YES – The Big Eternal, Irrevocable, Irrepressible, Inexplicable, Yes

We live in a world that only wants “yes” and hates the word “no”. It has so invaded modern day thought, parenting, and life in general, don’t say “no”.
Toleration is the seeming focal word of our day. I heard Josh McDowell, in the mid 90’s say that within 5 years the “only intolerance that would be tolerated will be intolerance of intolerance.” 

So here we are 20 years after I heard him say that and those of us who believe in an eternal standard found in the Word of God in print, the Bible, and the Word of God in the Flesh, Jesus, we find that our belief in a standard is not tolerated by the “toleration police”. We cannot say that there is a standard for marriage. We cannot say that there is a standard for being a Christian and for being IN Christ.

Yet Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” And people read into those beautiful words a big “no”. They see the exclusivity and say “how dare you tell me I can’t make my own way, my own truth, define my own life.” But in their belief in a big “no”, they are missing the “YES”.

Jesus wasn’t saying, “You can’t come to God”. He was saying “You CAN come to God, HERE is the Way.”

I stood on a cliff in Portugal with my wife and I looked down about 150-200 feet and saw a beautiful little beach. I thought, I want to go to that beach. Well, what if I said to my bride, “I’m going to the beach, I’m going to jump down there?” She would have said the LOVING thing, “NO”. She would have said “NO” to the jump, but NOT to the Destination. She would have said “let’s take the path, it is over there.” There was a winding path down the rocks to that beautiful beach. But jumping is faster. Yes, but you won’t like the sudden stop, and you won’t be able to enjoy the beach. So the path was the “YES” to my desire, not a “no”. If I want to go to that beach, “there is a way.” (I did go to that beach with my bride)
Jesus said in John 14:2-3 – “I go to prepare a place for you …” v4 “you know the way …” and Thomas says “We don’t know where you are going and so how can we know the way.”
So, when we see v6, and hear Jesus say “I am the way …” That is not a “no” it is a “YES”. It is a statement that says “I want you to enjoy the beach with me.”
How? Where? Is the question and Jesus says “ME … I am the YES, I am the Way, into what you want, I am the path. It may be narrow and difficult, even slow, but I AM the way and that is the TRUTH that leads to LIFE. You can jump … that may seem faster, easier, but it doesn’t lead to LIFE”.
And so … then go forward to the Apostle Paul teaching in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. He is correcting an immature church who is arguing over “yes” and “no” stuff. And he says in v18 “As surely as God is Faithful, our message is not ‘yes’ and ‘no’ 19 For Jesus … was not ‘yes’ and ‘no’ but in him it has always been ‘yes’. 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ … 21 It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us 22 set his seal of ownership on us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

In Christ don’t look at direction and commands and see them as “yes” and “no” … See Jesus as the Eternal, Irrepressible, Inexhaustible, Yes of God and say “Amen… So Be It Lord, I will turn to Christ, I will Submit to your will and way, and the answer will be ‘yes, Lord, yes’”.