God's Word - Our Destiny: eternal life

Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts

Sunday, April 29, 2018

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

Friday, January 19, 2018

Oh Death ─ Oh Grave

Oh Death ─ Oh Grave

Today, we bury my dear Uncle Clyde and sweet Aunt Dottie. It was unimaginable they would move on to their heavenly reward within fourteen hours of one another. (This post was written on the morning of January 17, 2018.)

And it’s good—all good. It’s actually a precious and glorious thing, thanks to Jesus. My cousin, Joseph, their only child, agrees with my inference, for his parents were both abundant in years but deficient in health.

Some may ask, “Why is it good for someone to die?” Others may inquire, “How can it be a good thing to lose a loved one?”

It’s because death is not the final answer and because my uncle and aunt are not lost. We know where they are. We’re confident their faith was anchored in Jesus who is the Christ—the Son of the living God—Jesus the sinless One, who sacrificed Himself on a cross to take the punishment we deserved for our sins. They are with Jesus, our Savior.

We have confident hope of eternal life—and for good reason. Paul assured Christ followers of victory over death and the grave when he proclaimed:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immorality.”

“So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?’ “

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. “

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). Amen! Thank You, Jesus.

Uncle Clyde & Aunt Dottie - December 2012

Uncle Clyde and Aunt Dottie, we’ll be missing you for a little while but we, who are in Christ, will join you some day when our Lord Christ determines it’s our time to move from mortal to immortality. We have a lot to look forward to together in God’s Eternal Kingdom.

Friday, April 21, 2017

After-Easter Musings - Part 1

After-Easter Musings - Part 1

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Just because Easter was last week end doesn’t mean I must move on to other passages and Bible events. For the past few weeks I’ve been revisiting some of the details surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This morning my focus was Matthew 27:45-54.

Above Golgotha, ominous darkness fell over the land. (v. 45)

Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (v. 46).

This is the only place in Scripture where Jesus referred to God as “God” rather than “Father.” At this point, Jesus was suffering from the heavy weight of all the sin of all mankind. The Son of God, who was without sin, became sin for us so that we could wear His own righteousness in its place.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It’s a hard saying that God forsook Jesus and, yes, I recently saw the movie in which the God character said that He did not turn away His Son—but was right there with Jesus all along. In my opinion, that’s a soulish, emotional wish which is not biblically sound.

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The truth is that at this point Jesus became all of the vile, shameful sin of mankind. Holy God does not tolerate sin and His turning away was a judicial act of a just God. In human terms we cannot completely understand what was happening in these moments. It was a traumatic spiritual and physical experience that Jesus alone went through and Jesus alone was qualified to do.

I know that Jesus took the punishment I deserved—and you deserved and every human being deserved. In doing so He unlocked the way—ripped open the veil of separation—that prevented you and me from being in full relationship with God, our Creator and Heavenly Father.

We each owed a debt we couldn’t pay and Jesus paid a debt that He didn’t owe. That’s amazing grace!

Commentary in “The Jesus Bible” says “this pivotal moment in universal history, the day when Jesus took away the sin of the world, was not only about the souls of men and women; it was about the very character of God. The cross is the answer to the question above; the crucifixion is the apex of God’s love and mercy but also of his justice and righteousness. At the cross God not only provided the ultimate answer for how a person can be made righteous by faith, but he has also dispensed his justice. At the cross, God poured out his wrath on his own Son so that sinful human beings might be forgiven and granted the righteousness of Jesus’ life. At the cross, the God of righteousness both demonstrates and grants righteousness, for he is both just and the One who justifies.”*

By bearing the burden of our sin, Jesus made a way for us to have eternal life instead of eternal damnation, which we each deserve. This eternal life we cannot earn through doing good things. It is a free gift we accept by believing Jesus is who the Bible says He is—the unique Son of God—and by receiving Him as Lord of our lives.

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Verse 50 say that Jesus cried out for the last time. His words are recorded by the gospel writer, John: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Then Jesus gave up His spirit and died.

Photo by Connie Wohlford

Jesus knew He had completed the work His Father sent Him to do. It was done—mission accomplished. At that moment Jesus chose to release His spirit from His human body. He Himself maintained control the entire time. While He hung on the cross He could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him and wipe out all who opposed Him. But because of His and His Father’s great love for us, He chose to go through with the torment. He knew this was the only way. He had previously said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Jesus willingly became the once-for-all sacrificial Lamb on that Passover 2000 years ago. John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God” on the day he baptized Him (John 1:29). Ever since the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, for those who put our trust in Him, the Death Angel passes over.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

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