John 1:1–14; Romans 1:20–25
Part I – The “GPS Glitch”
In the “old days”—which, for most of us, is ancient history—we had physical maps. A map was Absolute Truth. If the map said the bridge was there, the bridge was there. It didn’t care if you felt like the bridge should be two miles south; the map stayed the same.
Then came GPS. It was a miracle! But imagine for a second that your GPS started malfunctioning in a very specific way. Imagine you’re driving, and the voice says, “In 200 feet, turn left… if you feel like that’s where your heart is leading you today.” Eventually, the map on the screen disappears entirely, and the voice just says, “You have already arrived, because ‘destination’ is whatever you want it to be.”
We are currently living in that “GPS glitch.”
We are the most informed generation in human history, yet we are arguably the most confused about who we are and where we are going.
- We have thousands of “friends” and zero community.
- We have endless “options” and no direction.
To understand how we got here—and how to get out—we have to look at the three “turns” history took.
We moved from the Map, to the Mirror, and finally, we must return to the Master.
- In other words, we humans traded Global Positioning Satellite for God’s Positioning Scripture
The Age of Exploration: The Distraction of the Map
If we go back a few centuries to the Age of Exploration, explorers like Magellan were obsessed with mapping the world. This was an incredible gift of “General Revelation.”
Psalm 19:1–2 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.”
The world is a map that points to a Designer.
- But a subtle, dangerous shift happened.
- We became so obsessed with the Map (the creation) that we forgot the Maker.
Romans 1:20–23 describes this perfectly:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities… have been clearly seen… but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened… they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images…”
- Imagine you are invited to a massive, five-course gala dinner. Instead of talking to the Host or eating the food, you spend the whole night measuring the dimensions of the table and analyzing the chemical composition of the silverware.
- You know the specs, but you missed the Spirit.
We started believing that “Truth” is only what we can measure with a ruler. We assumed if we couldn’t find God at the bottom of a telescope, He wasn’t there. We traded the Host for the silverware.
Part II. The Empty Throne & The Broken Mirror
Secularism & Post-Christianity
As we moved into the modern era, we decided we didn’t need the “Host” at all. This is our “Tower of Babel” moment.
In Genesis 11:4, the people said: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.”
Secularism told us we could have “heaven on earth” without God.
We kept the Christian values—like “love your neighbor”—but we kicked out the God who commanded them.
This is Post-Christianity.
- It’s a “Cut-Flower Culture.”
- You cut a rose and put it in a vase. It looks beautiful for a few days. It still smells like a rose. But because it’s severed from the roots, it is technically dead.
- Our society wants the “flowers” of justice and equality, but we’ve cut the roots of the Gospel.
- Romans 1:25 warns that they “exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”Without the roots, the flowers eventually turn black.
Post-Modernism: The Broken Mirror
Once we got rid of God (The King), we realized that human reason is also flawed.
So, we moved the “Source of Truth” from the Heavens to our own internal feelings.
Relative truth became a mirror instead of God’s word and the absoluteness it offers.
This is exactly like the period of the Judges:”In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
If I look in the mirror and decide I am the center of the universe, that becomes “my truth.”
But when 8 billion people all have their own “personal truth,” we don’t have a society; we have a shouting match.
We are like the people at Babel after God confused their languages—we are talking, but no one is truly being heard.
Colossians 2:8 (NLT) gives us a stern warning for this moment: “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”
The world says, “Follow your heart,” but the Bible reminds us the heart is deceptive and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
“Your truth” is a heavy, exhausting backpack to wear. You weren’t meant to be the source of your own light.
Part III. The Conclusion: The Return of the Logos
Into this chaos steps Jesus.
He doesn’t give us a new map, and He doesn’t tell us to look in the mirror.
He says, “Look at Me.”
He is the Word of God and the Word of God is a mirror
John 1:1, 14 & 2 Corinthians 3:18 reveals the ultimate resolution:
“In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
- He is Objective Truth: He isn’t a feeling; He is a historical fact. He lived, died, and rose.
- He is Personal Truth: He isn’t a cold scientific formula. He “tabernacled” (dwelt) among us.
- He is Grace and Truth: Our world offers “Truth” without Grace (Cancel Culture) or “Grace” without Truth (Anything Goes). Jesus is the only one who offers both.
Psalm 34:8 (NKJV) invites us: “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
You don’t have to carry the burden of “creating your own truth.”
- Stop trying to be the source of your own light.
- Surrender the “hollow philosophies” that tell you that you are just a cosmic accident.
- Step into the light.
Colossians 2:8 NKJV Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
We are real people living in this world, but we are not of this worldly system.
We are guided by a Book (The Bible) and led by the Holy Spirit.
Let the Logos become Rhema—the living, breathing Word of God in your life today.