Do You Know The Truth?
By David W Hall
We often hear news reporters on the TV say ‘we must have the truth because the truth sets us free.’
They may not realize that they are quoting from the Bible. Sadly, they miss the point of Jesus’ words. What newsmen mean by the word ‘truth’ is ‘correct information’. However, information, in itself, does not set us free, no matter how clearly it describes injustice or oppression. What is required is someone with the capacity to bring real change. Such a person must demonstrate the insight to understand the root causes of a dilemma, the wisdom for the solution, and then the power to bring an outcome.
Every individual in the human race has problems, but are we really aware of the greatest problem of all, that no one can escape? Jesus said ‘there is no one who is good, except God only.’ (Luke 18:19) Yet it is common to hear the assertion that ‘there is good in everyone’. Part of our problem is we are blind to our real condition. Before God we are all ‘dead’ in our sinful condition, but we usually choose to deny it. We need to be enlightened, and this means more than just having the right information.
To be enlightened requires that someone shine a light into our darkness. Jesus is the source of all light to us. He came into this world to be the ‘light of the world’, and in so doing He brought God’s life to us. John wrote, ‘In Him was life and the life was the light of men’ (John 1:2). It is only when we are connected to the source of all life that we have the capacity to know the light of reality. This is true light. This gives a new meaning to our understanding of light.
The light of God is the capacity to see the way God sees. The natural person cannot understand or receive the things of God. It is only when the Spirit of God comes to bring God’s divine life to him that he is made alive. The truth that sets him free and enlightens him is the message of God’s life and love.
The Bible speaks of people having their understanding darkened and being alienated from the life of God because of the blindness of their heart. (Eph 4:18) A person who is totally blind experiences total darkness. In a similar way, we are blind and in darkness until Jesus comes to bring His life and illumination.
How does the darkness of our heart work? Quite simply – when I think I am right, I am actually blind. Jesus met and healed a man who was totally blind from birth. His eyes were opened and suddenly he could see the light. He was illuminated by a miracle from Jesus and understood the full meaning of the transition from darkness to light. Then, in the temple he met some religious leaders who should have been able to see, but in fact were totally blind. They demonstrated their blindness by being horrified that Jesus would heal somebody on the Sabbath day. Quoting their own law, they maintained their own ‘rightness’. However, this only deceived them into thinking that they could see, when in fact, they were totally blind.
Later they asked Jesus, ‘are we blind also?’ He replied, ‘if you were blind you would have no sin, but because you say you see your sin remains’. The ultimate blindness is when we say we are right and we cannot hear from others. In this condition we cannot hear from God or from those who bring His word to us.
When we surrender our need to be right, and we hear a word from God, then God’s life, light and illumination flood into our being removing fear and condemnation, replacing it with the assurance that we are sons of God. Instead of the need to be right, there comes a love for the truth of God and what He says about us. Then we can experience the power of His life working in us, changing us to be like Him. His truth will indeed set us free. ‘He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life’. (John 3:36)
