Project Description

2015/01

FOUNDATIONS

Things Young People Need To Know

It is difficult growing up in this world. Pressures on young people abound in different forms, and you may feel you are being blown in every direction by the storms of life.  The world is seeking to bring you into conformity with itself, seeking to squeeze you into its mould.  The divine prescription to counteract such pressure is to be transformed by the work of the Spirit as your mind is renewed by grace. (Rom.12:1+2)  Thus the battle is on for your mind!  The world wants you to think as it does, while grace renews the mind of the child of God. With this backdrop, this year we will consider some things that young people need to know, things that will prompt stability in the changing scenes of life.

First, young people need to know that there is such a thing as truth!  This may seem superfluous to some older readers, but young people know that they are living in a day when the very concept of truth is up for grabs. People may not object when you claim truth, but will often dismiss you by stating that this ‘truth’ may be true for you without being true for them. Thus world religions may be contradictory yet equally true. That is logically absurd!  Whatever you may say about other world religions, it is clear that the Christian faith claims to be exclusive truth: it claims to be the one and only truth. The testimony of the Lord Jesus must be considered.

The Lord Jesus describes His Father as ‘the only true God’. (John 17:3) To the sinless mind of Jesus, there is not a multiplicity of gods but only one true God.  He echoes the words of the Old Testament: ‘But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king’ (Jeremiah 10:10).Thus, those converted in Thessalonica turned from idols to ‘serve the living and true God’ (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

The Lord Jesus claims that God’s word is true in all its parts.  His High Priestly prayer states: ‘Thy Word is truth.’ (John 17:17) Again He echoes the Old Testament: ‘And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true’ (2 Samuel 7:28).

The Lord Jesus Christ claims to be truth personified.  (John 14:6, ‘I am… the truth’) The sense of His words in John 14:6 is that He is the only way to God, the only absolute truth and the only source of life. That statement is either true or false. Christ cannot be true and be the only way to God if there are actually other ways to God.
Finally the Lord Jesus claims to bear witness to the truth. Pilate asked the sceptic’s question: ‘What is truth?’ in response to the Lord’s assertion: ‘for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.’ (John 18:37) In light of these claims we can be encouraged that there is such a thing as truth, and we can know that truth.  Jesus Christ asserts that God alone is the source of truth.  He claims that truth is found in the Word of God.  He claims that He Himself is truth, and reveals truth, so that to trust in Him is the way of salvation.

The question remains, do we believe the testimony of Jesus Christ?  Do we believe what He states regarding truth? To be blunt, He is either telling the truth about truth, or He is bearing false witness regarding truth.

There are many things to encourage our confidence. For me the greatest is the empty tomb. That is God’s seal upon the person of the Son. The Lord predicted He would be delivered up to wicked man, crucified on a Roman tree, and then be raised again. The resurrection is undeniable, and it seals the testimony of the Lord. All He says about truth is indeed true!

Dr. Stephen Pollock.