Advent Midweek December 4, 2019 Jesus is The Truth
Advent Midweek
Joshua 2:9-15 & John 1:1-18
December 4, 2019
Midweek Series: Jesus is The Truth
Week 1: Is Jesus True for Everyone?
(Objective vs. Subjective Truth)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tonight we’re going to deal with a rather simple point in principle. If I say, “Jesus is the only way to get to heaven,” am I’m saying that’s my personal opinion about it or am I saying that’s actually true for everybody? Most of us have been trained now to think that’s just our personal, subjective opinion. It might be true for you but not for others. This is wrong and we’ll talk about why tonight.
In the time of the Old Testament, many ancient people believed that gods were different depending on who you were and where you lived. So the Egyptians had their gods and the Assyrians their gods and the Babylonians their gods, etc. The gods had boundary lines, so to speak. You had your gods and I had my gods.
When Naaman, the military commander from Syria, came down to Israel he was healed of his leprosy in the Jordan River by the word of Elisha. Then he asks Elisha if he can please have two mule loads of earth to take back with him to Syria so he can worship the true Lord, Yahweh. (2 Kings 5). Why the two loads of dirt? Because, of course, in his mind each god has their land and their dirt. And you need the appropriate dirt for the appropriate god. Naaman didn’t quite get it yet. That the true God owns all the dirt in the world. He made it all.
Another example is Jonah on the boat. When the storm is raging and the boat is being tossed all over, everybody is told to cry out to their own gods. They wake Jonah up and say, “Hey, buddy, why don’t you try your god? Maybe he’ll do something. We’ve already tried our gods.” But Jonah says, “Look, people, I don’t just worship any god but I fear the true God, the Lord who made all heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land.” In other words, my God isn’t just my personal opinion god. This isn’t my subjective experience. My God is God of everyone.
Then you also get the first story I read you tonight from Joshua 2. The Israelites were all set to come into the Promised Land and so they send in some spies to Jericho to check it out. Rahab takes them into her home and says, “We get it. Your God isn’t just some random god that’s only for you people. We’ve heard what God did drying up the Red Sea for you and beating the Amorites down before you”. And now I quote her directly, “For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” In other words, He’s not just your God—He’s the God of everyone everywhere.
Now this is the exact thing happening today in a bit different fashion. God is supposed to be only a matter of personal opinion and preference. You have your god and I’ll have my god. Anything religious is thought to be only a private matter. A subjective matter. Like whether you prefer dogs or cats or both or neither. But again, our claims about Jesus aren’t subjective.
So let’s talk about the difference between subjective claims and objective claims. Subjective claims are the ones that change from person to person. They depend on the subject. So you like dogs. I like cats. Those are subjective and you can change your opinion even. Iphones are the best. Facebook is annoying. These are all subjective claims. They can change from person to person.
However, objective claims are true for everyone regardless of the subject. They are rooted in the object, hence objective. The sky is blue. That doesn’t change from person to person. Either it’s blue or it isn’t. True or not true. It’s objective.
So let’s have a little test. I’m taking this directly from J. Warner Wallace and I’ll send out the video later in an email. He’s a cold case detective and he’s written a book called Cold Case Christianity. When he speaks he will often use this test to see if you understand the difference between objective and subjective claims.
- Our Chevy van outside is white. (Objective)
- White is the best color for a van. (Subjective)
- 1 + 1 = 2. (Objective)
- Math is the most exciting subject. (Subjective)
- I can do 100 push-ups. (Objective)
- God exists. (Objective)
- Christianity is the only true religion. (Objective)
- Jesus is the only way to heaven. (Objective)
- Premarital sex is immoral. (Objective – it’s either true or it’s not)
Now, of course, you’ve noticed that you can have an objective claim that’s false. If a Muslim says that Allah is the true God, that’s an objective claim. But it’s a false claim because the evidence says otherwise. Now, of course, a Muslim would debate that evidence. That’s fine. We debate objective claims to try and learn which is true and which is not. We don’t need to debate subjective claims because they change from person to person.
So we cannot allow the claims of Jesus to be pushed into the subjective realm—into just matters of personal opinion. Because then it doesn’t really matter. We’re talking about life and death truth here. We’re talking about whether Jesus is true for everyone or false for everyone.
J. Warner Wallace uses another helpful example. Jesus isn’t like whether you prefer Tylenol or Ibuprofen. They’re both painkillers and it often comes down to a matter of subjective opinion for us. (Even though there are objective differences between them.) But Jesus is like the cure for Tuberculosis. You don’t want your doctor to say, “Well, opinions vary about what to take for TB. Take whatever you prefer.” You want to know which one specifically is the cure.
That’s what we’re saying about Jesus. He is the cure. The only cure. You can say that’s false. But you can’t say, “That’s just your private opinion so it doesn’t matter.” We’re not talking about private opinions about Tylenol or Ibuprofen. We’re talking about a cure for death.
So here’s our objective claim for tonight: Jesus is the Truth. We’re not saying that’s our personal opinion. We’re not saying that can change from person to person. We’re saying He’s the Truth for everyone. And we’ll back it up with evidence and the Holy Scriptures and God will give you faith to know it’s true or you will reject Him and say Jesus isn’t the truth. Either way it’s still an objective claim and not a personal opinion.
Now, then, to finish tonight let’s go to the Scriptures for this objective claim that Jesus is the Truth. We start in John 1, the second reading tonight. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God….All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Does this sound like a subjective claim? No. This isn’t John’s personal opinion here. The Scriptures are claiming that everything in existence today was made through the Word of God. Either it’s true or it’s not.
And this Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. And John says, “We have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Now notice again John isn’t treating this as his personal opinion. He says that they have seen Him. Furthermore, he then says John the Baptist bore witness about Him. This is an objective claim.
And Jesus treats it that way too. He doesn’t ask you to believe if you feel that’s right for you. He gives you the evidence. He heals diseases. He gives sight to the blind. He raises the dead. And He rises from the dead Himself. In Acts 1, it says that Jesus presented Himself alive to them by many proofs.
In summary, Jesus isn’t a matter of personal taste, opinion, and preference. If He is, then He’s irrelevant. So don’t believe for a second that you must keep Jesus to yourself because His truth is subjective. His truth is meant for everyone. His truth should be discussed, read, debated, and proclaimed. We ought to search the Holy Scriptures for the Truth that they really give—not personal opinion but truth for everyone.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.