let it go. Turn away and slam the door. I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm
rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway. It's funny how some distance makes everything seem
small and the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all. It's time to see what I can do
to test the limits and break through. No wrong, no wrong, sorry, no right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free. Now for those who aren't familiar with those words, it's probably because you don't have
young children and specifically young girls. They are some of the lyrics from the song Let It Go
in the Disney movie Frozen. It won the 2013 Oscar for the best original song. It's sung by a character
in the movie, determined to no longer be the good girl that her family and her society want her to be.
Instead, she would let go and she would express what she'd been holding back inside all this time
and she declares that there's no right, no wrong, no rules for her anymore and now she will be truly free.
That definition of total individual freedom is not just Disney philosophy 101.
The Supreme Court of the United States declared this in one judgment on abortion where it said,
at the heart of freedom is the right to define one's own concept of existence or meaning of the universe
and of the mystery of human life.
In other words, that view, relative worldview declares that there is no such thing as universal truth
that all people have to agree with or have applied on their life.
Truth is what you make of it.
It's whatever's right for you is the relative worldview
and it's the common worldview in our society.
Any form of absolute truth is regarded as ultimate bondage
and especially religious truth
and especially in our country, Christianity and its truth is particularly stifling
because it's been tried for a couple of centuries and been found wanting.
So American pastor Tim Keller wrote this,
the late modern mind presents itself like this,
we have come to realize that we don't need God to explain the world we see,
science does that job for us.
We don't need God or religion to be moral, to love and work for a better world
or to have meaning and fulfillment in it, fulfillment in life.
What we need is to be free to live life as we see fit
and to work together to make the world a better and more just place to live.
And religion gets in the way of all of this.
It constrains our freedom to live as we wish
and it divides us so that we cannot work together.
That's the world in which we speak into and the Christian faith speaks into.
Universal truth is seen as being oppressive,
relative truth for each individual.
You make up what is right and wrong for you and live accordingly.
That's regarded as true liberation.
It's one of the highest values, if not the highest value of our culture.
And yet, it is totally unlivable.
The Supreme Court in the United States will make that declaration in one case,
but it will oppose a standard of truth in every case.
It's based on the Constitution of the United States.
The citizens of the United States are not free to live however they want, whenever they want.
The law courts will see to it that's not the case.
The law courts will make that declaration in one case.
Exclusively the way, exclusively the truth, exclusively the life.
And so Jesus does what's unacceptable in our society.
He makes exclusive claims.
But as we saw last week, everyone is making exclusive claims.
To state that all truth is relative,
and that there is no such thing as universal truth,
is in fact an exclusive claim in itself.
It claims to have the sole truth,
and that is that all truth is relative.
And so the question is,
which truth is ultimately liberating?
Which truth is the liberating truth?
And so my hope for this series is for the thinkers amongst us to be led to belief in Jesus,
and for the believers amongst us to think a little bit deeper about what it is that we believe.
And our focus today is the second one of those truth claims of Jesus,
that is that he is the truth,
the exclusive truth,
the truth that is applicable for all people and all times.
And there are three main points.
What is truth?
A truth that sets you free,
and discovering truth and freedom.
That's my three main points today.
So first of all,
let's start at the beginning of this Christian worldview of what is truth.
And right at the very beginning is where it starts to be laid out for us.
Genesis 1 verse 1 makes a very significant point
that there is no reality that existed before God.
It says,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty.
That is,
before creation,
before the universe was banged into existence by God,
God was.
He existed outside of everything that's created.
He stands outside of all created things.
And he spoke,
according to the Bible,
the universe into existence.
He speaks,
and he creates history.
He doesn't create,
just interpret reality and interpret history.
He creates reality,
and he creates history.
That's what happens when God speaks.
And this God,
as creator,
is the one who defines all things,
because he is ultimate reality,
because he stands outside of all things.
Therefore,
he is ultimate.
Reality is created,
it's determined,
and it's defined by this God.
And so the absolute,
the absoluteness of God,
his existence,
is totally incredible for us
to consider.
A God who never had a beginning,
never ending,
never becoming,
never improving,
simply and absolutely there to be dealt with on his terms,
or not at all.
That's the absoluteness of God.
When he speaks,
he reveals reality.
He reveals things the way they actually are.
They are.
And Psalm 119,
verse 160,
says this about God when he speaks,
all your words are true,
all your righteous laws are eternal.
What,
to take a shortcut here,
what Psalm 160 is saying,
is that the sum total
of everything that God reveals
is true.
The sum total of it is true.
It's truth.
But notice the second part of it,
in verse 160,
all your righteous laws are eternal.
And it says this various ways,
from 155 to 160.
It's not just that the sum total is truth.
That is,
it's not just the vibe of the word of God,
which is true.
It's all the individual parts are true.
Every part is true.
Even the bits that we don't like,
the little parts that we want to ignore,
are true.
It is reality revealed.
So the whole and the parts are all true.
They are true because when God,
who is ultimate reality,
speaks,
he reveals things the way they actually are.
Truth is when reality,
God,
and the communication of reality
are in aligned with one another.
That's what truth is.
It's when reality and the communication of reality
are in alignment with one another.
The opposite of truth is lies.
And lies are when reality
and what's communicated about that
don't align with one another.
And we all,
hopefully we all get a sense within us
when we get this feeling
when someone's lying to us.
Because what's being communicated to us
and what we perceive
to be right
don't seem to align.
When God speaks,
he always reveals reality.
And as finite human beings
who have a beginning
and who have an end,
we have no ability
to discover the full picture of reality.
You see,
when I think someone's lying to me,
my perception is that they're lying to me,
but my perception may be wrong.
Not with God.
The creator God
has to reveal
the way things actually are.
because that is who he is.
He can only ever reveal reality.
And that's exactly what he says he's done.
And in fact,
this is the unique claim
of the Christian faith
that we looked at last week.
How do we know
the unknowable?
How do we know
the unknowable?
Well,
the unknowable
has come to us.
It's what
John chapter 1
affirms.
In the beginning
was the word.
That is,
this is a reference
back to Genesis chapter 1.
In the beginning
was the word.
That is,
he existed before everything
was made.
And the word was with God.
And the word was God.
And he was with God
in the beginning.
Through him,
that's through the word,
all things were made.
Again,
back there,
Genesis chapter 1 verse 1.
And without him,
nothing was made
that has been made.
So this word
was the creator
who existed
before all things
and is God.
And then down
into verse 14
of John 1,
we see something startling.
the word
became flesh
and made his dwelling
amongst us.
We have seen
his glory,
the glory
of the one and only,
that is,
the glory of God
who came from the Father
full of grace
and truth.
And so you ask yourself
the question,
who is verse 14
talking about?
Who is this one
who is God
who existed
before creation,
who created everything,
who is full of grace
and truth?
Verse 17.
For the law
was given
through Moses,
grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.
Where reality,
the way things
actually are
and the representation
of reality,
the communication
of that reality
so that we can see reality
come together
in the most profound sense
is in the person
of Jesus Christ.
that's the unique
claim of Christianity.
Jesus
is to God
what a photo
of me
is to me.
Now,
I could run a competition
for us here this morning
and ask you all,
hand out pieces of paper,
some colouring pencils
and stuff
and what I'm going
to get you to do
is I'm going
to get you all
to draw
and colour in a picture
of what I look like
as a four-year-old
and some of us
are going to come up
with better versions
of that
and I will love you
for that
and some of you
are going to come up
with totally wrong versions
and we could all
have a competition,
we could all put them
all up here on the board
and then judge the competition
and see who's got
the best example
of what I look like
as a four-year-old
and there might be
a whole bunch
of similarities
in those pictures
but the only way,
the only way
that we could end speculation
as to who is right
is by producing a photo.
Thank you.
Thank you for those
who immediately went,
oh,
I appreciate that.
That's the only way
to end speculation
is to produce the photo
and that is what Jesus says
he has done
with ultimate reality.
He's revealed things
the way they actually are
by showing us reality.
He shows us God
and ultimate reality
and what he does
is he shows us truth.
That's why he claims
this astounding,
profound claim.
I am the way.
I am the truth.
He doesn't just speak the truth.
He doesn't just reveal the truth.
I am the truth.
I am reality
and the communication
of that reality
at one and the same time.
And I am the life
and no one comes to the Father
except through me.
And so the most ultimate reason
why Jesus could say
that he was the truth
is because he is the God.
He doesn't just communicate
a message from God.
He doesn't just speak the truth
although he does speak the truth.
He is God.
He is the communication
of God to us.
He is truth.
And as I said,
the place where ultimate reality
and the representation
or communication
of ultimate reality
come together
in the most profound sense
is the person
of Jesus Christ.
And what Jesus does
at a number of points
as the word of God
who came to dwell amongst us
is what he does
is he confirms
and affirms consistently
that the historical
Christian scriptures
as being the self-revelation
of God.
He does that consistently.
Luke 24 he does it
where he goes along
walks the road to Emmaus
and he shows the disciples
how all the scriptures
point to him.
He confirms it as truth
that accurately represent reality
the way things actually are.
So the 66 books of the Bible
with Jesus at the centre
is truth.
That's why we got our
core value in this church
a Christ-centred Bible saturation.
Jesus declares it as truth
and therefore the authority
by which all things are measured.
The Bible is where God speaks
what is real and absolute
and therefore what is true
and the Bible is where we meet Jesus
it's where we meet reality
it's where we meet God.
The Bible is the way God
the ultimate
all important reality
reveals himself to us
with clarity
and authority
today.
And so if God is more important
than anything
then the Bible is more important
than anything but God.
It's why we have this core value
at St. Paul's.
The God who made everything
the God who controls everything
has a purpose for everything
this God
has spoken to us
with absolute clarity
and authority.
2 Timothy 3.16 says
all scripture is God breathed
and is therefore useful
for teaching
rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness.
God breathed
literally
it came out
of his mouth.
in what God
has revealed
to us
we are not left
without a knowledge
of his will
we are not left
without a knowledge
of him
at work
in his world
we are not left
without wisdom
we are not left
without a revelation
of the way
of salvation
and friends
if we could
awaken our hearts
and our minds
with absolute confidence
that this is so
just imagine
how we would
navigate
the complexities
of life
and its millions
of absolute truth claims
that we face
day by day.
The Bible
is God's provision
for us
it is sufficient
for life
and for faith.
So secondly
why would we
or our society
want to know
this truth?
Why would we
want to know
this truth?
Because
the truth
sets you free.
That's why.
Jesus said
an astounding thing
in John's gospel
he says
if you hold
to my teaching
you are really
my disciples
then you will
know the truth
and the truth
will set you free.
See the connection
there between
truth
conformity
to the truth
and liberty
and freedom.
Know Jesus
treasure Jesus
and you will know
true and enduring
freedom.
And I take it
that everyone
sitting in this room
wants to be free.
free.
I mean free
in the deepest
fullest sense.
If the opposite
of course
of freedom
is bondage
and slavery
I'm just assuming
no one here
wants that.
I'm just
I don't need
to do a poll
at all
I just assume
no one wants
that kind of
kind of life.
All of us
would rather
be happy
in freedom
than enslaved
to even
the most pleasant
of addictions.
we all
want to be
truly
free.
And yet
what our society
claims
is that
absolute truth
leads to bondage.
What Jesus
claims
is truth
leads to
freedom.
And Jesus
makes this
walloping
statement
in John
8.
If you
hold to
my teaching
you are
really my
disciples
then you
will know
the truth
and the
truth
will set
you free.
And so
people
who heard
Jesus
say that
in the
first century
just as
some of us
might say
it right
now
Jesus
what are
you talking
about?
You know
we are
already
free
we don't
need you
to free
us
we're
already
free
in fact
they answered
him
we are
Abraham's
descendants
and have
never been
slaves of
anyone
how can
you say
that we
shall be
set free?
You're not
offering us
anything here
Jesus
is what
they're
saying to
him
and what
Jesus
says is
you're
thinking
about
one
aspect
of
freedom
but
Jesus
is
thinking
about
something
totally
different
something
more
important
something
they
can't
see
and so
Jesus
immediately
clarifies
what
he
chooses
to set
them
free
from
I
tell you
the truth
anyone
who
sins
is a
slave
to
sin
Jesus
is saying
that
everyone
sins
and
therefore
everyone
is enslaved
to sin
and
when
you
use
your
freedom
when
you
use
your
individual
freedom
to pursue
your
personal
desires
at the
cost
of
God
that
sin
and
while
it
might
be
exhilarating
for a
moment
it
leads
to
bondage
that's
what
he's
saying
this
means
here
that
sin
is
not
just
a
bad
act
sin
is
in
fact
a
power
over
our
hearts
over
our
lives
that
makes
us
do
bad
acts
and
sets
us
against
God
and
other
people
there
are
many
kinds
of
freedoms
that
we
can
make
for
ourselves
but
this
is
one
freedom
that
we
cannot
make
for
ourselves
this
slavery
is
too
deep
this
slavery
is
too
all
encompassing
and
all
entangling
sin
enslaves
us
by
making
anything
and
everything
look
more
desirable
than
knowing
Jesus
it
also
enslaves
us
by
eventually
damning
us
forever
and
it
enslaves
unless
someone
or
something
intervenes
which
is what
Jesus
says
in
verse
36
if the
son
sets
you
free
you'll
be
free
indeed
the
son
who
is
Jesus
is
Jesus
talking
about
himself
here
the
son
of
God
who
is
Jesus
who
is
the
truth
who
sets
free
in
verse
32
is
the
son
who
sets
free
in
verse
36
he
frees
us
from
the
damnation
of
slavery
by
becoming
damned
for
us
in
his
death
on
the
cross
as
our
substitute
he
frees
us
from
the
dominion
of
sin
over
our
hearts
by
changing
our
hearts
to
see
him
as
more
desirable
than
anything
we
become
truly
free
to
be
who
we
are
who
we
are
made
to
be
to
love
him
and
to
love
others
so
if
the
son
sets
you
free
you
are
free
indeed
so
let me
give
you
a
definition
of
full
and
complete
freedom
you
are
fully
free
when
you
have
the
desire
the
ability
and
the
opportunity
to
do
what
will
leave
you
with
no
regrets
forever
you
are
fully
free
when
you
have
the
desire
the
ability
and
the
opportunity
to
do
what
will
leave
you
with
no
regrets
forever
so
firstly
if
you
don't
have
the
desire
to
do
a
particular
thing
you're
not
fully
free
to
do
it
because
more
than
likely
you're
being
forced
to
do
something
you
don't
want
to
do
so
if
you
have
the
desire
to
do
something
but
no
ability
to
do
it
you
can't
do
it
so
you're
clearly
not
free
to
do
it
but
if
you
have
the
desire
to
do
something
the
ability
to
do
something
but
no
opportunity
to
do
it
again
you
can't
do
it
so
you're
not
free
to
do
it
but
if
you
have
the
desire
to
do
something
the
ability
to
do
something
the
opportunity
to
do
it
but
doing
it
destroys
you
then
you're
not
fully
free
if
it
destroys
you
in
the
end
you're
not
free
doesn't
lead
to
liberty
leads
to
bondage
to
let's
let me
get
slightly
practical
here
for a
moment
let's
talk
about
parachuting
you
make it
to the
airport
without
having
an
accident
in
the
car
tick
that
box
you
now
have
the
freedom
of
opportunity
you've
done
the
classes
you
know
how
to
jump
out
of
an
airplane
and
to
pull
a
rip
cord
tick
that
box
you
now
have
the
freedom
of
ability
you're
up in
the
plane
you
look
out
the
door
and
you
just
can't
wait
to
jump
tick
that
box
you
have
the
freedom
of
desire
that's
because
you're
not
frozen
with
fear
when
you
look
out
the
door
and
so
you
jump
and
as
you
free
fall
you
are
enjoying
every
moment
of
this
unbeknownst
to
you
that
your
parachute
is
in
fact
defective
and
it's
not
going
to
open
on
you
no
matter
what
you
do
and
it's
not
a
tanned
jump
are
you
fully
free
are
you
free
indeed
for
about
30
seconds
or so
what
you
are
doing
so
happily
so
freely
will
kill
you
don't
know
it
but
the
moment
you
jumped
out
of
that
plane
you
are
in
fact
enslaved
to
destruction
you
don't
know
it
but
you
are
there
is
no
way
to
help
you
from
that
moment
you're
now
enslaved
to
destruction
you're
oblivious
but
in
just
a
matter
of
time
you'll
find
out
it
feels
like
freedom
right
up
until
that
moment
when
you
pull
the
rip
cord
and
in
that
moment
all
of
the
exhilaration
will
prove
to be
an
illusion
it
will
all
the
exhilaration
will
just
go
it's
now
fear
and
the
realization
you
are
now
enslaved
to
death
to
be
fully
free
we
must
have
the
desire
the
ability
and
the
opportunity
to
do
what
makes
us
happy
forever
no
regrets
it
will
never
come
back
and
it
will
never
bite
us
that's
what
Jesus
promises
us
and
it
is
utter
foolishness
for
Christians
to
envy
the
so-called
freedom
of
those
who
jump
out
of
the
airplane
of
self
preoccupation
and
sin
and
revel
for a
season
in the
exhilaration
of
free
fall
of
greed
and
free
fall
of
fame
the
free
fall
of
sex
the
free
fall
of
power
the
free
fall
of
comfort
and
holiday
homes
and
travel
and
free
fall
of
adventure
fall
of
security
oblivious
to
Jesus
all
this
so-called
freedom
is the
exact
opposite
of
God's
design
for
humanity
and
it
is
a
vapor
only
Jesus
the
son
of
God
who
died
and
rose
again
to
life
can
set
us
free
and
make
us
live
happily
forever
only
Jesus
that's
the
truth
that
will
set
us
free
and
to
be
happy
forever
all
of
our
sins
must
be
forgiven
and
God's
wrath
must
be
removed
and
Christ
must
become
our
supreme
treasure
our
supreme
desire
Jesus
has
already
done
it
he
died
on
a
cross
he
absorbed
God's
wrath
and
he
rose
from
the
dead
and
is
today
supremely
precious
if
the
son
sets
you
free
you'll
be
free
indeed
so
one last
thing
for those
of us
who have
embraced
Jesus
as
the
way
the
truth
and
life
and
as
a
church
we're
in
the
middle
of
mission
month
and
we
want
people
all
over
this
world
to
come
and
know
this
freedom
that's
in
the
truth
in
Jesus
so
how
is
how's
it going
to happen
in our
society
like ours
that has
rejected
Christianity
and is
addicted
to relative
truth
and the
belief
of the
sovereign
self
that each
one of us
is in
ruler of
our own
individual
lives
and we
choose
our own
way
how does
this message
of exclusive
claim of
Jesus
trump
every
other
exclusive
claim
2
Corinthians
4
gives
me
the
answer
to
that
in
2
Corinthians
4
in
verse
4
it
says
that
all
people
are
blinded
to
the
truth
of
the
gospel
blinded
to
the
glory
and
the
truth
of
Jesus
Christ
by
ourselves
we
simply
cannot
and
we
will
not
see
the
truth
it's
a
matter
of
the
will
of
our
lives
to
say
I
will
not
accept
this
truth
verse
6
in
2
Corinthians
4
says
that
the
God
who
created
all
things
at
the
beginning
in
Genesis
chapter
1
shines
light
into
our
blindness
into
our
dark
hearts
and
when
he
does
that
darkness
is
pushed
out
and
we
see
Jesus
for
who
he
is
we
trust
him
and
we
have
freedom
verse
4
verse
6
blindness
sight
darkness
light
verse
5
is
right
in
the
middle
and
that's
the
means
that
God
uses
to
take
us
from
darkness
to
light
this
is
what
it
says
what
we
preach
is
not
ourselves
but
Jesus
Christ
as
Lord
and
ourselves
as
your
servants
for
Jesus
sake
that's
the
means
the
means
God
uses
to
take
people
from
a
relative
truth
to
the
truth
of
Jesus
and
see
him
as
glorious
and
right
and
true
and
needs
to
be
embraced
for
my
freedom
is
the
proclamation
that
Jesus
is
Lord
of
the
universe
he
is
who
he
says
he
is
he
is
God
he
is
true
he
is
the
master
of
all
things
and
he's
the
one
who
sets
the
agenda
for
our
lives
the
crucified
Jesus
Christ
has
been
exalted
through
resurrection
as
the
heavenly
Lord
according
to
Philippians
2
God
suffering
servant
is
the
ruler
of
the
universe
the
man
Christ
Jesus
is
the
exalted
God
over
all
histories
over
all
people
and
Paul
says
here
you
make
that
clear
don't
distort
that
gospel
by
showing
away
from
it
and
especially
in
this
day
and
age
where
we
don't
like
exclusive
claims
you
make
this
exclusive
claim
clear
you
proclaim
it
do
not
distort
it
do not
shy
away
from
it
proclaim
it
from a
heart
of love
and a
life
of service
that's what I think he means when he says that we don't preach ourselves
all self interest is laid aside here
the means that God uses to shift us from sovereign self and relative truth into the clarity of who Jesus is and embracing that clarity is bold clear plain proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ as Lord from a heart of love and a life of service
the unchanging
the unchanging historically plausible blood bought good news of Christianity is truth for everyone
and you might have walked in here today and you might have been who what verse 4 describes here as someone who lives with relative truth you're the sovereign self
you don't believe Jesus is true
and you might have been who what verse 5 says that something strange happened in me
this is a truth that causes the blind to see
it's a truth that causes darkness to be distinguished
sorry extinguished
for death to be defeated
for eternal life to be granted
and freedom from bondage
true and enduring freedom is only discovered
is only experienced
when we ironically
fully surrender to Jesus
Specializingいただ montrer to Jesus
as a daily step pride
halt to win
okay
thank you
finally
free and