There can be a difference between believing a doctrine—even having a deep, accurate understanding of it—and living it. The ultimate goal of seeking truth must be to live what we believe.

       As we have covered, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We begin by knowing Him as the Way. We mature as we begin to know Him as the Truth, but if we do not go on to know Him as our Life,  we do not fully know Him as the Way or the Truth. He must become our Life. A true disciple lives to know their Master so they can become like Him and do the works that He did.

       I repeat this often because retention requires repetition. A truth must be retained in our hearts and minds to become our life, our nature. Don’t despair over how many times you fail. We’re told in Proverbs 24:16 that “a righteous person falls seven times and rises again.” The Lord does not like to see us fall, but our falling does not displease Him as much as our getting back up and fighting on pleases Him.

       We draw near to Him through the cross, but we abide in Him by His resurrection. It is by knowing Jesus as our Life and seeking to get ever closer to Him—to know Him better and to see His glory—that the Way and the Truth are turned into our Life.

       The true Christian life is the ultimate adventure that we can live. It is as we come to know Him as our Life that His truth lives. But the River of Life is not a pond or a lake; a river is always flowing, moving toward an ultimate destination. There is a saying that “you can never step in the same river twice,” because it is ever-changing. Are we ever-changing—in the right way, of course?

        Jesus does not just know the Way; He is the Way. Neither does He just have the truth; He is the Truth. Everything is summed up in Him. The Father made His Son the ultimate purpose of His creation. As He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, He will be “all in all,” the consummation of all things. So, this life, this adventure that eclipses all others, is following a person who is both the Lamb and the Lion, the King of kings.

       In the end, all will be summed up in Him. This age is being used to give some of us a head start in this ultimate purpose for all things. We can become a part of Him now and be used in this age to prepare for His kingdom that will restore all things to the paradise they were created to be, erasing all the evil that came from the Fall. But even greater than that is how we are called to abide in Him now, having our lives summed up in Him now.

       This “restoration of all things” will be a massive job, but it is not the conclusion. “He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10). As we are being filled with Him, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ” (see Ephesians 4:15).

       We come to know the Way as we know what we must do. We come to know the Truth as we understand why we are called to do it. We come to know Him as our Life when we do what we must do with Him—in Him—not just for Him.

       His work of redemption starts at the cross. His work of restoration leads us to the throne. As we see at the end of this age how far the world has fallen, we will think that this work of restoration is the biggest job there could ever be. It is, and by being a part of it, we are going to know the depth, the height, and the breadth of the love of God and the power of His love. He has called us to this work in the age to come to see His glory change the fallen creation the way that His glory has changed us. 

       As we behold the deep depravity of this world and how far man has fallen, it will seem that restoring mankind is the biggest job there ever could be. It will also be the most wonderful, fulfilling job of which we could ever be a part. In this, we see His glory, which has worked in our redemption and restoration, now working through us to the whole creation. This is what the age to come is for, and we are preparing for it now. As we proceed from the cross to the throne, let us keep in mind that this age is so we can help the whole world do the same, through Him.

 

© 2026 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.