One of the disciples of Jesus named Thomas asked this same question and it is recorded for us in the Gospel of John (Chapter 14 vs. 5 and 6). Thomas said to Him (Jesus), “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.” From this statement, Jesus made a profound statement. He declared that He is the only way to the Father, which in this instance was referring to entering Heaven where the Father dwells.
For centuries humankind has been in fear of death and what lies beyond. To try and conquer the fear of death, people have created religions, gods, deities, and some type of religious system that can give comfort over their fear of death.
I have never come in contact with family and friends at a funeral who did not sincerely hope their deceased loved one was in heaven. To them, it did not matter how their loved one lived, what religion they followed, or what sins they committed in their lifetime. To family and friends, a good person (their loved one) deserves to be in heaven.
But, what did Jesus say? He (Jesus) is the only way!
Why must humankind go through Jesus to enter heaven when they die? This is the question many are trying to understand. Using the Holy Bible as our guide I will answer the question: why Jesus?
To answer this question we must first understand how God describes the human race.
Romans 1 vs. 18 – 32 says – “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power, and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned in lust for each other. (Homosexuality) Men did shameful things to other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”
Romans 3 vs. 10-12 says… “No one is righteous. Not even one! No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”
As we can clearly see from scripture, God describes humans as evil and corrupt. None of us are good!
Even when we think we are good people, in light of the righteousness of God, we are not. Every human deserves to be under the wrath of God because of sin. This is our natural standing before God.
We are sinners, and undeserving of God’s love and favor. We deserve his wrath and his just punishment for our rebellion against Him. The truth is, no one deserves to enter Heaven when they die.
We all deserve Hell!
Before we can understand our need for Jesus, we must tackle the elephant in the room. We must come to see ourselves as God sees us in our natural state. We are vile, wretched sinners!
Yes, you and I are both evil and corrupted by sin. We deserve to spend an eternity subject to the wrath of God in Hell. Apart from Jesus, this is how God sees us and we are considered enemies of God. His wrath is directly pointed at you and I, and He (God) is JUST in doing so. The perfect justice of God demands that we should die because of our sin.
Ezekiel 18 vs. 20, God says, “The Soul that sins, it shall die!”
But God, who is rich in love and mercy did something that is unspeakably profound. He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment (wrath of God) against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son (John 3 vs. 16-18).
It is by believing in God’s Son and trusting in His finished works that you and I are declared right with God. Through believing (Faith) we are made right with God and no longer under wrath.
What are Christ’s finished works?
Jesus Christ accomplished many things while on Earth, but there are three specific works that needed to be accomplished in order to rescue sinners from Hell.
The first work that Jesus accomplished was he lived a sinless life. From birth to death he never sinned. He lived in perfect obedience to God’s Holy law. This is something that no human has been able to do or will ever be able to do. Jesus met and kept all of God’s laws. He did this for us! Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because there was no sin found within Him. He was perfectly righteous in the sight of God.
The second work that Jesus accomplished was he suffered and died on the cross as an atonement for our sins. 1 Peter 2 vs. 24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.”
Jesus healed us by taking our sins and paying the full penalty due us. He died under the wrath of God that we deserved. Only God the Son could do this for us. It was a wonderful act of love that Jesus would do this for us. Oh, how I love Jesus!!!
Because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross, my sins have been paid in full and as a result, I am able to boldly enter God’s presence through Jesus Christ.
The third work that Jesus accomplished was he arose from the dead on the third day. Jesus, after he died, was laid in a tomb for three days. On the third day he arose thereby conquering death and guaranteeing that all who believe in him will have eternal life. As Jesus was resurrected to life, so will all those who trust in Him be resurrected to eternal life.
When we place our faith in Jesus and in his finished works, God’s Holy Spirit immediately comes into our life and seals us for all eternity. We now belong 100% to Jesus Christ our Lord, and there is no one, not even us can ever again separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus. Our eternal home in heaven is secure because of what Christ has done for us.
We believe Jesus is the only way to heaven. We believe Christ fulfilled the law of God for us. We believe Christ died for our sins and paid the penalty that was meant for us in full. We believe that Christ arose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God in heaven always interceding on our behalf. We believe that Christ is coming again in the future to gather his Church (Born Again), establish his kingdom and judge the world.
Jesus Christ truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
How can we be sure that we are going to heaven when we die? By believing on his name!!
Acts 4 vs. 12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
My name is Carl Coffin. I was born again (saved) many years ago and the Lord has blessed me with a godly wife and two beautiful children. All of these are gifts from God! Professionally, God has called me to work in the library field. I work at the Colleton County Memorial Library as Director. I’m also an ordained Elder at Nova Church, Walterboro. Through the years I have tried many occupations and many of my articles were written while running a business. Today, God has shown me a different path and I’m trusting him with my occupation and life. Please check out my blog at: http://www.humbleheartwords.blogspot.comGod bless you!
