The Manifestation of Truth
Increasingly, Americans have been heightened in their awareness of corruption and lies by civil and private institutions. Why would a school and its school board cover up the rape of a teenage girl, by a boy dressed up as a girl in the girl’s bathroom (Loudon, Virginia)? Why do sitting state governors, having made decisions that cost tens of thousands of people their lives press on with zero consequences? Why do people turn a blind eye to the meteoric rise in crime rates in certain American cities, who abrogate their own laws and leave their citizenry in a game of urban survival?
There is nothing so precious as the truth. God is true (Rom 3:4). God has spoken to man, and His Word is true (Num 11:23). God’s Word is tested (2 Sam 22:31; Prv 30:5), and it never fails to prove true. Every man is a liar, being by nature a child of the devil (Eph 2:3; 1 Jn 3:10), who is the father of lies from the beginning (Jn 8:44). No lie is of the truth (1 Jn 2:21), but the truth sets one free from the tyranny of lies (Jn 8:32).
Truth comes to us as light in the darkness. It exposes the darkness which covers up the lies. Men love the darkness because they are liars, and their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). They demand justice for the crimes of others but not for themselves. In this, the natural man is a hypocrite. He says one thing yet does the opposite. The novice is embarrassed by the truth about himself, but the politician is impervious to the charges against him. His conscience is calloused. He has learned, injustice is common, and the powerful often live above the law.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God (Jn 1:1), having come into the world (Jn 1:9). He came in the flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). He was the Light of the world amidst the darkness (Jn 8:12). So foreign was the Son of God to the sons of men that even His own people did not comprehend His divine identity (Jn 1:11). Here was the Holy One of Israel, but they did not receive Him.
Jesus Christ is the truth (Jn 14:6). When Jesus spoke, it was always the Word of truth. For this reason, He was despised and rejected by men. They hated Jesus without a cause. Sinful, godless men eventually desired to kill Him (Lk 24:7; Acts 2:23). When they succeeded at murdering Jesus, God sent them a message.
The sinless Son of Man was publicly shamed and humiliated at the hands of sinners because He had exposed the total depravity of humanity. In going to the cross of His own accord, God revealed His justice for guilty sinners. Jesus exposed the wretchedness of fallen man in both His sinless life and atoning death (Rom 5:8; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24).
The message of God to man was, “You deserve the worst imaginable punishment for your innumerable crimes against My holy Law.” Jesus committed no crimes and was perfectly righteous before God His Father. Therefore, the truth on display at Golgotha was also revealing the character attributes of God and what He was doing to exercise them.
The truth is that God is perfectly just in judging guilty sinners (Gen 18:25; Ps 7:11; 9:8). He will demonstrate this truth again on the final day of human history in this fallen world, the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment (Mt 11:24; 12:36; Rom 2:5; 2 Pet 2:9). The Judge is coming (Rev 19:11–21), and justice will be served, as all people who have ever lived will be resurrected from the dead to stand in the judgment and give an account of all that they did, both good and bad (Jn 5:28–29; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11).
The standard of God’s judgment has already been revealed, “There is no one good and there is no one who does good (Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Is 64:6; Rom 3:12, 23; 5:12).” Man hates God’s judgment of him, and this stimulates man’s lawless deeds against the holy God. Who can deliver the unjust from the wrath of God to come?
Sinners attempted to humiliate Jesus on the cross, but in showing them how wretched they were in their trespasses and sins, God also showed them the truth of His mercy toward sinners (Rom 9:15). By punishing His only begotten Son on the cruel Roman cross, God revealed the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29), who was releasing His people from their sins by His blood (Rev 1:5). Jesus laid down His life for God’s chosen people given to Him before creation by the Father (Jn 6:37; 10:11, 15; 17:2, 6, 24). It was to save His people from their sins that Jesus came into the world to suffer and die (Mt 1:21). His substitutionary atoning death was judged acceptable by God raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:31; Rom 1:4).
The truth about helpless, hopeless, fallen humanity was manifest by the incarnation of the sinless One of God, sent from heaven on a mission to make the Father and His predetermined plan of salvation known to all people (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Mt 24:14; Mk 16:15; Acts 2:23; Rev 19:1). The truth about Jesus Christ, who has shown us the Holy Father, is manifest by the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching and teaching of God’s written Word (Is 61:1; Lk 4:18; Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 2:4; 1 Pet 1:12).
We preach Christ and Him crucified, as He is made manifest to us on the pages of Holy Scripture. This Word goes forth in the power of the Spirit to bring forth those predestined to be adopted children of God (Eph 1:4–5). The Word of life does not fail to give life to those appointed by God to eternal life (Acts 13:48; Jn 6:63).
Jesus is the life of God — new, abundant, and eternal — poured out at the cross and poured into the souls of those to whom He is made manifest. This is the Gospel truth sent from heaven, believed on in the world, by those to whom God has sent the Spirit of truth (Jn 14:26; 15:26), who grants faith in Jesus Christ (Phil 1:29), by granting the grace of repentance (Acts 5:31).
The manifestation of the truth is the work of God by the will of God. It results in the production of joy in those who believe the truth, while drawing the scorn of those who have not received the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9). That should be obvious to everyone, as more truth is made manifest.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 31, 2021
