During the time that Jesus was alive on the earth, He was very outspoken against the injustices that were occurring around Him. In His denunciations of the hypocrisy of Israel’s leaders, He put it very clearly when he said to them “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). The Jews had a law that forbade the eating of any creeping thing…. These men would not dare to neglect to pay the tithe of mint, anise, and cumin, and such like herbs and seeds. Yet their conscience did not seem to require the doing of justice, showing mercy to others, or exercising faith in God and love toward Him.

Christ could see that there were others that were hungry for solutions both to their own problems and those of their society. There were people who were outraged and appalled at the injustices occurring around them. To those who were searching for truth and justice, the Lord pronounced a special blessing, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Instead of starting a revolution, instead of becoming the poster boy for freedom from the Romans, Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God and thereby freedom, had come to the world. Not by setting up a perfect world government then, but by reaching the individual at a heart level. So where did Jesus see the root of all problems? “All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so blend our hearts and minds in conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses”1

If Jesus is working on our hearts, then He is working to implant principles of living that will govern our actions and impulses in the right channel as well. What principles did Jesus Himself live by in order to relieve suffering in the world? The book of Luke paints the most beautiful description of Jesus’ mission on this earth. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).

Doesn’t that seem like a comprehensive way to solve the world’s problems? I believe so. In fact, based on what was brought out in the Australian survey mentioned earlier, Jesus’ mission actually serves each one of those areas that are major concerns.

Here is a quick recap:

• Mental Health 33.7%

• Alcohol and drugs 32%

• Equity and discrimination 27.3%

How does Jesus’ mission serve each of those areas—and how is it occurring today? If we acknowledge that what we need is more truth in the world, then our search for righteousness and justice would begin there. So, what is truth? Jesus Himself answered that question for us when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. (John 14:6). Could it be that the solution to the world’s problems is not only the knowledge we seek but instead a divine Person, wholly committed to the cause of restoring this world and bringing true freedom?

So, what makes truth valuable? In July 2015, a young woman living under the ISIS regime in Raqqa was murdered for telling the truth about life under the regime. Countless others have given their lives for speaking the truth in situations and places where it would mean pain, torture and even loss of life (Revelation 6:9). We understand something is valuable because someone was willing to give up something for it—something that is usually called sacrifice. What could be the highest price anyone could pay? It is when they pay for it with their lives. Proverbs 23:23 says “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Truth comes at a cost. What price was paid in order to have the Truth come into our world?

I love reading. As a child and later a teenager, I remember spending hours poring over books, reading deep into the night and losing all sense of what was going on around me because of the riveting story that was in my hands. It was as if the characters and their feelings, scenery and activity all leaped out of the page and surrounded me. I wasn’t just reading a book, I was in the book! That might be a little spooky if you are not really into reading, but I am sure many of you can relate. This is one of the reasons that I find it fascinating when I read about another story where the main character leaped out of the page and became a real person. This person was Jesus. In Revelation 19:13, a name is mentioned that implies this leaping out of the page, this name is “The Word of God.” Looking a little deeper into the Bible itself reveals who this “Word of God” is and where it came from. John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In other words, this “Word of God” was not just words sitting on a page but a divine person, Jesus Christ. When you read further about what this Word did, it becomes clear that the Word of God did something that affected us deeply and personally. John 1:14 says that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

This word of God, which was with God and was God also was made flesh (or human) and lived among us! The words on the page leaped out and became real and living flesh to us. This was not like the characters in the stories I read that became alive in my imagination but actually one that walked right out of the page and became my Saviour.

What was Jesus’ mission while on earth? “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Clearly Jesus was not just paying us a visit; He came with a specific purpose to do something. What was He to do? He declared, I have “manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” Jesus’ mission was to glorify God in heaven and to show His name and to finish the work. What was God’s name that Jesus was to manifest to the world? The story goes that Moses wanted to see God’s glory. Instead of showing him His glory, because no sinful human could behold the glory of God and live, God instead proclaimed His name to Moses. When we read what this name was, we see that it reveals God’s attributes as well, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). Since we are speaking of finding truth, we see that God Himself possesses the trait of goodness and … truth. Jesus came to supply us with what we desire most in this world before we even knew that we were going to begin looking! In a quest for truth and justice, things tend to come around full circle and point to one who actually has truth as part of their name. So, if God is truth, as well as love, justice and mercy, what is Jesus? Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). In other words, the truth we seek is Jesus. And where can we find both truth and Jesus? Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

The Bible itself contains the words that lead us to the giver of true freedom. How do we know that we receive true Freedom in Jesus? “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). As a child I used to long for true freedom. Freedom to stay up until whatever time I wanted, the freedom to eat whatever I wanted and the freedom to choose to play over study and chores. However, as I grew older, I quickly discovered that complete freedom to just do whatever I desired for as long as I wanted did not always equal to happiness and fulfillment. More often than not, it ended up leaving a dissatisfied, restless feeling within and a big hole in the heart. It was out of this gaping hole, this dissatisfaction from a perfectly normal life I was leading, that put me on the start of a quest for Jesus.

Understanding that the Word of God is actually Jesus in the flesh and that Jesus is every part of truth that we need, makes it so much easier to understand why the world needs Jesus. He is not something that I use once and then discard; He is not a band-aid for my problems or a crutch. Jesus is not someone that I go to only at Easter or once a week to meet at church. If we can see that a world without truth even for one day equals to chaos, death and darkness (1 John 1:8) then we can also see that a world with Christ even for one day equals to progress, order, light and life (Psalm 33:4). Following this light leads us out of the abyss that we find ourselves in and also gives us the freedom to live fearlessly and genuinely. If we search for purity of life and true security, then we need look no further than the Bible. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. (Proverbs 30:5). How does finding truth bring us to more truth? John 3:21 says that “ he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” If we are genuinely seeking to find truth, then the closer we look into the Word of God, the more we begin to see about ourselves. We begin to see the web of lies that have been taking shape in our lives and by Jesus’ blood we can be cleansed from those lies and be set straight on the path that God has for us.

How does this happen, though? How does Jesus reshape our paradigm of truth? When Jesus was on earth, He preached that the kingdom of God was within us: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). What did He mean by this?

God’s kingdom is described as having power (1 Corinthians 4:20). We understand the word “power” by the effect that can be seen as a result of it. If we say that there was a powerful storm, we understand that it had much force and even great potential for destruction. If we say that a monarch, president or ruler is powerful, then we understand that that person in power has the ability to make things happen. If the kingdom of God has power, then it has great active force to make a “visible” change. When was this visible change first made? Hebrews 11:3 takes us back to the beginning “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Quite simply, it is speaking of power that can create worlds! How was our own world created? With nothing more than the word of God!

Psalm 33:6 confirms this saying “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”

This is where the power of the truth lies. Truth is powerful, because it can literally and quickly produce massive changes. This is the reason that truth has been deemed as “dangerous” by those who wished to control others through fear and lies. Another way that we can see the power in the word of God is because of the instantaneous way in which He as the Creator can make things appear. God said “Let there be light”—and guess what? There was light! No waiting time, no need for millions of years to pass before it actually happened. If it would take that long, then it would not be so powerful. But many times, we do not get to see the power of the word as we should, why is this? Jesus Himself said that if He would be uplifted on the cross, He would draw all the people on the earth to Himself (John 12:32). But why has this not happened? Did this mean that Jesus would accomplish this through wielding His power and commanding all to follow Him and accept Him? Of course not. The biggest underlying principle of God’s kingdom is compacted into one small, four letter word: Love. So small and yet so powerful. It is out of this deep, and unconditional love that God seeks to create in us something new. This is how we can see the power of God in the world today. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) How does a person become new? God describes His miraculous power in the assurance: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

What is it that the world perceives that youth need today, right now?

In the quest for truth and justice, there is no place for middle grounders or fence sitters. There is no place for those who say they look for truth but are too lazy or unbelieving to go the whole way. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6).

Have you ever started out on a trip to go shopping but then stopped halfway because you couldn’t see what was around the bend before you were actually there at the shop? Of course not! The goal is to get to the shops and it would be ridiculous to not go around the bend simply because you cannot see what is behind it before you get there. If you are following a map, then you are taking it on faith that there is an intersection marked exactly where it says it will be. Once you round the bend and you see the intersection, it strengthens your faith in the map, and the next time, you are more likely to follow it. The Word of God works in a similar way. We read in the Word of God “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6).

God is more than willing to help us. He has given us His own Son, full of power and truth to keep us on the path of truth and righteousness. What has God pledged Himself to do for us? “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight” (Isaiah 42:16). He has promised to bring light to those in darkness and open the eyes of the blind. These are not the words of a loser or a failure. These are the words of a conqueror—a warrior! One who is absolutely confident that they can and are able to change your life beyond your wildest dreams!

Our world is hungry, hungry for truth, love, justice and something that actually works! Don’t you want something that actually works for a change? Something that is real, truthful and centered on true, outflowing love? If you do, then there is no time to lose. Transforming power, love and a new life await for all those who will ask Jesus into their hearts, so prepare to see changes in your life and in those around you!