A
Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon
# 37
“Is
Jesus The Only Way?”
John 14:1-6 (v. 6
key verse)
(Open with video Clip from Oprah show where she
interviews and showcases several New Age luminaries. But when a Christian woman in
the audience asks Oprah, “What about Jesus?,” Oprah insists Jesus “can't possibly
be the only way” -
www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/oprah-fool.htm)
Under
the Constitution of the United States of America all religious viewpoints are equally
protected. You are free in this country to believe whatever you want. However, some people
jump to the erroneous conclusion that because different philoso-phies are equally
protected they must be equally valid. And that is just not true!
In our society there is increasing opposition
(even among Christians) to what appears to them as - intolerant and exclusive claims. From
what I have read Oprah’s grandmother was a Christian who knew what she believed, but
Oprah can’t bring herself to admit that Jesus is the only way. But she’s not
alone, not too long ago Joel Ostten, pastor of one of the largest churches in this
country, was asked on “Larry King Live”
if a person could go Heaven without Jesus and He said, “He did not know.” As a preacher of
the Gospel, if he indeed does not know the answer to that question he needs to reexamine
his Bible. But I believe does know, but he either does not believe the Bible he holds in
his hands each week and swears an allegiance to or he is just afraid to says so on
national Television.
People sometimes suggest that we as Christians
are narrow-minded, when we say that Christ is the only way to God, and we have to confess
that this precisely what we are! We are as narrow-minded as the Lord Jesus Christ, for it
was the Lord himself who said that He was the only way. And while it would be nice for us
to be able to equivocate on this point and say, in order to not offend anyone and lose our
influence with anyone, that there other ways which have equal value – and though we
would like to be able to say this – we cannot, because it is not true!
There are probably many things that
non-believers find offensive about Christianity, but the chief offense is its founder and
his extraordinary claims.
Turn with me to John 14:1-6, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also
in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (4)
And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (5) Thomas
said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
(6) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV)
This morning I want to deal specifically with
verse six, and next week we will come back and re-examine these verses as a whole.
Someone has noted that every other religion
says, “Follow me and I will show you the
truth,” but Jesus says “I am the truth.”
Other religions say, “Follow me and I will show you the way to
salvation,” but Jesus says, “I am the way.”
Other religions say, “Follow me and I will show you how to become
enlight-ened,” but Jesus says, “I am the light of
the world.”
Other religions say, “Follow me and I’ll show you the many doors
that lead to God.” But Jesus says, “I am the door.”
Of the seven “I am” statements found in the gospel
of John this one found in chapter fourteen and verse six strikes a nerve with the Jewish
leadership far deeper than any of the previous statements. Jesus has already stated, “I am the bread of life” (6:35), “I am the light of the world” (8:12) “I am the door” (10:7) “I
am the good shepherd” (10:11) and “I am the
resurrection and the Life” (11:25). And now on the night before His death,
Jesus categorically declares in verse six, “I am the
way, the truth and the life.” And just in case anyone still did not get it he
added, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” That
is probably “the most exclusive statement ever made by anyone.” It is
also the greatest offense in our modern age of tolerance. The world outside of the church
hates that statement and even Christians are tempted to back away from it. But the truth
remains!
When Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth
and the life.” You could
easily paraphrase John 14:6 to read, “I am the
way to God that reveals the truth about God and gives life with God!” In this
statement Jesus reveals three things about his
relationship with God.
First,
Jesus is “the” Way to God!
Jesus does not simply say that he teaches
people the way, but that he is Himself the way.
The reason that Jesus can declare that He
alone is the way and there is no other way is because Jesus Christ is the only person who
can deal with our sin problem.
We are alienated from God because of our sin.
We are not slightly tarnished by sin, we are dead, lost, condemned by our sin. We cannot
influence on our part a right relation-ship with God. The only way we can have a right
relationship with Him is through grace. The only way back to God is by way of the cross of
Jesus Christ. The sinless son of God took our sins upon himself and died for us. He died
as our substitute. He died in our place. He paid our sin debt. No one else could do that,
and that is why He is the “only” way into the presence of a Holy God.
There are other Scriptures that teach the
supremacy of Christ as well, such as; 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For
no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”;
Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”; and 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one
God and one Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus.”
We are not left to find our own way to
Heaven; Jesus is coming to get us. We are to trust Him. He is the way. When the right time
comes, He will take us by the hand and lead us right to the Father's house.
When a visitor comes to our church and asks
how to take their child to the Kid’s Zone. You could offer them directions, but it
would be better if some-one told them “Just
follow Me I will take you there,” instead of having them try to follow a series
of intricate directions. That's what Jesus offers to do. Instead of giving us directions,
He will take us to the Father's house. We don’t have to worry about how to find our
way to the Father’s house when, whether at death or at the Rapture. We don’t
have to worry because Jesus will come back for you.
Not
only is Jesus is the Way to God but..
Secondly,
Jesus is the Revealer of the Truth about God!
We no longer live
in a society that believes in absolute truth. If you have been raised in church here in
the Bible Belt you may not realize that. But, truth has become relative to the individual
person.
To
believe in absolute truth is to say that there are answers to some questions that are
absolute. That is, they are univer-sally true for all time and in all societies? If you
believe in absolute truth, it is possible to say
"Thou
shalt not steal" absolutely?
Those who reject absolute truth believe that
the answers to such questions are always relative to the time, situation and particular
culture. They believe that an act can be either right, wrong, or neutral, depending on the
culture, the precise situation, and the time in which they live!
In such an atmosphere to tell any one that
Jesus died for theirs sins and they must accept him personally in order be saved, and they
may reply, “That may be true for you but it is
not for me.” And while it would be convenient if we could all determine our
individual set of moral absolutes – it is not true!
John
Philips states it accurately when he says, “Truth
is always exclusive, always dogmatic, - and
always intolerant of non-truth. Otherwise it would not be truth, eternal and absolute. It
makes no difference whether the truth is a mathematical truth, a scientific truth, or, as
here, a spiritual truth. Truth is always in some sense narrow. It is error
that is broad and accommodating.” [John
Philips. Exploring The Gospel of John. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Pub, 1989) pp.
266-267]
Many people in our world today insist that it
does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. But that is just not true and
that is not what Scripture teaches.
There is not such thing as one truth for you
and another truth for me, if you stated that in any field besides religion everyone would
tell you, “that’s ridiculous.”
In John 1:18 we
read, “No one has
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him.” Literally the
word “declared” means “exegeted him.” The goal of Christ’s
mission on earth, according to the Gospel of John, was to express the Father to mankind
and to bring the believer’s to the Father.
Not
is Jesus is the Revealer of the Truth about God but …
Third.
Jesus is the Giver of Life with God!
First we have to recognize that Jesus is the
source of physical life. The opening words of John’s Gospel declares (1:3-4)
that Jesus is co-creator of life with His father, “All things
were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (4)
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Not only is Jesus the giver of physical life
He is the giver of eternal life. This is something that He alone brings. There is no
eternal life apart from Jesus. Jesus is “the life” for all who will repent and
believe on Him alone for salvation. John 3:36 says, “He
who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Jesus promised eternal life
to all who believe on Him! He alone is the giver of life because He is its source. 1
John 5:12 states it this way, “He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Conclusion
Let me conclude by saying, no matter how
rich, successful, religious, moral and upright, popular or powerful you are, you come to
God through Jesus or you don’t come at all, That statement is not arrogant - just
true.
There
is nothing left but to receive Him by faith. There is no room for human achievements, no
improvements to be made, no lessons to learn. Just believe on Jesus. Accept Him for what
He claims to be – the only way to God, the truth about God, and the life available
only in God. Jesus did not say, “I am one of
any number of equally valid ways to the Father, one aspect of the truth, or phase of life.”
He said, “I am the
way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except through Me!” The challenge to you today is to accept Jesus Christ
as what He claims to be – the way to God, the truth about God and the life with God.
As Christians our challenge is to unashamedly stand for the truth, Jesus Christ is the one and only to God.