LESSON 14 CHRIST HIMSELF IS THE LIFE PART 1 (ODELL)

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and THE LIFE; no man cometh unto the Father, but BY ME.” 

In what sense is our sweet Jesus the “LIFE” of the only “truth” of the only “way” there is to the Father and the place He has prepared for His people? The answer, we hope to be blessed to discover soon. 

THE DOCTRINE STATED: To the same extent that Christ is the “way” for the saints to walk in, and the “truth” to be learned while being brought into experiential union with Him; to that same extent, He Himself is the very “LIFE” of His people while they walk in the way of truth as it is in Christ Jesus. 

Thomas asked the question, “How can we know the way?” There is a particularly lovely translation of this verse found in the ARAMAIC BIBLE IN PLAIN ENGLISH. It reads this way: “Yeshua said to Him, I AM THE LIVING GOD, the way, and the truth, and the life; no man comes to MY Father but by me ALONE.” In this parallel translation, we discover the whole point of the matter as to Christ being “THE LIFE” of those with whom He is in union with and has an interest, which is His Deity. The very reason He is the “way, and the truth, and THE LIFE” is this: Christ is “THE LIVING GOD.” No wonder “no man can come to (His) Father, but by (Him) ALONE.” The last half of verse 6, just noticed, regarding His being the only means to His Father and His “Father’s house” is clearly set forth in the DARBY BIBLE TRANSLATION like this: “No one COMES to the Father UNLESS BY ME.” 

There are many conclusions we might arrive at as to our Redeemer’s answer to Thomas’s question, “How can we know the way (to your father’s house)?” May it please our Heavenly Prophet to simply reply for now; the essence of His reply is this: “I am the way… I am the truth (of the way), and I am the LIFE (of that way)! I am the way to my father’s house. I am the truth of the way to Him, and I am the LIFE of the way to Him. This is the truth of my BEINGNESS, ‘no one comes to the Father but by me alone… unless it is by me!”’ Because this is so, “no man can” of himself come to the Father. Herein lies the conscious awareness of Christ in the matter of the salvation of the Father’s eternal children given to Christ in eternity and with whom He is in Eternal Union. The Lord Jesus Christ considered Himself to be the very “LIFE” of His people walking in the Gospel way. This truth is well established by Christ and His apostles in the Gospel records. He identifies Himself as the “bread of life” in John 6:35 because He gives life to dead sinners, in which life is conveyed to them and made effectual by His Holy Spirit. Furthermore, He supports and maintains the life He gives because it is not in the power of a believer to support his own spiritual life any more than he could generate his physical life in the first place. 

Nor can any child of God effectively live on anything BELOW the “bread of life” wherein is found more than enough to meet the need of every little child of God His Father has entrusted to Him! It is He Who quickens them unto life. It is He Who causes them to be lively in His exercises of grace upon them. His grace alone is sufficient to strengthen them in the discharge of their duties and the renewals of their strength. All because He has secured their eternal life already in their room and stead. Christ Himself will be the finisher of that which He is from the beginning and the author of! It is He Who is “the author of eternal salvation” according to Heb. 5:9. Not to forget, the “author and finisher of our faith” as well, Heb. 12:2. 

The very reason He felt this way about Himself is because it is His TRUTH. It is the truth of Him Who is “eternal life” and there is no such thing apart from Him Who is essentially that! Eternal life is the essence of Jesus Christ according to I John 5:20. Considered as “THE LIFE”, He is the fountain of life from which flow all heavenly streams of grace into and upon His dear sheep as He brings them into their experiential union with Him while they walk in His Gospel WAY. Paul got this; Col. 3:3 declares our “life is hidden WITH CHRIST IN GOD.” Verse four continues, “When Christ Who is OUR LIFE, shall appear, then shall we appear WITH HIM in glory.” 

THE LESSON IS THIS: Christ Himself is “THE LIFE” of our life because He lives within those who have been united to Him as the vine is the life of the branch! The “branch” does not live on its own. It does not “bear fruit of itself!” The life of the branch flows from the vine to which it is united. See John 15:1-5. Considered as “THE TRUTH” this is what His Mediatorial Office as Prophet to the saints is about. It is He Who is making known to His people “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory,” Col. 1:27. 

TO CLOSE: Considered as “THE LIFE,” Christ is the very life of the Gospel way in which we are caused to walk if we are (in fact) in that way at all! See Ezk. 36:24-29. The life of those with whom Christ is united is HIS LIFE LIVED IN THEM. This is why Paul reminded the saints at Colosse, “Christ (lives) in you.” To the Galatians, he testified, “I live, yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME.” And if that wasn’t enough, he added: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD!” As if to say, it is not my faith at all! Rather, “the faith of the son of God,” Christ Himself being the TRANSACTOR of it, seeing Christ is the “author and finisher” of our faith. Lord willing, we will take up from here in the next and last message in this series. I love you. 

Dan O’Dell, S.S., 
Weslaco, TX., Feb. 2nd, 2024