"I am the way and the truth and the life."

This is what Jesus declares about himself in the gospel of John (John 14:6). In another passage (John 8:44) Jesus speaks of the evil one: " ”He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Jesus is the truth. Truth existed before lies. Lies are a distortion of truth, they don’t have a separate, independent existence. They are all that the truth is not.

Jesus is the way. We can learn things about our Creator from different sources - the Bible, nature, our own conscience or any place where love is shown or pieces of truth are spoken. We can come closer to our Creator, but we cannot enter into his presence and his kingdom without acknowledging Jesus.

Jesus is the life. As the gospel of John states: “Through him all things were made - - In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1: 3-4)Jesus is the fountain of life. To turn away from him is death. In life there is growth and strength and vitality. Though nature also suffers under the consequences of our forefathers’ rebellion, it is still a silent witness of the Creator with all its vitality and beauty.

Human cultures are an entanglement of lies and pieces of truth - lies about how God is like and what he wants of us, lies about what is good and commendable. These lies come from the father of lies. At the same time, all humans are image bearers of our Creator and thus have a power to create solutions to everyday life as well as a drive to create beauty and music. All humans have a capacity to love and care for each others and for nature.

We all believe lies about ourselves and about the world. Even when we come to the truth - Jesus - we need to learn to know him more and in the process discard lies as we become aware of them. Lies about ourselves, as well. We want to think that we are fair, decent, treat others with respect, unbiased, reasonable, unselfish, reasonably courageous. And definitely not cowards, morally compromised, weak and deceitful. Or proud. But when the truth - Jesus - begins his work in you, you have to look into the mirror and admit, at least to yourself, things that the Holy Spirit reveals to you about yourself.

The Holy Spirit reveals and enlightens. The Holy Spirit may cause you to feel sorrow for your shortcomings or evil deeds. The Holy Spirit calls us to the light, shows us what we are so that we can leave our old selves and be transformed and renewed. The Holy Spirit never accuses. The accuser is another one. Don't listen to him.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash