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GETTING STARTED
Loading the player...Wherever you find human beings; guess what? You’ll find them to be people who worship. Even some atheists can get religious about what they believe. Whether it’s footballers who cross themselves or fans who sing their praises, it seems we’re all into following someone or something.
If you were to set out in search for the meaning of life and the truth about God. Where would you begin?
- God - The greatest being and all-powerful creator
- Jesus - The Son of God, who came to earth as a man
- Religion - People working hard to find their way to God
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PIT STOP
Have a go at answering the questions below on your own. If you do get really stuck then click on the question to reveal a hint.
What comes into your mind when you think about religion?
There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question; religion means different things to different people. Here are some words that many people associate with religion: boring, confusing, irrelevant and dangerous.
If God doesn’t exist then why do you think so many religions exist?
The existence of religion could be a clue that points us to the fact that there is a God. Human beings all over the world do seem to be aware of something more, some kind of a greater reality.
How can an atheist (someone who doesn’t believe in God) prove there is no God?
Next stepIt’s easy to say ‘there’s definitely no God’, but it’s impossible to prove. There isn’t a single scientific test that could prove or disprove the existence of God.
Some of the world’s greatest scientists believe in God.
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BACK ON TRACK
Loading the player...Religion helps us to see that we might have been made for worship but is religion any help to us in finding our way to God?
If religion can’t help us find the meaning to life and the truth about God, then who can? Well, if there is a God maybe he can!
- Revelation - Uncovering something that was hidden.
- Rescue - Being saved from danger.
- Relationship - The love of a friend or family member.
- Bible - A collection of historical books written with God's powerful influence.
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FINDING DIRECTION
According to the Bible we’re all born lost, heading in the wrong direction and without any hope of finding God without his help. We therefore need three things from God: revelation, rescue and relationship – this is where Jesus comes in!
John Chapter 14 verse 1-11
1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
What is revelation and why do we need it more than we need religion?
Revelation happens when something hidden is uncovered or unveiled.
When it comes to the truth about God, we need more than opinions and ideas; we need God to show us what is true. We need God’s revelation more than we need someone else’s religion.
In verse 2, Jesus reveals (unveils, uncovers) that God is his Father. List some other things Jesus reveals in these verses.
V1 By saying ‘trust in God trust also in me’, Jesus is putting himself on a level with God.
V2 There’s plenty of room in heaven.
V6 You can’t get to heaven without Jesus; there’s no other way.
V9-10 Again Jesus is claiming equality with God. We could say it like this: God the Father was in heaven and God the son (Jesus) was on earth. Jesus is revealing a God beyond anyone’s imagination.
What should Philip have known? (v9-11)
Philip had spent nearly three years with Jesus; he should have known that Jesus was someone very special. The miracles that Philip had seen should have given him enough evidence to convince him of Jesus’ true identity.
How can we know that Jesus was not just an ordinary man? (v11)
The many amazing miracles Jesus performed prove that he was someone special. Ordinary people don’t do the things Jesus did.
Jesus claims in verse 6 that the only way to God (and therefore heaven) is through him. You might think that Jesus was being arrogant, but what if he was just telling the truth?
If Jesus is the only way to God then what he says in v6 is not arrogant; it’s helpful! If you read through the life-story of Jesus, he comes across as gentle, selfless and kind. Arrogance isn’t a word you’d really use to describe him.
Jesus told his disciples that he was going somewhere but where was he going and why? (v2-3)
Jesus is talking here about heaven, sometimes referred to as paradise. He is talking about heaven in terms of his Father’s house, so I guess we could say that he was going home.
We don’t have to guess why he was going back to heaven; he tells us. So, heaven is not only the place where his Father lives, it’s also the place Jesus wants his followers to be.
In verse 1 Jesus says ‘trust also in me’. What is trust and what reasons do we have to trust the things Jesus says here about himself, about God and about heaven?
Next stepTrust is to believe something with all your heart, it’s to be so convinced that something is true that it changes the way you think, feel and live.
Jesus has given us many good reasons to trust him. His words were always consistent and never proved to be false. He was much more than talk; his actions always matched up with his words.
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ARE WE THERE YET?
Loading the player...Jesus is God’s greatest and clearest revelation about himself, so if you’re serious about this search there’s no better place to start than with him.
He's the only way to God. He is the only way for anyone to change lanes onto the narrow road that leads to eternal life.