THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TRUTH

1 John 5:10-12 NLT
[10] All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. [11] And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

What a serious indictment! How can we, mere mortals, call God a liar by refusing to believe that Jesus is the Son of God despite the Father’s own verbal and public affirmation of His Son and get away with it?

Why do people refuse to accept the Father’s testimony about His Son? From Jesus’s perspective, the whole issue is about sin. Adam chose independence from God in the Garden of Eden, and people today still want to be independent so that they can indulge in whatever they choose without being accountable to God.

John 3:18-20 NLT
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

Trouble is, it doesn’t work that way. It’s a unilateral declaration of independence which God does not sanction for a very good reason. God has the right of ownership because He created Adam and every human after him. Man may deny that ownership but that does not invalidate the fact that God has the authority to call the shots, not people.

The next sober truth is that the Father has commanded that everyone must repent of sin and turn to Him.

Acts of the Apostles 17:30 NLT
[30] “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.”

There are serious and eternal consequences for those who insist on their independence regardless of God’s requirement.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NLT
[7] “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, [8] in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.”

God has invested everything in His Son. Through Jesus, our debt of sin has been paid; our sins are forgiven; we have a new standing in God; He has restored us to fellowship with Him as His sons; we have eternal life in Christ ; He has prepared a glorious future for all who obey His command to repent and believe the good news.

We have to make a choice that will affect us for eternity. If we choose independence, God says we can have it but, that means we forfeit every part of who God is forever, no love, no truth, no life.

If we choose to believe in Jesus, we give up our independence. Our lives are forever joined to Him and under His authority, leadership, and protection, forever. We have a future with Him beyond imagination and beyond description.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
[9] “That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

God has already decided what He will do but He leaves the final decision to us. That’s the truth about the truth.