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Why Jesus?

There is a movement in some churches today, to be inclusive. To be open to all opinions. A sort of all roads lead to Heaven philosophy. No one wants to offend anyone. Your way is just as good as my way. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but if “Your Way” doesn’t go through Jesus Christ and the Bible, you’re in trouble. You can’t get to Heaven any other way but through Jesus. Just being a good person is not going to do it. If that were the case, you’d have to ask, “How good do I have to be?” And no one can answer that.

Before we talk about Why Jesus, we should understand who Jesus was or said He was. While there are many places in the New Testament of the Bible where He tells us, let’s look at Matthew chapter 16, where Jesus asks the question of His Disciples.

Matthew 16:13-17,

16: And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Now, let us ask the question….

Why Jesus is the Only Way to God?

This is a question many people ask. Why only Jesus? They want to believe there are many ways to God. Like going the long way around the block to get back home, but still getting there. They may be well meaning folks, who believe they are doing right. They think because they love Mother Nature and any old life style choice, they will find God or happiness. They just can’t seem to get it through their well meaning minds, that there is Right and there is Wrong.

They want to believe that if they just accept everything, because they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, that they will be fine. But by doing so, they are opening the door, not to Christ, but to the evil one, the devil. Who is always looking for a way to steal someone away from God.

Some of these well meaning people search and search the world over, trying to find meaning in life, trying to find a road to God, when it’s been right in front of them all a long.

Many are too caught up in the world of man, and can’t see what really matters, the Spiritual world of God. They worship things, money, toys of man, cars, power over others, expensive homes, boats, computers, the latest clothes and styles, sex for sex sake, TV and movie stars, music and all the rest of the things of the earth, but nothing of the things of Heaven.

Christianity is to narrow for them. They can’t accept Christ as the one and only way to God. They can’t see that being a Christian is freeing, and opens the door to Love God and all His people. They can’t see that the Christian God through his Son Jesus, Loves them and wants a relationship with them. That He came and died for them and for all of us.

They search for truth in the words and works of man, not of God. And many are surprised when they don’t find it, that they are still empty inside. But because of their belief that everything is good, they can’t believe that there is bad. So they follow teaching that says what they want to hear, that nature is god or science or some guru somewhere who tells them to bow down to a statue or an animal.

They just can’t accept a belief that says there is only one way to God and that some will be left out of His Kingdom, that some people will not be saved. So, they prefer to believe that, because God is everywhere, all roads lead to Him.

Or they don’t believe in anything.

Read Acts 17:24-31

24: God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25: Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27: That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29: Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

I’m sorry for those people, because Christ tells us plainly in John, Chapter 14:6, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

In verses 8-11 He goes on,

8: Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9: Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10: Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11: Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

To those who say, many roads lead to God, I have to say, read those words again…

I didn’t say them, Jesus did, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

God keeps it very simple for us, we don’t have to face east and pray so many times a day, we don’t have to worship our navels or search the world over. We just have to accept that we are sinners, unable to save ourselves. We have to believe that Jesus came and died for our sins and accept Him as our personal Savor.

To those who don’t believe Jesus is the One Way to God the Father, or who don’t believe in anything, I pray they began to see the light by reading what I have written here. It’s only a start, but each journey begins with a single step.

Now, in order to believe Jesus was who He said He was, let me give you some things to think about.

Let’s start with the Old Testament of the Bible…

Did you know that there are over 300 Prophesies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah? All written Hundreds of years before Christ was born, and Jesus fulfilled all of them?

I could spend hours listing them, and you could spend hours reading them, but this page is going to be long enough, so I’ll just give you a couple examples here. For the rest, you can do your own search. God wants you to learn about Him, to read His words and use your own mind to find the truth in them. So, find the Bible I’m sure you have laying around the house and read it…

But here’s a couple to start you off:

Isaiah 53, was written 700 years before Jesus was born, but read and think:

1: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2: For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4: Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7: He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8: He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9: And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12: Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors..

Isaiah also talks about the coming of John the Baptist in chapter 40.

But let’s go back even further to the book of Psalms 22, written a full 1,000 years before Jesus was born and Hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented as a way to put someone to death…

Read Psalm 22 and think:

1: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2: O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4: Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5: They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7: All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, 8: He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9: But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. 10: I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. 11: Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12: Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13: They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15: My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16: For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17: I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18: They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19: But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20: Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21: Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22: I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23: Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24: For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25: My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28: For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. 29: All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30: A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31: They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Now, I suggest that you read the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the New Testament. I’d give you chapter and verse, but I want you to find them yourself. You need to open that Bible and read….

As I have said, there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to take up this page with all of them, so I’ll just give you some places in the Bible to look for them, and in that way, I’ll get you to open a Bible and read God’s words.

Isaiah 42:1-9

Numbers 24:17, then read Luke 3:34

Isaiah 7:14. then read Matthew 1:18

Micah 9: 6-7, then read Matthew 2:1

Jeremiah 31:15 then read Matthew 2:16

Zechariah 9:9 then read John 12:13-14

Zechariah 12:10 then read John 19:34

And that is only a small sample of Prophecies in the Old Testament about Christ, His Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection.

Much of the Old Testament is preparing the way for the coming of the Christ, who is Jesus.

But you say, couldn’t the writers of the Gospels, knowing these writings, have written about Jesus in such a way as to make it appear He was the Messiah?

Ask yourself this question.

Who were the men chosen by Jesus to be his disciples and the writers of the Gospels? They were fishermen, tradesmen, even a tax collector, common men. They weren’t writers, they we’re high up in the church at that time. They were just normal guys, who followed Christ and recorded the things they saw and heard.

And if they had managed to “Make Up” the story of Christ’s life and death, don’t you find it impossible to believe that not one of them denied the truth when they were being tortured and put to death for those beliefs? If they had made it all up, don’t you think one of them would have said something before they died horribly? And almost all of them were killed for their beliefs.

The Gospels were all written within 30-35 after Christ’s death. Modern scholars have some 5,000 copies of these Gospels in the original Greek, with hardly any difference between them. And they have some 15,000 copies in other languages with only small errors, such as spelling, between them. These all date from the first few centuries after the death of Jesus. There are NO other ancient writings that are as well preserved. And for those who think the Gospels were changed… Don’t you think if someone changed them, with so many copies out there, some of the faithful would have noticed the difference and said something?

Other things to think about

The Miracles of Jesus

Through out the 4 Gospels we read of the many Miracles performed by Jesus, healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind and even raising the dead. Did anyone at the time deny that Christ did these things?

No, they didn’t. They may not have believed He was who He said He was, but they didn’t deny He did what He did. They came up with excuses, saying He performed tricks or was using power from the devil instead of God. But no one writing at the time or shortly after, said He didn’t perform those Miracles.

And what of His Resurrection?

The tomb was empty the morning of the third day, and Christ appeared too many people after His death on the cross. Do you really think the disciples would have gone to their deaths as martyrs, and not admit it didn’t happen, if they had made it up or faked it?

And don’t forget Paul, who never meet Jesus, but who had a vision of Christ after He’d died and that vision changed his life 180% around. Paul went on to write most of the New Testament and preach the Word of Christ the rest of his life and died a martyr’s death.

And who would have rolled a stone away from the tomb, a stone that probably weighed one and half to two tons? Certainly not the solders sent to guard it, they would have been killed. The disciples? They knew He was dead and never believed He would rise. They were frightened for their own lives.

But there can be no doubt that the risen Christ changed the lives of these questioning men of the early Gospels. Men who went on to spread the word of a Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. And they died proclaiming that belief.

Many roads to God?

If, as some want to believe, that there are many paths to God, why did God bother to send Jesus at all?

There would be no reason to do it, no reason for Christ to go through all that He went through. If you can just be a good person, in whatever religion, and still reach God, then there would have been no need for Christ to have ever come into the world.

Look kids… Read the Bible and think about the nature of the God written there. He is not some distance ruler; He is involved personally with the lives of the people He created here on earth. Many times He comes to the men and women of the Bible and speaks to them, guides them and shows them what He wants them to do.

This is a personal God, a God who Loves us all… Deeply.

The Christian God of the Bible, is not sitting high on a Mountain, impossible to reach. He’s right here with us, every day. By allowing His Son Jesus to become a man, suffer and die for us, He understands us like no one else could. The God of the Bible doesn’t require us to reach UP to Him, He has reached DOWN to us, through His Son Jesus.

If you really study the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, you will see that there is a plan at work from the beginning. From Genesis through Revelation… You see Gods plan for us, His people. Christ’s coming, Death and Resurrection was planned from the beginning of time.

If you read and study the Book of Revelation, you will see what is to come at the end times. And it’s not pretty for those who have not accepted Christ.

If God wanted puppets following His every command, He could have made us that way, but no, He wants us to believe in Him and Love Him based on accepting Him as our Lord, because we want to, not because He forces us to. Therefore He gives us free will. He lets us make up our own minds about Him, and accept Him and His Son Jesus, or reject them.

It’s up to you, but I want you to think about something.

This earth, this age, this life is coming to an end. And eternity is waiting… That means forever and ever. This age, this time of man is a testing for God to find those who really want what He’s offering. Life with Him forever and ever, no more death, no more pain, no more doubts, no more suffering and wondering. God wants all of us to come to Him willingly, He sent His Son Jesus to show us the way. He has laid out the road map through His teachings, and it’s up to us to follow His lead or go it alone, and end alone.

Right now, you have two choices, either accept Christ and God’s gift of eternal life with Him, or not, and suffer an eternity of unending pain. Sorry, I had to mention that, for there is a price to be paid for not accepting Christ and it’s not pretty. And nothing you can say or do, short of accepting Christ, can change that fact.

And since I brought up the end times, let me leave you with this.

1 Corinthians 2: 9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

 

John 14:1-3

“1: Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2: In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

In Revelation 3:20-22 Christ says,

20: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

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