One Word of Truth

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” —Jeremiah 2:12-13

In June 2003, Linden Lab launched the website “Second Life,” a virtual world where participants can interact with other “residents” through "avatars." They can buy virtual clothing with virtual dollars, attend art exhibits, go to the theater, start dating relationships, take classes, learn a new language, and a host of other things. Educational institutions, governmental agencies, and even foreign embassies have a presence in Second Life, with some foreign nations actually opening embassies in Second Life. Those who participate in Second Life seek to create their own world, void of any of the norms, rules and regulations of this natural physical world that they inhabit. They can be whoever they desire, creating their avatars to look, sound and act in whatever way they want them to.

In the prophet Jeremiah’s time, the people were trying to do something similar to Second Life. That is, they were trying to create their own reality—or their own truth, apart from God. The Israelites (Jeremiah’s people) were guilty of two things: forsaking God and attempting to create their own religion. In very stark and, at times, metaphorical terms, Jeremiah rebukes the people for leaving the one true God—the source of ultimate soul satisfaction. And if leaving God were not enough, the people went one further; they attempted to create their own “cisterns,” which is a metaphor for them trying to create their own religion, their own measure of reality, and their own version of truth.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and to turn away from God means that they must turn to something else. The only problem was that their creation was “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Their version of truth was a lie, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t change reality, nor who God is and what He requires. All attempts at trying to redefine God or create one’s own religion will ultimately fail. Only what Christ has done and His Words will endure. Or as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “One word of truth outweighs the whole world.” Christ is the one word—not only of truth, but He is truth (John 14:6). He created everything that is,  

“For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.”—Colossians 1:16. 

He is the Son of the Father, very God of very God, who “upholds the universe by the word of His power”—Hebrews 1:3. He is the one who defines our reality, and it is He who is our soul’s ultimate satisfaction. He is the one from whom flows “living water” or the truth of God that satisfies the thirst of our soul (John 4:10). Christ calls those who thirst to come and drink from Him (John 7:37), and once we drink from Him, living water will flow from us to others—the life of God will pour out from our hearts so that others will desire to drink the delights of Christ (John 7:38). May our soul’s sole satisfaction be found in Christ and in Him alone, because only in Him is true joy found. Amen.