Jesus said "I AM THE WAY!" "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:1-6).Is Jesus The ONLY Way to Heaven?
The Way To Heaven A note from Pastor Daniel E. Lundmark...Years ago (in the early '70s), I spoke with young people who often gathered in groups on Main Street in Northampton during warm summer evenings. After introducing myself and making some small talk, I would ask them the following thought-provoking question: The responses I received were about as varied as the number of youth on the streets. Some said, "You have to belong to a church." Others replied, "You have to live a good life." Many admitted that they did not know! I then had the young people read out of my Bible the words of Jesus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus told the religious Jewish leader, Nicodemus, I emphasized to the youths that Jesus was saying that the only way to heaven is to be born again. In the early 1970's, this Biblical term "born again" was rarely mentioned in the media and for that matter in many churches. The youths did not understand what Jesus meant by the term. Most of them thought Jesus was talking about re-incarnation. They found it easy to identify with the question that Nicodemus asked. How can you be born again? "Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:4-8).I explained to the youths that God created Adam and Eve with the capacity to fellowship with Him and He would walk and talk with them regularly. However, when they sinned against God by disobeying Him, they experienced spiritual death and were no longer able to live in God’s presence just as God had warned (Gen. 2:17). Since then, all mankind has been born spiritually dead with a sin nature. The Bible says, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). We have all been born physically ("born of the flesh") with a need to be born again ("born of the Spirit"). This birth is supernatural! It is NOT a mere mental allegiance to a theological viewpoint! It is NOT just belonging to a church or just living a good life! Jesus explained to Nicodemus that this spiritual rebirth is a work of the Holy Spirit that occurs when a person turns his life over to Jesus Christ, fully believing in Him to forgive all of his past sins. The working of the Holy Spirit is invisible just as the wind is invisible, yet evidence of this miraculous work of God becomes immediately apparent as a new and changed life emerges! How does this spiritual birth occur? "Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?"(John 3:9) In response to Nicodemus's question, Jesus explained how it is possible for one to be born again, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:14-17). The background: Nicodemus knew well the story of the serpent placed upon a pole in the wilderness. "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:4-9). In that story, God sent poisonious snakes to judge the Israelites who sinned in complaining against God. Many were bitten and died. They cried out to Moses who cried out to God. God told Moses to put a serpent of brass upon the pole and every who had been bitten would live if they looked upon the serpent on the pole. This was the ONLY provision of God for their sins. Those who had been bitten and believed the message, looked and lived! Significance:
Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." It is not an option, but rather the only way to Heaven! Not everyone will accept Jesus as Savior, but the Bible says, "...as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God..." (John. 1:12). How to take THE ONLY WAY to heaven
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