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The truth is so obscure nowadays and lies so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it
Blaise Pascal
It is imperative for believers to understand what constitutes truth in our current culture which claims that truth is relative. If truthfulness is a character trait and truth is relative, then we can expect our character to be inconsistent. The bible says something completely different about the nature of truth. In this article we will be observing the: origin, character, and impact of lies and in like manner, of truth. I pray that this article will help you to shun lies, embody truth, and cause you to be more truthful as a result, In Jesus’ name.
The Origin, character, and impact of lies
You can understand a thing by understanding its origin, character, and impact; lies are no different. Jesus sums up these features of lies in saying:
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me" John 8:42-45 NKJV
Adam and Eve were spiritually murdered by the lie of the devil in the beginning. The lie ‘you will surely not die’, (Gen 3:4) assured their death. By stating that the devil is the father of lies, Jesus helps us to understand where it originates from. Lies and murder are one in nature because they hail from the same place. Jesus asserts that truth is not a platform for the foot of the devil because he is a murderer. He then rebuked the people that opposed his word, characterizing them as liars mirroring the one it originates from. This teaches us that a Godless system that rejects the truth of Jesus Christ, embraces the lie of the enemy, becomes murderous in nature because it opposes the one who gives life.
The Apostle John states: ‘We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one’ (1 John 5:19). Paul infers the same thing: ‘the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4)
The enemy keeps the world under his sway, and blinds unbelievers through lies. Nothing is out of bounds when it comes to indoctrinating through lies: Entertainment, politics, media, education and even relationships can serve as means of indoctrination. The purpose of his lies is to stop our sight of Christ, which is attempted murder of the life we were created for, the image and glory of God. When we accept the lies of the enemy, we mirror him instead of God.
The origin, character, and impact of truth
The reason Jesus could essentially say that to reject his word is to embrace a lie is because: “… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” (John 1:17) He ‘proceeded and came forth from God with grace and truth.’ For the believer, Christ is the very embodiment of truth, His teachings, and His examples. This is true because Christ is the reality of what God has in mind for creation. His character and the impact His life accomplished is the truest potential of God’s image and glory in human form. It is no wonder that the enemy endeavour’s to lie to man who was created in God’s image and blind us from seeing the glory of Christ.
According to Paul, it’s in beholding the glory of God that we conform to the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18). In beholding the Son of God, we embody His image, which is truth and we become truthful in the process. We become embodiment of truth and live the spiritual lives we were created for. Lives that display the image and glory of God.
Marks of a truthful person, embodying truth
•Worshiping in spirit and truth (John 4:24)
We worship God with sincerity of heart and transparency like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane
•The inside of the cup matches the outside (Matthew 23:26)
We give up on trying to appear godly when it doesn’t reflect the truth of our heart condition. Rather we ask God to transform our hearts so our lives can reflect the truth of our heart as Jesus’ did.
•We are one like our God ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!’ (Deuteronomy 6:4)
To be ‘one’ means to be a person of integrity. God’s character isn’t circumstantial and being honest and a person of integrity means you are the same. We can be chameleons for the sake of acceptance and that is the equivalence of living a lie.
•Knowing and being set free by the truth (John 8:32)
Knowledge of the truth means intimacy with Jesus Christ and the fruit of this knowledge is freedom. The freedom to live a life that expresses the truth of God’s image. This knowledge helps us to reject anything that opposes Jesus, knowing it originates from the devil and keeps us free from his lies.
Being truthful is rooted in rejecting the father of lies and embracing Truth Himself. Understanding as the enemy is the father of lies, God is the Father of Truth and Truth is Jesus Christ. In accepting Jesus for who He says He is, we accept truth. In beholding Jesus, we embody truth. We become people who worship God in spirit and in truth, whose external mirrors our internal and who’s character isn’t circumstantial but one like our God’s. I pray that we will know the truth of Jesus Christ and we’ll be kept free from the lies of the enemy, In Jesus name; Amen.