The way, the Truth and the Life

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

This scripture has been used to exclude certain people from "entering heaven" as it were, as to say that Jesus is the exclusive saviour, and if you don't follow him you're going to burn in hell.

I think there is a deeper reading to this where one does not get a "negative" impression but instead read it as to let the word of God provide us with life - which is what the word of God does. It gives life.

Meditating on Jesus as "the way, truth and life" you will come to the conclusion as Paul says :

Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever!

and

Col 1:15-20
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is also the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Jesus is what the old testament is really all about. For it finds it's fulfilment in Him. Jesus is the exact image of God (the father) and he is our peace. He is also our Righteousness, wisdom and sanctification not to mention that he died our death and was resurrected and now we find our life "in Him".

What John 14:6 is to say is that if you are looking for God, as many spiritual seekers, new age followers, Buddhists, catholic priests and charismatics are doing, then the way to find God is by looking to Jesus.

If you have somehow found "God" and he does not look like Jesus, you have not found the true beautiful God. The God who saturates your life with His life. The God who is in love with you and lets His spirit permeate through you. You might have found a lesser version of God.

Our western mindsets have taught us to think of Christianity as being all about heaven and hell. How do I get to heaven and how do I avoid hell and who is going there. That seems to have become the bottom line of it all. It seems as if fear is the driving factor for seeking God. Fear of hell.

Paul writes in Romans that it is the kindness of God that brings us to salvation, not a fear of hell directly. It is the grace of God that opens our eyes to a salvation already bought for us, we just have to hear it and naturally receive it. A fear of hell might push you in the right direction, especially if you are already in hell on the earth, but if you "accept Jesus" because of fear, you have accepted a fake version of God in the making of your own thoughts.

At the end of the day, Jesus is what your life, my life and everything in all of creation is all about. Jesus is my response to God. Jesus is my life. Jesus is my obedience. Jesus is my healing. Jesus is God in a man's body and Jesus is what God sees when he looks at the world. Jesus is what you really look like and your true self.

Stop looking to yourself. Stop seeking to get closer to God. Stop trying to find fulfillment in life, but start to look to the cross, to Jesus in the flesh representing you and I. Then you will find that this Jesus who is totally unlike you, who is perfectly holy, righteous, full of life joy and love, pristinely innocent and fearfully mighty is already living inside of you. You and "This" Jesus have become one and His life is now yours...