The Truth reveals that the true value of man is determined by the cost of our redemption.
Why don’t we like the truth? We don’t like the truth because we prefer lies. We prefer lies because we cannot handle the truth. We prefer lies because they are our refuge. We prefer lies because they provide a place for us to hide. We prefer lies because the truth is bitter.
Would they still love me if they knew the truth? Would they still love me if they knew I am a fraud? Would they still love me if they knew I am still striving against sin? What if they found out that I beat my wife? What if they know I am a cocaine addict?
Calm down! “God did not send (the Truth) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17).
No Place To Hide
Nothing is hidden from the Truth. The Prodigal Son left home for a far country so that he can be with prostitutes without having his father breathing down his neck. No such luck! The Truth is Jehovah Shamar: The God that is always there. He knows everything: He sees everything.
What a relief! He knows: he knows. He knows I am a thief. He knows I have lustful thoughts. Nevertheless, he still loves me with an everlasting love. Even though my sins are scarlet, He is determined that they will be as white as snow.
Redeeming Truth
We have met the truth and He did not destroy us. We discovered that the Truth is not as damning as we have been led to believe. The truth is good news and not bad news. The truth is the gospel. (Galatians 2:5). Thanks to the Truth, we can be naked and not ashamed.
The truth says although you have been stealing, you are not a thief. It is actually not in your nature to steal, to lie, to cheat, or to fornicate. The truth is that you have the innate ability to be righteous, and to live a godly life. The Truth bestows on us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
The truth reveals that God has provided the opportunity for the man who has messed up, the man who has blown it, the man who has failed, the man who has sinned and the man who has transgressed, to begin again. He has done this by giving us new birth in Christ Jesus, thereby creating a completely new man.
But I am an old man says Nicodemus: “Would I have to go back into my mother’s womb?” (John 3:4).
It does not matter if you are young or old. It is a spiritual, and not a physical, rebirth. The slate is wiped clean. The past is forgiven and forgotten. Once we come under the precious blood of Jesus, God does not remember our sins anymore. (Isaiah 43:25).
Contradicting the Truth
When Gideon met the Truth, He told him he is a mighty man of valour. Gideon did not believe this. He countered: “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13).
Gideon knew the lie that he was not a mighty man of valour. But the Truth told him: “‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ ‘But Lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’” (Judges 6:14-15).
This is what happens when we have been socialised into lies. When we finally meet the Truth, we start arguing with Him.
I met the Truth in the middle of an armed robbery attack. He told me there and then that nothing would happen to me. But immediately after He told me this, I was shot in the leg. Nevertheless, the Truth told me that nothing was wrong with my leg.
In that manner, He made me understand that getting shot is nothing. He also showed me that my health is not dependent on my flesh by subsequently healing my bullet-ridden leg. Reality is not dependent upon what is outward in the flesh, but by what is inward in the heart. It is not determined by the letter but by the Spirit. (Romans 2:28-29).
The outward is prone to deception, whereas the inward is a more proper index of truth. God writes His Truth in the inner man. David says that God requires truth in the inward parts. (Psalm 51:6). This means whatever the flesh tells us is a lie. It makes no difference what we feel, if it contradicts the word of God, it is a lie.
Salvation From Lies
“Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” (John 8:31-32).
What will the Truth make us free from? He will make us free from the lies of the devil. He will make us free from the lies of the world.
When you know the Truth, you realise certain things. You discover that the devil is completely powerless. He has absolutely no power at all. All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. (Matthew 28:18). The devil has none. All the devil has is lies. He uses lies to deceive. He cannot make you do anything. But he can deceive you into doing many things.
To say “the devil made me do it” is a lie. He was able to deceive you because you walk in lies. You believed his lies because you don’t know the Truth. And Jesus is the Truth.
Who Are You?
A man cannot know himself unless he first knows Jesus, the Truth. It is the Truth that reveals to a man who he is. Some people think they are white and some think they are black. But when they meet the Truth, they discover they are neither. Some think they are tall: some think they are short. Some think they are handsome: some think they are not. But none of this has anything to do with who or what they are.
Because we don’t know who we are, we are susceptible to lies. You do a job and are paid 500,000 naira a month. Is that really how much you are worth? Do you even know how much you are worth?
Hear and understand. Even if they were to pay you a million naira, they would still be paying you peanuts. You are worth so much more. It is the Truth that reveals the true value of a man. He reveals that our worth is determined by the cost of our redemption. We must be very valuable indeed because Jesus died for us. He ransomed us with His own life.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2).
faribisala@yahoo.com; www.femiaribisala.com
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