No Sweeter Name

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Sometimes the simplest short sentences carry enormous meaning.

The disciples were confused that Jesus was leaving them and the world. How would they find him again? Where would they go to see him? How could he save and deliver them if he wasn’t even with them? Jesus responded, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Those are ten phenomenally powerful words. I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you listen closely enough, you’ll find power, significance, purpose, and salvation you can’t find anywhere else.

The Way

This Jesus is the way, the only way to God. “I am the way… No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In a day when people believe any way will lead you to God, Jesus said with absolute clarity that you cannot know God or be known by him apart from his Son. When everyone in every religion around the world thinks they’ve discovered God themselves and in their own way, they’ve missed the massive wall separating us and God. It’s our sin.

God can be seen and even understood to some degree in everything he has created, but he cannot be approached or rightly worshipped without a Savior and his saving work and message. The Savior’s name is Jesus. This name — and this name alone — can cancel our sin by taking our punishment with his death on the cross. The gospel makes a way for the wayward, and the signature that sealed our salvation was the sweet name of the Christ.

The Truth

In a world that seems willing to let everyone decide his or her own truth, it can be difficult to claim to know Truth, but God’s Word is clear: Jesus is the truth. The truth that God built into his creation and inspired in his holy word came alive in the person and ministry of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is the truth that saves us (John 8:32); It is the truth that sanctifies us (John 17:17); and the truth came and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He is the living, breathing, saving answer to all of our hardest questions. He is the reality on whom we can safely, confidently, and joyfully base all of our decisions in this life. The world would have us believe that our lives are about this world and all of its allure, but the life we were created to live finds its source in a far deeper, truer reality. His name? Jesus.

The Life

Jesus is not just a pathway to life or an explanation of life, but he is the very life he gives. You are the life to my heart and my soul. We breathe and move and feel and even enjoy things on this earth, but we have not truly lived until we have encountered and embraced the author and Savior of our life. We were created for an eternal relationship with the living God, and he sent his son, Jesus, to pay the price so that we might live this destiny. Jesus is the way, but he’s also the destination. He is the road of rescue, but he’s also the treasure and home where the road leads. The one that personifies truth and delivers from death satisfies the human soul. Those bearing the name of Jesus will spend eternity enjoying life with him.

If you can imagine eternal life without Jesus, then you haven’t tasted true life. You were made to know him and be a vivid picture of him to the world. Through the cross, he redeemed you for what you were designed to experience — life with and for him. Our souls ache with longing until they’ve been freed from sin and returned to their true Creator. Jesus is the way to life, and he is our life.

No Other Name

There is no name like this name — “saving, helping, keeping, loving.” Peter preached this good news when he said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There’s only one place, one person in whom we find the grace and truth and life we need most. And he has a name.

If the simplest sentences can communicate enormous meaning, then simple songs of praise can make much of the sweet, saving name of Jesus.