John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Revelation 1:5-7 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

In our America today it is terribly intolerant to believe that there is but one religion or but one way to God. People make statements along the line of:

“You say that ‘God is Love’. If God is ‘love’ then how can it be loving that God will cast people into hell if they don’t believe in Jesus? What about those who haver never heard of Jesus? How can that be loving?”

I have to admit that there are many things in life that I do not understand. There are many things in the Bible I don’t understand. But what baffles me is far different from what baffles you. Myself,

I just don’t understand why God saves any of us.

I really don’t understand why God loves any of us. Think about it for a moment. Put yourself in God’s place for just a moment.

God takes a broken and desolate place. “The earth was without form, and totally empty of anything” (Genesis 1:2). On this absolutely black canvas God begins to move. The first thing He does is get rid of the blackness (Genesis 1:3). He brings light into existence. He orders the light, designing the Sun and moon. He establishes a 24 hour cycle of day and night. God brings dry land out of the oceans. He places life on the earth: plant life, animal life, sea life. God establishes a perfect environment where clothing is optional. God makes this lovely planet self-reproducing, and makes life the order of the day. Once the planet is perfectly balanced God creates man and woman unique, separate from the animals. We are told in

Genesis 1 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God gave humanity life, then gave humanity this planet. All we had to do was live in it, be content, and commune with God daily. What did we do?

We betrayed God.
We rejected God.
We tried to steal His job.
We wanted to be God.
We – even today – want to be God.

We rejected God. It is no surprise to me that over time God looked at our rejection and decided to
clear the canvas of earth.

He flooded the earth with water. That doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that God did not wipe all of humanity out. But He didn’t. God called a man to make a large boat called an Ark. God gave humanity 120 years to get on board that boat (Genesis 6:3), but at the end of that time only eight people got on the boat. God gives us plenty of time to get on board. God didn’t have Noah build two boats, or ten boats, or fifty boats. God had Noah build only ONE BOAT – but there was room for as many as would get on board to be saved.

I am amazed at the love of God

If I were God and had placed humanity on a perfect planet, and humanity continually rejected me as we have done God – Beloved, I would have destroyed humanity a long time ago. But God is love. God keeps on reaching out to us.

God made the planet. He made us. He put us on the planet. He put us in charge of the planet. But we decided we had all we needed. We had life, we had power, we had a planet, so we decided we didn’t need God. So we walk away from God. As we walk away our lives begin to fall in disarray. Why? Because God the Father does indeed know best.

So God raised up Prophets. He spoke to the Prophets and had them record messages – one after another – pleas from God that we return to Him. The Prophets were not well received. The Prophets and preachers of God were beaten, killed, ignored. Finally God said:

“I will send them My Son. They will reverence My Son.”

Jesus Christ – the Son of God – came to this earth. Born in a humble place – a manger – He grew up in a small town, waiting until the Father sent Him out. When Jesus left Nazareth He went to John the Baptist to be baptized. Here the Father said:

Matthew 3:17 … This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased.

The Father did not mention others sons or other ways. He said This is my beloved Son. Not one of many, but This. Then Jesus takes three of His disciples out to a mountain range. Here on this mountain the Bible says that Elijah and Moses appear before a glowing Jesus. Overwhelmed by this sight Peter speaks up:

“Jesus, let us build THREE altars – one for You,
one for Elijah, and one for Moses!”

I can imagine Peter’s excitement. It would be like one of us meeting Billy Graham or C.H. Spurgeon face to face. But just as the last word Peter spoke hit the air the Father speaks:

Matthew 17:5 … This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye HIM.

Peter, Moses was a great man. Elijah was a great man. But now Jesus – He alone is special. This is my beloved Son. Not to take away from Moses, Elijah, or any of the prophets. But the Father said This. Not THEM, but This. So Who should we hear concerning salvation? Should we listen to them who profess to be prophets? Surely. Moses wrote great words. Elijah wrote great words. All of the prophets wrote great words. But here is the difference.

Moses wrote great words FROM GOD.
Elijah spoke great words FROM GOD.
The prophets spoke words FROM GOD.
But Jesus Christ IS GOD.
Jesus Christ IS THE SON OF GOD.
Jesus is the only Way to God.

Is This Message REALLY Intolerant?

The reality is that the statement “Jesus Christ is the only Way to God the Father” is not intolerant because it is the truth.

We do not call gravity intolerant because it pulls
all things to the center of the earth.
We do not call our lungs intolerant because
we breath only air and not water.
We do not call the various laws of physics intolerant.
These are facts.

It is a fact that the Father called Jesus His “only begotten Son”. God loves us. How do we know that He loves us? The Bible says:

1 John 4 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The message of Christ is that He is God’s only Begotten Son. God showed His love toward us by sending this Only Begotten Son into the world to bring us life. Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. This is a technical judicial term which means that our sins separated us from God our Father. But Jesus Christ came to take our place of punishment. He paid our indebtedness to the Father. He paid for Adam’s sin, for Eve’s sin, and for every sin that we have ever committed. Jesus Himself said:

John 14 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.

The Father said that Christ Jesus is the Only Son He has. Jesus Christ Himself said that He is the Only Way to come to the Father. If what He said is not true, then Jesus is a liar. If what God the Father said is not true, then God the Father is a liar. But Beloved, God is not a liar. God is gracious, and kind. Though we betrayed God in the Garden, and betrayed God in Noah’s day, and even betray God today – yet God reaches out to us in love. He says to us:

“I have given you My Son. He paid for your sins. He died for your sins. He rose from the grave, making full payment for your sins. All others ways proposed by mankind as means to get to Me are wrong. I have told you TWICE in My Word:

Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Your way may seem to be right, but it isn’t. My Son Jesus told you Himself:

John 3 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Dr. R.C. Sproul put it this way:

“… supposed God was so patient, so kind, that He said I will cover this creature’s nakedness and I will provide a way of salvation for him and I will promise to deliver this ungrateful sinner from his desperate condition. I am going to send to this people that reject everything I do for them, I am going to send my only begotten Son. And I am going to take the sins of My people and transfer them to the back of my own Son who is perfectly righteous and perfectly innocent. And they kill the Son. And God said that’s ok, you killed Him. But if you will just put your trust in Him and honor Him, I will forgive you of every sin that you have ever committed again Me and again Him and I will give you eternal life where there will be no more death, no more tears, no more wickedness, no more pain, no more suffering, and you will live forever in unending bliss. But My only requirement is that you honor the One you has died in your place. Buddha didn’t die for you, Moses didn’t die for you, Mohammed didn’t die for you. And I require you that you honor and embrace my only Son. Would you dare to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, “God, You have not done enough.”

Would you look into the face of God and say
“One way of salvation is not enough?”

God gave us everything He could in His Son Jesus Christ. Everything. Jesus put everything on the table for us, to save us. Everything. The Bible asks “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)? We cannot escape.

I am a sinner. You are a sinner. Buddha was a sinner. Mohammed was a sinner. Joseph Smith was a sinner. Every human being born on the face of this earth was, is, and will always be sinners. But there was One born from eternity into this earth. This One was pre-existent with God the Father. This One – the Ancient of Days – was willing to be begotten or born into humanity. The Bible testifies that this One, this Jesus Christ, “was in all points tempted as we ourselves are, but was WITHOUT SIN” (Hebrews 4:15). The Bible says that:

Hebrews 9:28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Do you know Him? Have you believed on Jesus Christ? Do you honor Him as Lord of your life? If so, praise God, enjoy this Table with us.

The Lord’s Table Is For Remembering Jesus

As we come to the Lord’s Table today this is a time when we remember what Jesus Christ did for us. We celebrate Him. The Scripture says:

Revelation 1:5-7 … Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

This Table is for those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
It is for those who are loved by Him and who love Him.
It is for those who have been washed from our sins in His own Blood.
It is for those who, because of His great sacrifice,

have been ADOPTED as sons of God and
inducted into the Royal Family of God.

Our Jesus is coming again. We who believe in Him will REJOICE at His coming, but the one who has not believed on Him will WAIL at His coming. Oh Jesus, precious Jesus, come quickly. We prepare our hearts as we go to His Table. May God the Holy Spirit draw you to His side!