Each of the seven I Am’s mentioned in the Gospel according to John gives a unique insight about Jesus Christ. What great realms of truth are opened to us in these seven declarations concerning Who He is and What He is: “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the Light of the World,” “I am the Door,” “I am the Good Shepherd,” “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” “I am the True Vine,” and “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

I Am the Way

We begin by drawing from John 14:6, where Jesus announced on the eve of His betrayal, “I am the Way.” The Greek term for way means a “road” or the “customary path or course of travel.” Within the context of John 14, Jesus declares Himself to be the road to the Father and that no man can come to the Father but by Him. Hebrews 9 tells us that by His own blood Jesus Christ entered into the holy place; He made the way to heaven, and we are to follow Him.

“Way” in the Bible is also presented as a course of travel of human conduct, the manner of life which one lives. By Christ’s doctrine and example, He teaches us our duty, and so He is the Way. In Him God and man meet and are brought together. Man having forfeited the Tree of Life in Eden’s garden, God through His Son provided another way to it. Christ becomes the way or the course to get to heaven. As John 1:51 states, He is that ladder that is set up and kept up between heaven and earth: the angels of God ascend and descend upon Him; our prayers go to God, and His blessings come to us by Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ is the Way, the road, and the course of travel every moment of the day for the Christian.

In the Book of Acts, “the Way” was one of the earliest names applied to Christianity. In Acts 9:2, Saul (Paul) was sent to persecute any people of the way. In Acts 18:25, Apollos was instructed in the way of the Lord. In Acts 19:9, there were those at Ephesus who spoke evil of the way. Also at Ephesus (19:23), “there arose no small stir about that way.” In Acts 22:4, Paul speaks of his persecuting the people of this way. In Acts 24:22, we read that Felix heard these things, “having more perfect knowledge of that way.”

Yet the Bible will speak of a deepening of the Way, such as in Acts 18:26, when Aquila and Priscilla “expounded unto him [Apollos] the way of God more perfectly,” or more completely or fully. Apollos was a saved man, but he came preaching only the message of John the Baptist. Paul makes it clear in 19:4 that this Baptism message was the New Birth. Yet Apollos did not know any of the deeper truths about “the way.” This husband and wife took Apollos deeper in his understanding of “the way.” In I Corinthians 12:31 Paul wrote, after presenting the gifts of the Spirit, “and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way,” a surpassing way, or a way within the way. Isaiah 35:8 tells of a way within the way, or a “high” way; that highway is the way of holiness. Yes, a way within the way!

What we have observed thus far is that Jesus Christ, in our New Birth, becomes the road, or the way upon which we travel. He is within us; He is our surety; but He is also the road, the customary path, or the course of travel from here until we get to heaven. Jesus Christ is the Road, the Way. In the light of this truth, a prominent term for living with Him, in Him, on Him, with God, is the classic word walk. I must know how to walk on the road, the way; I must be found in the way, walking every moment of the day not only with Him but also in Him.

The Walk upon the Way

In the Old Testament, each of the Hebrew terms for walk has the understanding of “to go,” or “to progress.” Sometimes the context implies walking assiduously, perseveringly, carefully, deliberately, such as in the case of Enoch who “walked” with God.

In the New Testament we certainly see physical walking. The writings of the Gospel quartet present Christ walking from place to place. With the exception of 21:21, the Book of Acts always refers to walking as a physical exercise. However, neither in the Pauline Epistles nor the writings of John the Beloved is the word “walk” speaking of physical walking.

The Greek understanding of walking at times signifies the whole road of the activities of the individual life; note the unregenerate in Ephesians 2:2, who walked according to the course of this world. Isaiah 53:6 states that “we have turned every one to his own way,” or we made our own road of travel before Christ found us. As we grow up, away from God, what we feed on, what we listen to, what we view, what we think, and what acts of sin we commit all contribute to “our way.” All of these choices are blended with our own sin pollution to create “our unique way.” Every child will manifest “his way” with time. Oh, the by-product of what we have fed on over the years, as a result of turning to our own way of sin, our unique blend of sin! “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” These ways have a way of coming back on us, those paths of sin we made. If we are not careful, our heart will tend to go back to its well-worn way.

Colossians 2:6 exhorts the believer: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” According to Romans 6:4, we as Christians are to walk “in newness of life.” Romans 8:4 tells us we are to “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” In I Thessalonians 4:1, the Apostle wanted to teach us “how ye ought to walk.” In II Thessalonians 3:6, Paul condemned those who walked “disorderly.” But within this precious and wonderful path, the road of Christ, there will be other ingredients. We are to walk in light, truth, and love, which are all part of the road of Christ.

Walking is to be the most constant aspect of the Christian life. We are exhorted “to stand” at times, “to fight,” and even to “run.” But most of the time we are simply walking, going on, progressively, diligently, deliberately, and perseveringly.

What Is It to Walk the Way?

This is a very important question to ask in our contemporary day when it seems that everyone speaks of Jesus as the “Way” while little walking of the way is evident. What is it to walk with God, in Christ, consistently, perseveringly, going on and on within that road?

The walk with God begins in a person’s life when a number of workings of God have taken place in the human heart. I must remember that it is “my walk” with God that is most important. Others may visibly be with us, to encourage us; but when it comes to the walk, it is the inner heart and mind that matter. It is that realm where affections and thoughts come together in our relationship with Christ in the road and on the road. A husband cannot make the walk for the wife, and the wife cannot make the walk for the husband. Parents cannot do so for their children and vice versa. All must find the road for themselves and walk that road for themselves.

Note the words of Matthew 7:13, 14:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

What is this “narrow” way? It is the way that has been compressed; it is a tight place, between high rocks.

What is the walk with Christ, with God, and what does it mean? There are several markings that are evident in a walk with God.

1. To walk with God means that we have been reconciled. Amos 3:3 asks us, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The nature of my life has been changed, and I have been brought into harmony with God. God has not conformed to the man, but the man has been conformed to God. Yes, walking with God means we have been reconciled to Him.

2. To walk with God implies a correspondence of nature. Light has no communion with darkness. No sinner can walk with God. It is sin that separates us from God. When Adam sinned, he ran away from God and hid among the trees. A walk with God proves this sin has been put away.

3. To walk with God implies there is moral fitness. God does not walk out of the way of holiness. Walking with God means that we cease taking our own way, that we abandon the world’s way. It means that we have been made fit through the holiness of God to walk with Him.

4. To walk with God implies a surrendered will. God does not force His presence upon anyone. We are told of Christ Jesus (Hebrews 10:7 and prophetically Psalm 40:8) that He came to do the will of the Father and that He delighted in doing that will. There must be a willingness and readiness on our part to take His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:29). God does not force this upon us, but taking Christ’s yoke upon us enables us to do whatever God wants us to do, and to do it willingly.

5. To walk with God implies spiritual communion. The word walk implies steady progress. It is not a run, a leap, a spurt, but a steady walk in a forward direction. It is growth in grace.

6. To walk with God implies a growth in the knowledge of God. While it is one thing to talk about God or to reason about God, it is another thing to know Him. This is the practical and experimental side of the Christian life. If we are to know God, we must walk with Him; the longer the walk, the deeper the knowledge of God.

7. To walk with God brings a consequence of a deep settled joy and peace. A person’s life when walking with God will be one of happiness and joy. How could we be miserable and gloomy with such a companion as our Beloved Lord?

8. To walk with God ensures protection. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” Nothing can harm the man who has the Lord God at his right hand.

9. To walk with God brings a consequence of witness for God. Before we can witness for God, we must walk with God. There must be something that precedes service: the great lack in modern Evangelism is an abounding personal life gained from walking with God. Even to the Devil, Jesus declared the proper order: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). There must be the worshipping of God before there can be the serving of God.

Conclusion

Thank God we have found “the Way” in Christ Jesus our Lord. Having found it, we must now “walk” the Road. Paul the Apostle exhorted the Ephesians, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (4:1). He told the Colossians to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (1:10). Unto the Thessalonians in his first epistle (2:12) he urges “that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.”

It is one thing to find “the Way”; it will be another thing to walk “the Way.” This is where Christianity in our generation has failed! Many do not know how to walk the way. May the Lord be the road we travel; may He enable us to walk the road well, to His glory and honor!