He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15–17

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created . . . [and] The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1–3, 14

In our current culture, we hear people in the media say things such as “I need to speak my truth.”

Very little is said of the truth.

Yet as far back as I can remember, knowing and living according to the truth is what has been most important to me.

“Why am I here?” “How did we get here?” “What’s the purpose of life?” “If God exists, what is God like and what does God want from me?”

Are there any questions more fundamental than these? I hardly think so.

I’ve always believed that there had to be some underlying narrative in which we all have a role. True, we all have our individual, personal stories. But all of our stories, I think, need to fit into and be understood in the light of, a larger, more comprehensive story. The story.

My own desire to know the truth is why my life seemed to begin crumbling when I began questioning the faith of my upbringing. Catholicism was central to my narrative. It was where I fit. When that truth began shaking, I found myself disoriented and anxious.

It’s also why I kept persisting in looking for satisfying answers. Because to me it mattered. I wanted my life to align with reality, with what is true about the world, with the way things actually are and not how I imagine or want them to be. Even before being able to turn these longings into words, they drove me one way or another.

One of the most profound aspects of being a Christian for me comes from the Colossians passage above. Speaking of Christ, Paul writes that all things have been created through him and for him. Christ is the origin of my existence. I am because he is, because through him God the Father brought me into being.

Not only that, Christ is the purpose of my life. I exist not only through him but for him. I am not here for myself. I receive my reason for existing from outside of myself. Put another way, my story is part of the larger story God is telling in history and creation.

And of course this Christ through whom and for whom I have been created is the Word, the very logos and creative principle of the cosmos. Remarkably, this Word, as John tells us, became flesh and dwelt among us. And he did this to reveal the truth of who God is and who we are.

There’s more to it than that, obviously. But that’s one way of expressing it.

Discovering Jesus as the way and the truth and the life is what began to transform me all those years ago. It is what continues to transform me in the present.

Knowing Christ has given my life a foundation and a direction, a meaning and a purpose.

Knowing Christ as the truth has meant coming to know the truth about myself.

And Christ is not only my truth; he is the truth. Which means he is and therefore can be your truth is well.