Grace For The Journey

The world would have us believe that all roads lead to heaven.

The world often paints a picture of a mountain with God sitting at the peak and countless pathways up the mountain to climb up to the presence of God.  This thinking has even infected the church; one stunning survey recently conducted by LifeWay Research found that a full sixty percent (60%) of self-proclaimed “evangelical Christians” agreed with the statement that “Everyone eventually goes to heaven.”

Such beliefs are simply not true, as Jesus Himself makes perfectly clear in John 14:6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

Now, that is an exclusive truth claim!

No one comes to God the Father except through faith in His beloved Son.

Unbelievers frequently criticize the Christian faith for not being “inclusive,” but it is an undeniable fact that every religion makes exclusive truth claims.  Each religious worldview presents its own way to get to heaven (the afterlife, eternal life, etc.) and into the presence of God.

Now, every religious world view can in fact be false . . . but they cannot all be true.  If Jesus is who He says He is, then we must take Him at His word and believe there is only one way to eternal life and into the eternal presence of the Creator of the universe.

Here are a few truths to glean from John 14:6.

1. First, we cannot work our way into God’s presence.

It is by God’s grace that we are saved, not by our good works; we are saved on the basis of God’s mercy, not our merit. Jesus is the Way.

2. We see that Jesus is the Truth, which tells us there is indeed a category called truth.

Truth is not relative and everything is not true.  If Christianity as a religious world view is true, then every other religious world view must be false.

3. Jesus is the Life. Jesus gives us life and is our life, both every day and eternally.        Jesus is the Life.

Paul gave us great insight into this remarkable truth.  In 1 Timothy 2:5, he says, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

When Adam and Eve turned away from God,

The way to God was broken and barred.

Adam and Eve were banished from the presence of God and sent out of the Garden to live east of Eden.

Only through our Lord Jesus Christ is that way open to us again.

Through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to reconnect with God.  As our Mediator, Jesus exercises a three-fold office:

• The Prophet who proclaims to us the truths of the Gospel;
• The Priest who offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin;
• And the King who saves us from the dominion of sin, Satan, and death.

Let this word encourage you and challenge you today: there is only one way to eternal life, and that way is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Is He your way?  Have you transferred your trust from yourself to Jesus as the Only Way?  If you have accepted this truth, by grace through faith, then rejoice today that your Jesus is the One Way . . . the Only Way.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”