Jesus is the Only Way

Jesus is the Only Way                           

Does it surprise you to hear news reports stating or implying that people who claim to be Christian say they believe Jesus is not the only way to get to Heaven?

I’ve been hearing that a lot lately and find it troubling. To believe such a thing is the very antithesis of true Bible teachings. I tend to think that folks who believe this have not read the Bible very much and possibly sit under unsound teaching.

This kind of heresy does not surprise nor alarm God, which should give us some relief. Such beliefs have always existed.

Jesus Himself, declared His deity, stating, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30 NASB); “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b NASB).

The truth is, there is only one option to be reconciled to Father God and get to Heaven. Jesus expressed that clearly when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 16:6 NLT). 

Art by Maggie Turner

Jesus claimed to be God and the only way to Eternal Life. He gave no other option. It is only through faith in Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross that our sins can be removed and we can receive salvation. 










People who don’t believe in God and don’t believe in Bible truth cannot be expected to accept Jesus’ claims. But for people who call themselves Christians—followers of Jesus—we have to scratch our heads and wonder, How can this be?

 
Perhaps they’re a fan, not a follower; don’t read the Bible; listen to bad teaching; or make it up to help them feel better.

In his popular book, Mere Christianity*, C.S. Lewis wrote, 

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher; he'd either be a lunatic -- on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg -- or else he'd be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse."
"You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
So, Jesus was either a madman, a liar, a myth, or He really was—and is—the Son of God, Savior of Mankind, and the only way to get to Heaven when we die.  
We, who are true followers of Christ, need to pray that the truth of Jesus and God’s Word will be made known. We know Truth will prevail in the end, but I hurt for those who fall for demonic schemes. 

Have you heard such false notions? Your thoughts are welcome.
(Disrespectful, inappropriate comments will be deleted.)

*C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Harper Collins Publishers, 1952

©Copyright 2018 Connie Wohlford

For nearly 30 years I had wondered.

For nearly 30 years I had wondered.               

I just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand. I had asked myself this question for nearly 30 years. You may have wondered the same thing. I even stated the question, out loud, to my pastor in a church meeting and he went on to the next question. I later decided he didn’t know the answer either. 

My question: How is it that Jesus’ death on the cross saved me from my sins?

I knew He had done it. I was certain I had been redeemed. But, I wanted to know how. How did that work? What was it that took place that gave me Salvation?

I finally got my answer. My husband and I, with our two sons, eventually started attending a church strong in teaching biblical truths. I’ll call it a word church. [That's not to say the answer had never fallen on my ears before. Perhaps I just wasn’t listening.]

Somewhere along the way, through good teaching and personal Bible study I found my answer. I realized how Jesus’ death on the cross, coupled with my belief that it’s true and receiving Him into my heart, gave me the gift of salvation.

This is how it works:

God the Father—Creator of the universe—is holy. In other words, there is no evil—not even a smidgen—of evil or sinfulness in Him. And, He will not, in any way, tolerate sin.

Keep in mind that before Adam and Eve’s original sin, everything was perfect. The Garden of Eden was true paradise, in the fullest sense of the word. It will be so again in the future, after the return of Jesus.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God expelled them from the garden and from that point on mankind was bent toward sin. This first couple had, of their own free will, severed their relationship with God.

From that point on, sickness, hardship and death became part of the human condition. Now for a limited time, Satan is allowed to have certain power and authority on the earth.

So, now man’s (men & women) relationship with God is disconnected and Satan continues to tempt every human to sin against God. God and Satan are cosmic enemies, each one desiring every person to be in his respective kingdom. In the end, we know God wins. God’s ultimate victory is prophesied throughout Scripture and is described in detail in the Book of Revelation.

Meanwhile, God still loved Adam and Eve, as well as all subsequent people born on the earth. God wants everyone to be in fellowship with Him and He desires that all live with Him in His Kingdom when their life on earth ends.

But God will not go against His own nature. And an important characteristic of His nature is that He does not, and never will, tolerate sin. Given the fact that every human ever born sins, we have a serious dilemma.

AND—God wants a family. We were each created in the image of our Heavenly Father (Gen. 1:27) for the purpose of being in fellowship with him. He wants each of us in His eternal family.

So what was God to do? He loved everyone and wanted to have a relationship with each and every person.

Well, God had a plan all along. He knows the end from the beginning (1 Pet. 1:18-20). His Son, Jesus, who was there even in eternity past, was the answer to this cosmic dilemma.

Because of God’s love and mercy for mankind He decided to send Jesus to earth (John 3:16-17). This Messiah--Deliverer--would be born of a virgin for the purpose of restoring mankind to a right relationship with God.

Justice had to be served. That’s why everyone who is born will eventually die. But if we die without having paid for the many sins we’ve each committed in our entire lifetimes, we’ll receive the eternal punishment of Hell. We’re not capable of saving ourselves because we’re tainted with sin. 

But Jesus lived on earth as a man for 33 years and never sinned. He was pure and spotless in every way.

The requirement for justifying our debt of sin was the sacrificial death of a sinless, flawless, spotless man. Only one man ever walked on the earth who could meet this requirement. That one man was Jesus the Christ—Son of God—Son of man.

Photo by Connie Wohlford

 

He is God and He was a man. His life and death perfectly encapsulates the justice and mercy of God. God’s justice and mercy merged at the cross of Christ.

Because Jesus became a man, he could die in our place. We each owe a debt we cannot pay and He paid a debt He did not owe. He took the punishment we deserved.

Jesus is our Deliverer—our Savior—our Messiah! 

He took the punishment for all mankind, but only those who believe and receive Him will actually obtain His salvation and experience eternal life in Heaven with Him.

A lot more could be said to answer the question. God’s Word, the Bible, explains it thoroughly. I recommend that all read the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—to learn more about Jesus.

I’m grateful to finally come to a degree of understanding of how it is that Jesus’ death on the cross saved me from my sins. We who are followers of Jesus, will have perfect understanding when we reach Heaven.

Meanwhile, with assurance and joy I am gratefully redeemed to full relationship with my Heavenly Father through the One who took my punishment, Jesus, God’s Son.

I hope you are too. And, if not, I invite you to believe and receive Jesus as your Savior too. Pray and tell God, your Creator, of your decision. May God richly bless you.

Your comments are welcome.

©Connie Wohlford 2018

Perfected By Cancer

Perfected By Cancer

On my blog today, I’m going to re-post “Perfected By Cancer,” one of my most popular posts since I started this blog a little over two years ago. 

It was my honor to be asked to accept an award for my younger brother, Tommy, who died of cancer 44 years ago, at the age of 22. He was being inducted into the sports hall of fame of our high school alma mater.

As the inductee fill-in I was expected to give an acceptance speech and I’d like to share it with you to honor Tommy and the God he loved.

RHS Sports Hall of Fame 2015 − Acceptance Speech for Tommy 

                                                                       −Delivered Sept. 5, 2015

I can’t tell you how honored I am to receive this award on behalf of my brother, Tommy.  All of our family is so pleased and proud. Our parents, Rudy and Edith Edwards, would be beyond thrilled for this occasion.  

I appreciate all the intense work done by the committee to make this possible. And thank you Doug and Kenny for your introduction of Tommy. As you already heard, Tommy excelled as an athlete and accomplished much in Bobcat sports.

But I want to tell you about another side of Tommy. In fact, this side of him didn’t shine through much until he left RHS and was diagnosed with cancer.

Tommy’s dream was to play football for VA Tech and Coach Jerry Claiborne wanted Tommy on his team. But, needing to pull up his GPA, Tommy took a detour to Massanutten Military Academy and then to Ferrum Junior College, playing football at both places. 

Tommy Edwards - Radford High School - 1968

                 

But Tommy’s dream of becoming a Hokie football player never came about. He was 19 years old when doctors at Duke University Hospital diagnosed him with cancer.

This athletic, popular, talented, handsome, and seemingly healthy young man was stopped in his tracks that day. The doctors told us that the lump beside his eye was malignant and his eye would have to be removed. To add insult to injury, they also said there was no hope of him using a prosthetic eye because some tissue and bone also need to go. Therefore he would have to wear a patch for the rest of his life.   

ll this, Tommy played football at Ferrum the next season (1972).  He did get ticked off at his coach for not putting him in the games due to pain he was having in his neck. We soon learned that cancer had damaged his vertebrae, thus causing pain.

Did God give Tommy cancer in order to stop him in his tracks?  No.

God does not put cancer on people. But God does use bad circumstances to bring about His ultimate good.

Back in the first century when Stephen was stoned to death because he was a Christian, the believers in Jerusalem scattered, and the Gospel was spread throughout the known world. God got lots of mileage out of the tragedy of Stephen—thus turning it for good.

So for Tommy, on that sunny September day, his path suddenly changed in two very powerful ways. Instead of playing college football, attending classes, and enjoying campus life, he experienced surgeries, pain, affliction, and fear. And instead of living the life of a self-indulgent college student, he turned back to the God of his childhood and the Savior he knew he could trust. 

My precious brother battled cancer for 2½ years before he went to Heaven on Good Friday of 1973.  As we attended the Easter sunrise service two days later I knew my dear brother was alive and well, and even better yet−he was with our risen Lord.

In Tommy’s situation, there was bad news and there was good news. He had cancer and died at the young age of 22−terrible news.                                                                                 

Tommy Edwards - Ferrum Jr. College -1970

But that affliction put him on his knees at the foot of the Cross. He turned back to God and encouraged his friends to follow Christ as well. Again, as God does so well, He took a bad situation, and turned it for good, building up His Kingdom in the process.

In a newspaper article, written by Charles Fretwell, a few days after Tommy died, he wrote:

“As outstanding as his accomplishments were in High School athletics, earning many letters in three major sports as well as area wide recognition for his athletic ability, all this fades into the background compared to the last two and a half years of his life. Years in which he demonstrated to his friends, his family, and his associates what it means to be a Christian and how a Christian should react to whatever life has in store for him. As all of us who knew him well realized, he never complained. He made the burden for his family and his friends easier by his acceptance of fate.”

“The last months of his life were spent, not in self-pity nor giving in to pain but in talking to, and writing to, his friends telling them how Christ had strengthened his life and had helped him to bear up under the burdens. He urged them to look anew at their own lives and to allow Christ to be a part of their lives too. He gave to many of them a copy of his favorite book−a Bible.” 

“What have we learned from the experience and the example of this fine young man? Courage has taken on a new meaning for each of us.  …  We all face life with its uncertainties and grope for the means to deal with these uncertainties as they appear on the scene. Courage is not easy to come by nor is it easy to maintain once adversity sets in, but Tommy demonstrated that Christian courage can overcome the cruelest blow and Webster’s dictionary now has a new meaning to add under that word – Tommy Edwards.”     

SO− all the honors and accolades a person can accumulate in a lifetime are nothing in light of Eternity. But they can give a person a platform from which to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what Tommy did in the last days of his life.

The writer of Ecclesiastes said, God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts.

As I said earlier, cancer knocked Tommy to his knees and he chose to land at the foot of the cross. When he looked up he saw Jesus and came face to face with Eternity.

We’ll all come face to face with Eternity one day. And I so look forward to the glorious reunion with Tommy and other loved ones who’ve chosen to follow Jesus.   

                                                           

We usually think of cancer as a curse, but cancer perfected Tommy.
It brought out the very best in him and was the catalyst that ultimately brought him to total wellness and wholeness in Eternity. 

So now, with great joy, I accept this award for Tommy.  And on behalf of our family, thank you.

---- We all go through trials of some kind from time to time. Some have cancer or other dreaded afflictions, many have debilitating financial problems, and lots of people seem to have one family crisis after another. We even know folks who have trials in all of the above areas.

Like Tommy, we can turn to Jesus in these tough times. It’s our choice. The Hebrew word for Jesus is Yeshua. I recently read that the root word for Yeshua means safety. 

We can find safety in Jesus no matter what our trial. There are lots of scary things that happen to people and today’s world has lots of scary things going on in it. No matter what befalls us, let’s look to Jesus for safety and take comfort in His words: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 

If you’d like, please comment on how God has helped you through adversity at some time in your life. God bless you and thanks for sharing.

©Connie Wohlford 2015