The Way, the Truth & the Life - Week 4

This is the weekend before Christmas. Each year at LAC, we take Christmas weekend to ask as simply as possible, "Why did Jesus come to the world?" Over the past few years, we've sought to answer that by looking at well-known Bible verses that speak to the question directly. Among them:

1 Timothy 1:15 – The Apostle Paul declared, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
Luke 19:10 – Luke reported Jesus' words, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
John 3:16-17 – Jesus told Nicodemus, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

This Christmas weekend 2012, we will reflect on the New Testament's assertion that Jesus came to this world to bring God back into the center of our individual lives...and ultimately into the world he created. In Genesis 2, God walked and talked with people and all was paradise. In Revelation 21–22, God will again dwell in the midst of his people, and everything will be made right again. The issue the Bible wants us to address is this: How will this happen? How will imperfect people ever have a relationship with God again? We will see that this is why Jesus came. Jesus was born to make God known to us (John 1:18; 14:5–9).

When we receive Jesus, we receive God into the heart of our existence. When we do, everything begins to change and become the way God created things to be. The flip side is that any individual or society that tries to eliminate any reference to God will deteriorate.

This Christmas weekend, we will be guided by Jesus' words in John 14:6–9: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

To His Glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor

Pick up the full Advent reading devotional in the information booth.