“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)

I have used John 14:6 on many occasions and would like to make some observations concerning both verses six and seven.

1:       “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE WAY,”

To say that Jesus is the only way to God these days, really angers those who do not know Him. We hear things along the line of:

“You’re mean, close-minded, arrogant, and stupid.”

“Christians are intolerant of other religions and think Christianity is the only way to God.”

“Christians are haters.”

And of course since Oprah Winfrey, and others of like kind, believe there are many ways to God, it must be true, right? Not hardly.

Have you ever noticed that the root word for “Christian” is “Christ,” and the root word for “Christianity” is also “Christ?” Hmmmmm, is there a pattern here? Could this be a clue? Of course! Christians are called “CHRISTians” because we believe in Jesus CHRIST, who is God in the flesh, the Creator, and the Author of His Holy Word, the Bible. The same holds true for the word, “CHRISTianity.”

As a Christian, Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is our Lord. He is our God and His Word is final. He is our Savior because of our faith and His grace. He is our Lord because we bow the knee to no other.

If your faith is not in Jesus Christ, you are not a CHRISTian. If you bow the knee to other gods, Jesus is not your Lord, and you are not a CHRISTian.

Several well-known Christians have been confronted about Christianity’s insistence that Jesus is the only way to God. Only a few (very few) have replied with something like, “It doesn’t matter what I believe. What matters is what God says.” That is the correct answer, and God (Jesus) says He is the only way to the Father (God).

To repeat, Jesus Christ is God. The Bible is His Word, and He says in His Word, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Your argument is not with me or any other Christian. It is with God.

2:       “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE TRUTH,”

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) The sad thing is that this elite class, wealthy politician was looking right at “Truth” and didn’t see it. His carnal mind was so full of Satan’s delusion; he walked away from “Truth.”

Pilate said he found no fault in Him, but he only meant that he found no guilt of a crime committed. He did not see the guiltless, sinless, holy Son of God standing before Him. He could have bowed his knees before the only Way to God and sought His forgiveness. He could have been saved and become a Christian that very day, but ignorance and pride doomed his soul to hell.

Pilate thought he was the one with all the power, but if only he had known that the One standing before him held his soul in His hand. One day Pilate will stand before the very One who stood before him, Jesus Christ, and be judged. There will not be a beating with the cat-of-nine tails and a cross, but the eternal fires of an everlasting hell in the Lake of Fire.

Are you like Pilate? The Truth is right in front of your face, and you don’t see it? Don’t let the Truth pass you by as it did Pilate, or you will stand in line with him to be judged by the very One you both ignored.

3:       “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE LIFE,”

Jesus is referring to life that is eternal, such as in John 3:16.

“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.”

Not only that, all things exists because of Him. Without Him, there would be no life in anything, human or otherwise. When we look at the trees around us, the garden vegetables that grow, the flowers that bloom, birth of a newborn, there is life. None of this would be possible without Jesus Christ, because all life is through Him.

The opposite of life is death, and therefore the opposite of eternal life is eternal death. Notice the following verse”

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

When Jesus uses the terminology “destroy both soul and body in hell,” the word “destroy” means “to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell.” Jesus gives all mankind life, some will spend their life in Heaven for all eternity and others will spend their life in hell for all eternity. Someone said, “We are not a body with a soul, but a soul with a body.”

We all have a soul. Our soul is the real us, not our body. Therefore, we all have life. We spend the temporary portion of our life on earth. Where we spend the eternal portion of our life depends on what we do with Jesus.

Jesus provides us an earthly body (perishable) to live in while we are on earth. It will only last a few years. For those of us who are Christians, He will provide us with a heavenly (imperishable) body for Heaven that will last forever. For those who are not Christians, I believe He will provide an imperishable body designed for the Lake of Fire that will last forever.

Jesus has stated thus far that He is (1) the way, (2) the truth, and (3) the life. Reminder … He is God. He says this. So don’t argue with me or another Christian about whether or not Jesus is the only way to God.

“Oh but all the other religions can’t be wrong. They have such beautiful rites and they believe so firmly in their religion. You can’t be the only one with the truth and everyone else wrong. And besides that, there are just too many intelligent people, who are very religious, who believe there are many ways to God, so it must be so.”

Your problem isn’t with the messenger. If you won’t listen to the messenger, then you need to speak with the One who wrote the message. The messenger only repeats what he/she has been told to say.

4:       “IF YE HAD KNOWN ME, YE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN MY FATHER ALSO:”

We often think of the Father as God, but Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also part of the Godhead … one God, three manifestations. The three are one God; i.e. the Trinity.

So we say there is one way to God. Jesus says that if we know Him, we also know God (Father). Jesus says they are one (John 10:30). They are the same. There is no difference. Therefore, from simple common sense, Jesus is the only way to God, because He is God. If you want to know God, you must know Jesus Christ. He is the only way. There is no other.

5.       “NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.”

There you have it. It isn’t what Christians say. It isn’t what the Church says. It is what Jesus Christ the Son of God says about the path of salvation.

“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14)

Directly from God we are told that few will believe that it is only through the Son of God that anyone can come to God the Father, and they are One. Only a few will follow that narrow path and obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ, because their narrow minds will keep them from the narrow path.

Grant Phillips

When I think of just how much God cares for us many songs come to mind. Here are three worth noting.

AMAZING GRACE
John Newton

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my Shield and Portion be, As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine;But God, who called me here below, Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.”

THE LOVE OF GOD
Frederick M. Lehman

“The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell;It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. Refrain:

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure— The saints’ and angels’ song.”

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU
Civilla D. Martin

“Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you. Refrain:

God will take care of you, Through every day, o’er all the way;He will take care of you, God will take care of you.”

It doesn’t matter what your station is in life, rich or poor, slave or free, young or old, God really does care. He is not looking down from Heaven with a monstrous club just waiting for you to mess up so He can pound you.

Many people, even Christians, think that God is just waiting for us to sin so He can make something happen in our lives that will make us so miserable we can’t stand it.

On the other hand, there are those who think He is a wishy-washy old white-haired geezer in the sky that is going to love us all into Heaven regardless of how we live or treat Him.

God is neither a marsh mellow who winks at sin or a tyrant waiting to beat us into submission. So what is He? Simply put, He is God. He created us, all of us. He is holy. He cannot look upon sin. What is sin? Sin is anything that is a violation against His will. How do we know what is sin? Read the Bible. It’s all in there.

In the Bible God has told us exactly how we should live, whether we are a Christian or not. Every human being, Christian or not, is obligated to obey Him because He is our Creator. Let me say it another way. If we are not a Christian, we must obey Him simply because He created us. If we are a Christian, we must obey Him because we are His child in Christ.

Consider this. God wants to live among us, but He cannot do so as long as there is sin in us. Unfortunately, there is sin within us all, going all the way back to our original dad and mom; i.e. Adam and Eve.

Sin must be paid for, and it must be by the blood of a sinless man. No one qualifies. Since we all have sin in us, sin can’t pay for sin. Animals and inanimate objects won’t work because they are not human. Therefore, what is left? Only God is without sin. Only God can pay for it, but it must be by human blood. So God became man (Jesus), remained without sin, and died on our behalf. That satisfied God’s justice, and He is now able to freely save anyone who will come to Him through Jesus.

By saving us, He guaranteed our place in Heaven with Him. In the meantime, He keeps us by His Spirit while we are on earth. When we arrive in Heaven, since all our sins have been forgiven, we arrive totally without sin. All of this is free to us as long as we deposit our faith in the only way to Heaven … Jesus Christ. We believe by faith. He saves by grace. Because we accept His sacrifice for our sins, He gives us what we don’t deserve (Heaven), and doesn’t give us what we do deserve (hell). That is grace, and a very, very simplified version.

Far too many people than I care to imagine are hurting. They’re victims of crime, abuse, sickness, taunting, and anything else that can be imagined. They’re despondent, scared, and angry. They’re held captive by drugs, bad family situations, lust, etc. They may live in an affluent neighborhood, or behind prison walls. Many feel unloved and unwanted. There are thousands of reasons so many are hurting. Whatever they are, know this, God does care about you personally whether you believe it or not.

Why does God cause all this misery I’m going through you say? He doesn’t. There’s a jerk angel we call Satan that’s behind it all. So let us not pile our accusations on God. You know, a lot of times our misery is simply because we have made our own mess of things. We can’t blame God. We can’t blame Satan. We can’t blame Mom and Dad. We can’t blame the weather. We can’t blame anyone. “It’s just us.”

We live in a cruel world. Most people don’t care if you’re hurting. They have enough problems of their own, or are just too hardhearted. However, there is a God in Heaven who cares. Jesus has told us that life is going to be rough because of sin in the world. Look what the world did to Him, and He allowed it for our benefit. He also told us that whatever we go through, He will be right there with us. Regardless of what the world throws at us, we can lean on Him. Believe it or not, it works. Millions will testify to that.

God has made every provision to get us through this world and on to our home in Heaven by coming to Him through His Son Jesus. Despite the hurt we feel, when we put our lives in Jesus’ hands, anything we experience on this earth will be worth it all because of the ultimate happiness we will have with Him in Heaven.

The circumstances of this sinful world can take everything we have away, but if we belong to Jesus nothing can take away our right to be with Him for all eternity. So let us look up, He is coming soon to take us home.

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Grant Phillips