How Can You Say That Jesus Christ Is the Only Way To God?
Jesus Claims About Himself
Jesus lived on earth about 2,000 years ago. He made some incredible claims about himself. One of the most noteworthy was when he said: "No-one can come to God unless they come through me first." He might as well have said "I am the only way to find God." And so, Christians believe and teach that Jesus Christ is the only way to find God.
How Can Christians Say This?
The short answer is that the Bible teaches it, so we believe it. The longer answer is that it makes a lot of sense. Here's what we mean...
Your Friend Turns Out To Be God
Imagine that your best friend comes up to you one day and confidently declares that he is God. This person is your friend! He's not a casual acquaintance whom you barely know. He's someone you've grown up with. And now, it turns out he's God. Or so he says. Your first reaction is probably to wonder what medicine he's taking. But how do you know? Maybe he is God! How can you tell if he is or isn't?
You decide to look at it from a common sense point of view. There are only two options:
He's telling the truth
He's not telling the truth
If he's not telling the truth, then there are another two options:
He knows he's not telling the truth
He doesn't know he's not telling the truth
So ultimately, there are 3, and only 3, positions for your friend:
1. He's not telling the truth and he knows full well that he's not.
This makes him a liar
2. He's not telling the truth, but he honestly believes he is telling the truth.
This puts him on the same level as a fruitcake.
3. He is telling the truth.
This makes him God
No doubt, you would soon convince yourself that your friend was not, after all, God.
But What About Jesus?
We can apply exactly the same reasoning to Jesus. In other words, we can say for sure that Jesus was either...
Liar (he knew he was deceiving everyone)
Lunatic (he had no idea he was completely mistaken)
Lord (he was who he said he was)
There are no in-between options here!
Jesus cannot merely be a "good moral teacher". A good moral teacher would not make false claims about himself...A good moral teacher would not completely deceive a group of his closest friends...
When we look at the records of his life and words, found in the Bible, we see neither a liar nor a lunatic. Jesus spoke of truth and light, and said that the truth would set people free. He modelled integrity of character. He never showed favouritism or hypocrisy, and often turned the accepted, but wrong values of the day, on their head. His life completely matched his claims.
In the same way, Jesus was most definitely not a lunatic. Lunatics have unbalanced minds, and live erratic lifestyles. Inconsistencies are a hallmark, and they can be mental and emotional wrecks. Jesus was a man who displayed calm under pressure, a sound mind, and a balanced and consistent lifestyle.
We are left with only one option: that Jesus is who he said he was: God.
Christians teach that Jesus is the only way to find God, because Jesus taught that he is the only way to find God. His life and his claims go hand in hand.
This page © Rupert Lineage
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