IV. THE DISCIPLES’ PREPARATION BY THE SON OF GOD (13:1 – 16:33) A. THE DISCOURSE IN THE UPPER ROOM (Jn 13:1 – 14:31) 5. The Promise of Residence (14:1-3) 6. The Way to the Father (14:4-6)  Read Jn 14:6.  “I am... the life.” ~ life as opposed to death

~ All God’s glorious attributes dwell in the Son of God (see Jn 1:4). ~ And because He has the life within Himself (Jn 5:26), He is the source and giver of life for His own (see Jn 3:16; 6:33; 10:28; 11:25). ~ And just as death spells separation from God, so life implies communion with Him (Jn 17:3).

~ Christ proves that He is “the life” because God, with whom is “the fountain of life” (Ps 36:9), cannot be enjoyed in any other way than by Christ.  Jesus gives us life both now and eternally. ~ He promises to join His life to ours. ~ There is no other source of life besidesHim.

~ Our response should be to receive that life and allow it to work itself out in our daily experience.  How are these three related? ~ All three concepts are active and dynamic. ~ The way brings to God; the truth makes men free; the life produces fellowship. ~ Jesus is the way to God, precisely because He is the truth of God and the life of God.

~ He so mediates God’s truth and God’s life that He is the very way to God, and therefore the One who alone can say, “No one comes to the Father but through Me.”  With Christ removed there can be no redemptive truth, no everlasting life; hence, no way to the Father. (Cf. Acts 4:12).

~ Both the absoluteness of the Christian religion and the urgent necessity of Christian Missions is clearly indicated.  The exclusivism of “No one comes to the Father but through Me” is directed in at least two directions. ~ From the perspective of the Jews and the Jewish religion, it is totally inadequate to claim that one knows God while disowning Jesus Christ.

~ From the perspective of the Gentiles, John does not mean for a moment to suggest that Christianity is merely one more religion amongst many. ~ This is the necessary stance behind all fervent evangelism.  Many people are shocked that Christians insist upon Jesus being the Way and the only Way.

~ It really isn’t a question of tolerance or being open to diversity; it is a question of whether we want to accept what Jesus said.  Three reasons why people reject Jesus’ claim to be the only way to God: 1. They are satisfied with their own way or with doing nothing; they refuse on principle to examine Christ’s claims.

2. They deny their lostness. 3. They are convinced that there must be several valid ways besides Jesus to get to God.  Jesus’ exclusive claim is unmistakable. ~ It forces an unconditional response. ~ Jesus invites people to accept or reject Him, making it clear that partial acceptance is rejection.

 Some would say that a single way is entirely too restrictive. ~ But that attitude fails to see the desperate state of the human condition. ~ That there is a way at all is evidence of God’s grace and love. ~ Instead of worrying about how limited it sounds to have only one way, we should be saying, “Thank you, God, for providing a sure way to get to You!”