A life based on trust can be a disaster

John 14:1-7                                                    

A life based on trust can be a disaster unless it has knowledge of the source of what is truth.  Shall we go back to a garden in Eden, we find a truly perfect man and woman, and they looked forward to walking and talking with God, they knew only love, they were pure and without sin, and then along came a serpent.  Now this serpent is called crafty in Genesis 3:1, in fact we are told the following; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  This perfect woman who knew no sin engaged in conversation with this crafty little fellow, she did not understand, and had no knowledge of this cute crafty serpent’s intent, all she understood was that it could converse with her.  If before hanging out with the crafty one, she would have enquired of God, the outcome would have been very different, but that is not what she did.  But God has spoken clearly to all of us about the crafty one; “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9 ESV)

           

Eve put her trust in what she heard and saw that the fruit was good to eat, and in that she had no understanding of good and evil, but the crafty one told her she could be like God, yes, to be a God, now that closed the sale.  That is called independent living and is what many people who are very good people, not lawbreakers, morally good, pay their taxes and yet they bought into the same lie as Eve.

The first seven verses of John 14, are not the words of an apostle, not the words of a prophet, they are the words of none other than Jesus Christ.  And so let’s cut to the chase; is Jesus worthy of your trust, does Jesus tell the truth?  What you believe hinges on your answer, you cannot have it both ways; Jesus did not leave you that choice. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  (John 14:1-7 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice