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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor November
11, 2001 John,
chapter 14, beginning at verse
one. Jesus is
speaking: Continuing
at verse four. Now,
when He talks about coming to the
Father, what's He talking about?
Going to heaven, right? That's
the context. Verse
7: You've
probably heard someone make the
statement: "Jesus is the only way
to God." To many that seems
brash, even arrogant. What
about the other religions that
have withstood the test of time?
What about the people who've
never heard of Jesus Christ? Does
they go to hell? That seems
harsh, and inconsistent with a
God whose name is love and mercy!
What about people who, not
understanding who Jesus really
is, are devoted to another
faith? Is
Jesus really the only
way? This
is an issue many people are
grappling with, particularly in
these days when Islam and
Christianity seem to have come
nose-to-nose. Often
when the Bible puts words in the
mouth of Jesus that many people
don't want to hear, some
"scholar" will try to demonstrate
that Jesus didn't really make the
offending statement in the first
place. But
I don't know of real argument
that's been raised against this
being an authentic statement of
Jesus. Everyone seems to
acknowledge that He did say, "I
am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father
except through me." Let
me make this point very clear:
Jesus is not another great moral
teacher among others. He is not
one who shows
a
way to God among
other
ways. Jesus is uniquely the Son
of God and Son of Man, and either
He is uniquely the one and only
Savior of the world -- or else he
is a liar and fraud. Keep
that in mind and it will help you
understand some other things I'm
going to say that some people may
find a bit
controversial. This
concept of Jesus as the one and
only Savior was clearly
understood by the early
church. Listen
to this statement made by Peter,
when the Sanhedrin arrested him,
along with John. Peter is
speaking about Jesus to the very
men who had Jesus killed, and he
says in Acts 4:12: "Salvation is
found in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be
saved." That
was the understanding of the
Apostles and the early church.
Jesus is the only way to
God. But,
even with that understanding, let
us not be too hasty to judge and
condemn other people. Only God is
judge -- because only God can see
into the human heart. In
our proclamation on the gospel,
let's not put any restriction on
God's grace that is not clearly
spelled out in the
Scriptures. Let
me explain what I mean by
focusing on two particular words
from John 14:6 -- "I" and "me."
When Jesus said, "I am the way
and the truth and the life; no
one comes to the Father except
through me," what did He mean by
those two pronouns? For
instance, when Jesus said "I" did
he refer to physical body in
which he was visible that moment
the historical Jesus? Or could it
be be that he referred to the One
John described in John 1 when he
wrote, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God." You
see, the existence of Jesus did
not begin on that first
Christmas. Jesus has always been
-- from the beginning, before
creation. He's been with God
forever. What
about Revelation 13:8? John
refers to "the Lamb that was
slain" about 30 A.D. Is that what
it says? No! It says "that was
slain from the creation of the
world." In
John 8:58, Jesus said this:
"Before Abraham was, I am." I AM
is the name of God in the Old
Testament. Jesus declaring
Himself to be God. And
look at Hebrews 1:3: "The Son" --
this is referring to Jesus --
"The Son is the radiance of God's
glory and the" approximate
representation of his being? No!
The "exact representation of his
being." Jesus
is the exact representation of
God. He came to make God known.
You want to know what God is
like? Read what the New Testament
tells us about Jesus. There
are only two ways anybody can try
to get to God. One is by
satisfying the requirements of
the law. I wouldn't advise that
method. Only one person has ever
kept the law perfectly and that's
Jesus. The
other method is by receiving
God's grace, by God simply
allowing
you to come, by forgiving you of
your sins -- not because of
anything you have done to deserve
it. Now,
what does it say in 1 John 2:2?
"He is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the
whole world." That
says Jesus didn't die only for
believers. Through Him, God's
grace has been poured out on the
whole world. He
is the sacrificial lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the
world. Therefore, Jesus is
embodiment of God's
grace. Understand
now, for us to have the benefit
of grace, we have to receive
God's grace. Another
issue we have to consider is
this: On what basis does God
judge humanity. Look
at John 1:10-13: And
also John 3:19-21: The
light was there. The problem was
that people refused to step into
the light because they didn't
want their evil deeds
exposed. And
John 12:47-48: Now,
when I look at these texts, to me
this is a reasonable conclusion:
God does not judge people by the
light they do not have. Rather He
judges on the basis of the
failure, or the refusal, to walk
in the light they do
have. Remember
what Paul said in Romans 1:20:
"For since the creation of the
world God's invisible qualities
-- his eternal power and divine
nature -- have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has
been made, so that men are
without excuse." Now,
what Paul is saying is that there
is enough of God's imprint on the
creation itself to cause people
to recognize there is a God.
God's fingerprints are all over
the world. There's enough in
creation to prompt people to seek
God -- and those who seek find,
those who ask receive, those who
knock on the door, the door will
be opened for them. Not
everybody is going to go to
heaven. Some people refuse God's
grace in whatever form it comes.
I'm not preaching
universalism.
But
I am saying that God has ways of
dealing with people that we don't
know anything about. Will
a loving God let people who've
never heard about Jesus go to
hell? Well, if you were a
non-believer and I was witnessing
to you, here's how I would answer
that question: "I
don't know how God is going to
deal with them. I'm not appointed
to judge them, and I'm not saying
they're going to hell. That's
God's business. But let me tell
you what I do know: God loves
those people -- and I know He
sent Jesus into this world to die
for their sins. And I know that
God will deal with them fairly
and justly. That's all I know
from the Word. "But,
let me tell you this: whatever
happens to those folks over there
is not the issue. The issue is
you. You have heard about Jesus.
I just shared Him with you. What
God does about them has nothing
to do with you. What I want to
know is, how you are going to
respond to the light that you
have?" What
I'm saying is that nobody comes
to the Father without going
through Jesus, because Jesus is
the mercy of God. Anyone who is
saved will be saved on the basis
of what Christ has done. But not
everyone will have the same level
of light. I
believe, though, that God will
find a way to make Himself
known. You
might say, "Well, if that's so
why should be go and evangelize?"
Well, to ask that question
presumes that Christianity is
kind of "other world" religion.
But
salvation doesn't start when we
die, it starts when a person
begins walking with
Jesus. That's
the mandate for evangelism.
Salvation isn't out there
somewhere, it is now. God is I
AM, now! In
our day, people aren't asking if
there's life after death any
more. They're asking if there is
life after birth! Some in this
world, if you gave them the
choice between their life now and
hell, would probably choose hell.
They're held captive to all kinds
of sin that makes their life
empty and miserable. But Jesus
came to loose those chains of
sin, to break every fetter, to
set people free. Is
Jesus is the only way to God?
That's what He Himself said in
John 14. And I believe that He
has clearly called His church to
proclaim Him as the only way to
God. As
we are faithful to that task,
we'll simply have leave the faith
and the fate of those who have
never heard the Good News of
Jesus to God. He is up to the
challenge.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
Is
Jesus the only way?
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
Do
not let your hearts be
troubled. Trust in God; trust
also in me. In my Father's
house are many rooms; if it
were not so, I would have told
you. I am going there to
prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come back and
take you to be with me that
you also may be where I
am.
Now,
where is He talking about? He's
talking about heaven, isn't He?
It's pretty obvious that He's
talking about.
You
know the way to the place
where I am going." Thomas said
to him, "Lord, we don't know
where you are going, so how
can we know the way?" Jesus
answered, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except
through me.
If
you really knew me, you would
know my Father as well. From
now on, you do know him and
have seen him." Philip said,
"Lord, show us the Father and
that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: "Don't you
know me, Philip, even after I
have been among you such a
long time? Anyone who has seen
me has seen the
Father.
Except
through me
The unique
Jesus
Not restricting God's
grace
Getting to God
Judging
humanity[Jesus]
was in the world, and though
the world was made through
him, the world did not
recognize him. He came to that
which was his own, but his own
did not receive him. Yet to
all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become
children of God.
This
is the verdict: Light has come
into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates
the light, and will not come
into the light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed. But
whoever lives by the truth
comes into the light, so that
it may be seen plainly that
what he has done has been done
through God.
As
for the person who hears my
words but does not keep them,
I do not judge him. For I did
not come to judge the world,
but to save it. There is a
judge for the one who" has not
heard about me? Is that what
it says. "There is a judge for
the one who rejects me and
does not accept my words; that
very word which I spoke will
condemn him at the last
day.
The basis for
evangelism
Conclusion
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
011111a: Is Jesus the Only
Way?
©
2001 Gerald R.
Varnado