I pray that they do that today. That even here on this new Mother's Day, that there would be new birth, that there would be born again, Lord, into the life that you created for them to live. In Jesus' name, amen.