We Would See Jesus - Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Seeing Jesus As the Way

Previously the authors emphasized the truth that Jesus is the Door for both unbelievers to enter the kingdom of God initially and also for believers who are continually entering into the fullness of God throughout our life journey. Entering through the lowly Door to experience more of God requires a lifestyle of repentance.

So then what lies beyond the entrance? Beyond the doorway is a life-long walk, a pathway into God and all that has to do with Him and His kingdom. That pathway is Jesus; so this chapter is about the truth that Jesus is the Way (John 14:6). He is both the doorway and the pathway.

A "Way" speaks of a walk, a continuous experience. "A walk is simply a reiterated step, where something is happening each moment in the present; after one step, the next step; after the one 'now', the next 'now.' This illustrates the fact that our experience of Christ is to be a continuous present tense, a glorious 'now.'"

If we agree that this is what our life in God is, then the natural question that should come to us is, "How can people like ourselves, in circumstances like those in which we are, enjoy a continuous walk like that? With evil propensities within us and sin around us, we are faced with what looks like an impassable swamp. We need a Way, and a Way of such an order that foolish wayfaring men like ourselves may walk thereon in peace and safety."

Of course, we know that God has provided this Way: Christ Jesus.

When you stop long enough to realize the implications of this, it's massive! Lately I've seen more clearly than ever before how prone we weak and fallen humans are to look for many "ways" to mature in Christ. We determine that we will practice spiritual disciplines (such as prayer and Bible reading) or get involved in ministry to people, etc., hoping all the while that these things will bring us to Christ and lead us into the fullness of God. But when we approach our need for maturing in this manner, we find ourselves constantly unable to live up to the ideals that we set for ourselves and end up frustrated and angry and discouraged with no motivation to continue taking one step after another into God.

God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and He has determined that His Son is the only Way to arrive at anything in God.


Those of you who know me know that I believe with all my heart in prayer and fasting and all the spiritual disciplines, and I believe they are necessary for the believer to grow steadily in God; but it's easy to unwittingly fall into the belief that my prayers (or whatever) are the way to God. With this as my mindset, my tendency when I'm not praying as I think I should be will be to try to pray better and more in order to draw near to God.

The solution to a prayerless life is not to "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and pray more in order to get to God and grow in Him, but the solution is to see Jesus as the Way to a fruitful prayer life in Him. The authors emphasize that our need is not to try harder but to repent of making other things the "way" and then ask Jesus to be the Way to a life of prayer and fasting and ministry to others, etc. Whatever we need in order to walk this continuous present tense life in God is arrived at by means of His designated Way, the Lord Jesus.

Practically speaking, this means that when I have failed to measure up in some way or another, rather than isolate myself from God and try to do better so that I can be presentable to Him, I turn immediately to Jesus who is the only One who can "fix" whatever needs fixing or strengthening in me. I come to Him "just as I am" for Him to be the Way to a more fruitful prayer life and ministry. So I talk with Him always about everything, even the sinful and un-Christlike things and thoughts that are going on in me. This is what it means to walk with Jesus. He doesn't want to walk with us only when we've got everything in order; if that were the case, He would never walk with us this side of heaven, because we will never have everything in perfect order. It is in taking His hand when we least feel we deserve to be with Him that He is able to lead us into a meaningful prayer life and ministry.

After sinning, Adam and Eve ran away from God rather than to Him. Their shame and self-consciousness drove them to try to cover themselves with man-made clothing so that they would be presentable to God. All the while, God longed for them to run to Him in the midst of their sin and shame. What a different story it would have been if they had not run away from God to fix themselves before appearing before Him! This is religion, and it is deeply ingrained in all fallen and sinful humans. The Holy Spirit continues to uncover the subtle ways this plays out in my life, and I'm very grateful. I'm learning more and more to let Him in on everything in my life - the good, bad and the ugly. The more I let Him in on it all, the easier it is for Him to cleanse me and for my life to be increasingly filled with His light.

Lord Jesus, we acknowledge and confess that You alone are the Way to all that pertains to life and godliness. Forgive us for the folly of isolating ourselves with the intent of improving ourselves in order to be presentable to You; show us when this is happening in the issues of daily living. Deliver us by Your cross and Your Spirit from religion and from dead works so that we can freely and gladly serve the living God. Thank You that You want to walk with us each step of the way. We love Your ways, Lord!

Next week we'll cover chapter eight: Seeing Jesus as the End.