Truth in Love #3

Posted on FaceBook Jul 24, 2020

HELLO KINGDOM

!Truth In Love Part 3

Just before His arrest, Jesus prays for Himself, then His Disciples and after that, all believers. In praying for His disciples he says: “I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word is Truth. As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the Truth.” (John 17:14-19)TRUTH. What is truth? Merriam-Webster defines truth as the body of real things, events and facts; actuality. That’s a world definition. So truth is real things, it is facts, it is actuality. But who determines what is actual fact? Who can say what is real? These can all be colored (pun intended) by our own experiences, which affect our perception of things and/or understanding of science.

Let’s look at some examples. A man loses a leg in an accident. Upon awaking after surgery to remove the leg, his leg begins to itch, so he reaches down to scratch it, only to find that his leg is no longer there. Until he reached down, his reality was he still had his leg. That was his truth, a fact he could count on. But that reality was false. For the man, however it was real because he did not have all the facts. He had lost consciousness at the time of the accident and was unaware of the surgery to remove his leg. Or consider the little girl who watched her mother for years prepare the Easter ham, cutting off the ends of the ham before placing it in the roasting pan to cook it. She asked her mom why she did that and she replied that’s the way her mom had always done it. Her mom told her to ask grandma if she really wanted to know. Grandma told her she did that because the hams she bought were bigger than the only roasting pan they had (and could not afford to buy a bigger one,) so she had to cut the ends off the ham. Or how about the guy, on the west coast talking to someone on the east coast. West coast steps outside while talking and notices how blue the sky is and says so into his phone. East coast looks out his window and says, “Really? The sky is black here,” because it’s night time on the east coast, while there is still daylight on the west coast.

A lot has been said about the lack of social distancing, especially at the beach and photos are offered up as proof. However, perceptions play a role even here, and looks can be deceiving. It’s a matter of depth of field, and angle of view. Look at the attached photos. The first photo is taken from ground level and it appears the “people” are crowded in on one another. The second photo is taken from above and clearly shows the “people” are appropriately separated.

One last example. Take the colors black and white. Are they even colors? If you were to say black was the absence of all color you would be correct. If you were to say white was the presence of all colors you would be correct. But if you were to say black was the presence of all color and white was the absence of all color you would also be correct. How is that possible? It depends on the medium you’re referring to. In the light spectrum, color is determined by the reflection of light. If an object is white, it reflects light containing all colors. Black absorbs light rays, and therefore there is no reflection, and no color is visible. Under physical properties a pigmentation that contains all colors produces the color black, whereas white is comprised of no pigmentation. How’s that for truth and fact?

In the world, everything must be analyzed closely. Anything can be made to seem like something else based on experiences, perceptions, presentations and misrepresentation (intentional or not) and even outright lying.

Then Jesus takes everything and turns worldly things on its head. He challenges the norms of the culture. He heals without medicine, a woman is healed merely by touching the hem of his robe. He even heals long distance, merely speaking a word and a servant is healed from a distance. He hangs out with thieves, lepers, tax collectors. But every bit of it is done in Truth, God’s Truth. The Bible describes truth as that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory and being of God. In short, God is Truth. Again, as John states in John1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Thus Christ is the Word and the Word is truth.

As Christians, we must speak the Truth, now more so than ever before. Not our truth, but The Truth of the Word. The world is looking to us. Ephesians 4:25 states, “ Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.” In order to speak the Truth found in the Bible, one must know that Word. As believers, we should know that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, lives in us. Jesus is the Word. Therefore, the Word is planted within us, ready for the Holy Spirit to give us access as needed.

Chew on that for now. Next we’ll explore more about the Truth found in the Word. Until then, be Blessed.