No 7 and last in the series “I AM – God”
When Jesus told his disciples that he was going to leave them and that they knew the way to get to him and his Father, his disciple Thomas said, but “we don’t know where you are going“. Jesus responded by saying “I am the way, the truth and the life“. Phil makes this response clear to us in this video.
Some people are drawn to believe in Jesus through examining the evidence of his existence, and what he said and did, but it is difficult to argue someone into believing Jesus. The Apostle Paul knew this, and he often had to explain the Gospel to people that only God can change a human heart. Evidence helps, but it is not sufficient to lead us to Jesus. We can, and should, talk to people, to plant a seed (God’s truth) in them, but only God can cause it to grow in their heart. However, God can soften the hardest heart, and we know that he sometimes does. Though it might take a lot of prayer for those we love, and also for those who are against us. Thankfully we do have a wonderful written Gospel (Good News), which is in the Bible.
Phil goes on to show that the Christian Faith is different to all other faiths. The Christian faith shows us that God has already done everything for you and that you can do nothing except throw yourself on His mercy. We simply need to ask him for his forgiveness through his unmerited grace. You can’t work for Salvation. It is not by struggle that we can gain it, but you can gain it by praying to God. Saying to him from your heart, “Lord, please forgive my sinful ways. Jesus thank you for dying for me. Come into my life. Make me clean.” Or something similar to this that you truly mean and firmly believe. All you need to do is to simply accept that Jesus died on the cross for you, in your place, and surrender to his Lordship in your life from now on. Jesus does the rest, and we then want to do our best to follow him in his ways, reading his word to us in the Bible. But it is not what we do that saves us, our works is not what will effectively make us a ‘child of this loving God’. Of course, we can choose to not turn to Jesus, but this is actually a rejection of him, and so we then remain liable for all the things that we have done wrong (even those little things). Jesus loves you and wants to forgive you of all your past, and to give you a new and better life, with him guiding your way forward. It is that easy, but it takes our sincere desire to accept him and to change.
If this video helps you, then other videos on our web site will explain more fully where-to-next to lead you to a better life, one with Jesus at the helm – https://pittwaterpc.org.au/sermons/.