“Acting is all about truth….” (so far, so good)….
“…if you can fake that, then you will have a jolly good career.” (eh oh)
….thus speaks Sir Laurence Olivier.
The very idea that truth is not a set figure, a constant thing, indisputable and unchangeable is, in fact, contrary both to scripture and to nature.
The Bible clearly says that men (or women), because of the wicked intentions of their hearts and minds, 
actually supress the truth.
“….they did not honour… God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…”
People- you and me- actually ignore the obvious truth which we see when we look at bumble bees and flowers and mountains and rivers, and which we also know in our heart of hearts: God is the Creator King over all. We bottle up this truth and put it into the deepest darkest cellar of our minds. Instead we ‘live as if there was no tomorrow’, we live for the ‘here and now’. We pretend and act as if there isn’t a God.
“Be careful what you wish for… you might just get it.”
Seeing that we have- voluntarily and with full use of our thinking faculties- chosen to ignore the truth, then God lets us have what we wished for: soon we fully believe the lie and jump in deeper than we originally dreamed. We become thoughtless liars, consumed with self indulgence and petty disputes; gradually we become less like the “Gods” we dreamed ourselves to be, and more like the demons we profess not to believe in.
But God will not allow us to continue in our rebellion forever…
“They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””
“God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.”
“If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.”
God will not allow wrongs to go unpunished. It is in his very nature that he is a good God. He is perfect. He is Holy. He hates wickedness. He hates rebellion. He cannot allow murderers, liars, thieves, gossipers, dissenters and swearers to go without the punishment they deserve for their crimes.
What is the verdict? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
What is the punishment? “For the wages of sin is death”
We are all guilty, condemned by the Holy Judge. Jesus said that whoever hates someone has murdered them, whoever lusts after someone has committed adultery. God doesn’t just examine the DNA, the evidence and the witnesses: he also examines the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows that we have ignored and supressed the truth and have followed a lie.
The truth? God is King over all His Creation, including us.
The lie? We are Kings! We are the Lords of our own destinies. We can live without Judge and without Law.
Where does that leave us? Condemned. Awaiting a penalty of death. Eternal, and everlasting death.
Or that is where it would leave us if it wasn’t for God’s great mercy and grace. He loves us. He actually loves us rebels. So much, in fact, that he staged the greatest rescue mission of all time! You have all heard the words of John 3 and verse 16,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and yet God himself, was born and 
lived a perfect Holy life here on earth.
What happened to Jesus?
He was unjustly tried by an illegal court, he was ignored by the cowardly authorities and he was murdered. He was beaten, humiliated and hung on a tree, where he suffered the wrath and punishment which we deserve. His Father abandoned him upon that cross. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been bound together in love for all eternity, and yet, in those moments on the cross, Jesus was abandoned.
Why? Because God so loved us, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
But Jesus was not left in the grave where he was placed. No. Death could not possibly attempt to contain the very Author of Life! The Bible says that the ‘sting of death’ is sin. And Jesus had conquered the effects of sin when he was punished on the cross! Therefore death had lost its power.
Jesus rose triumphant from the grave! He lives! He lives!
Now we are each left with a vital decision. It is a decision which will mould our entire eternities. Do we abandon the rebellion against God and name Him as King and Lord, confessing our own wickedness and trusting in Jesus’ work for our salvation and hope. Or do we continue with our doomed revolution, desperately trying to cling on to our lies, while simultaneously supressing the truth the Jesus is King.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)
