Jesus - - - the Only Way!

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 26, 2006

AND WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM?

Most of you know the story about baby Jesus. You know the one--the baby lying in a manger, angels and shepherds outside, wise men coming from far away lands....it's a good story, but it gets even better! That baby grew up and starting doing some very interesting things.

First there were the miracles. He turned water into wine (good-tasting wine, no less). A man, blind from birth, was made to see. Lepers were cured (rotting flesh was restored). A lame man was made able to walk. Thousands of people were fed with one little boy's lunch. He calmed a storm. He raised a man from the dead. (Days later! "Surely he stinketh," someone said at the time.) I could go on and on. Is there something special about someone who could control weather? bring people back to life? You tell me.

Jesus came to allow us to find out more about our Father in heaven. Jesus demonstrated God's love, power, and mind. We were not fortunate enough to be there to meet him in the flesh, but we have his assurance that he will send us his Holy Spirit (the Comforter) in his place. The Holy Spirit will teach us about Jesus.

Going to a church that digs deeply into the Bible is important. There you will learn more about Jesus through the studies and through other people. Be careful, though. There are false teachers. You have to be reading the Bible for yourself to make sure what you are hearing in church is not a twisted version. God will reveal the truth to you.

We are fortunate to have God's Word, the Bible. Everything we need to know about living is in that one book. God's heart is revealed in the Bible. "What? I should read that huge, hard-to-understand book?" you might ask. The answer is simple, "YES!" God helps your understanding. You won't understand it all the first time, second time, or even the third time. He opens it up to you bit by bit. Here is a list of "Laws of Bible Interpretation" that will help you:

Laws of Bible Interpretation
1. Interpret all scripture in the light of John 19:30 "...It is finished...." (It is a finished work.)
2. Scripture interprets other scripture. (Do not use outside sources to interpret scripture. The only exception would be a source for researching the original languages used to write the Bible.)
3. Doctrine is not what you think or what someone else thinks--God's Word is the final authority. "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2Pet 1:20-21
4. Never use vague or unclear scripture to contradict clear or precise scriptures.
5. Interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. (The Old Testament is the foundation of our faith and is not to be dismissed as it is the seed bed of all Bible doctrine. The New Testament is the new covenant and completion of scriptures which reveal the finished work and reveals Old Testament doctrines more completely.)
6. Don't take scripture out of context. (Be sure to read before and after the scripture to get the full picture.)
7. There are no real contradictions in the Bible. (What may look like a contradiction tells you that you don't fully understand.)
8. All scripture is interpreted in light of God being sovereign in all things, omnipresent, all knowing, righteous, and holy. "In the beginning God. . . ." Gen 1:1
9. The Holy Spirit has to open your understanding. (You need to approach God's Word with faith believing he will show you what you need to know. Never limit what you believe based on your own understanding. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9)
10. Take into consideration to whom the scriptures are written.
11. Major in the things God majors on and minor on the minor.
I read something once that said Charles Haddon Spurgeon, when asked if he defended the Bible answered, "Yes, the way I would defend a lion. I open the cage and let it out." So, if you have any difficulty with what is in the Bible, keep reading it and let it speak to you.

Jesus was killed by people who thought they were doing God's will. They thought God would insist they put Jesus to death. For one thing, that silly Jesus was allowing people to worship him (God said that only He was to be worshipped). Then, to make matters worse, Jesus called himself by a name that God called Himself, "I AM." Blasphemy! He was saying he was God! Crucify him!

So, they did kill him. When he died the sky turned dark, there was an earthquake, the huge curtain in the temple ripped from the top to the bottom, and bodies rose up out of graves and walked around the city. (Just a little strange, don't you think?) OK, he was dead so they put his body in a tomb. That ended that thorn in their sides. There was a hitch in their well-laid plans, however. As he had stated he would, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and was seen by many people.

After hanging around a while to make sure people really knew he was alive again, he told the people who were with him they, "shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Then he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. Wow. Can't you just picture those people staring up with their mouths hanging open?

Two angels then told the people that Jesus would return again, the same way they saw him go into heaven. Matthew 24:27 says, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Revelation 1:7 says every eye will see him when he returns. , "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him. . . ." So, will you know when he returns? Obviously. What are some of the signs of his coming? They are in the Bible. The Bible does tell us that no man knows the hour he will return. Why will he return? To rule the earth.

Hang on a sec! Why did he have to die in the first place? Why didn't God just send angels to rescue him? The Bible tells us that sin separates us from God. God can't allow sin into heaven. I know what you are probably thinking, good people don't sin big sins. Well, one sin is all it takes. Did you ever say, "No!" to your parents when you were a baby? Didn't we all? Did you ever tell one teensy-weensy itty-bitty little tiny white lie? Didn't we all? Everybody has sinned at least once! That is why Jesus had to come and die.

Jesus never sinned. He was perfect. He offered himself up as a blood sacrifice for every person that has ever lived. He allowed the sins of the world (yours, mine, your mother's, my great-great grandmother's, my neighbor's third cousin... everyone's) to come upon him. He took them for us and died (a horribly painful death, I might add). Why? Because he loves us that much!

What do you have to do to be a partaker of that wonderful gift? The Bible tells us over and over that all we have to do is believe. Believe in Jesus. Believe who he was. Believe what he did. That's all. Just believe. Once you believe all you have to do is ask forgiveness for all your sins and bingo-bongo they are gone. Erased. God no longer sees them. Is that easy enough?

Hey, even if you have some doubt, isn't it worth investigating? I mean, after all, eternity separated from God (if you don't dump those sins), will be miserable. Actually, it will be more than miserable. Think about the words of the rich man when he begged, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." Eternally tormented is a more fitting description. Pray that God reveal Himself to you if you are having a hard time believing. He wants you to know Him. HE LOVES YOU!!!

Just take a few minutes and think about it. You have a choice to believe or not to believe. If you call it all hogwash and choose not to believe you have that right. However, if you are wrong and there really is a Jesus... THINK ABOUT IT! What harm will it do to find out whether it is true or not? God WILL provide you the evidence you seek to prove to you that it is true. In 2Peter 3:9 the Bible tells us that God is, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Don't you take the time to find out the truth on other matters? Take the time on this one. Your eternal life depends on it!!!!

It is important to know that many prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. There were many prophecies about a "Messiah" a "Savior" that were written a long time ago. One named the city he would be born in and another told where his home town was (he wasn't born in his home town). Another said he would be born of a virgin and yet another told how he would die. There are many prophecies.

A number of years ago I clipped an article out of the paper regarding the prophecies. It states:

Did you know that there are 61 'major' prophecies of the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? That might not seem so remarkable until you consider the probabilities associated with His fulfillment.

In Science Speaks, Peter Stoner says that by using the science of probability in reference to just eight prophecies, '...We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷.' That would be 1 chance in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That's like trying to pick one, marked, silver dollar from a pile of silver dollars two feet high and covering the state of Texas.

When considering 49 of the 61 prophecies, that probability becomes 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. That's a one followed by 157 zeros. do you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior? I can think of no other decision you can make with a higher probability of assurance.

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Please email me! I would love to hear from you!
I present this information to you so you can join me in the peace and joy that God has for you. I started out viewing Jesus intellectually. Hard to believe in something you can't see.... How do I know the pastor isn't lying to me? I want proof! God gave me the proof I needed. He will give you whatever proof you need, too. All you have to do is ask. (Of course, then the ball is in your court. You then have to listen and watch for that proof!)
I learned how to make Jesus my Lord after I got into a Bible-believing church. Committing myself to ongoing Bible study, seeking God's will in my life, learning how to pray, and asking God to use me has brought me to the point I am today. I have asked for increased faith and wisdom and have received it. I am far from having all the blessings God has for me. I continue seeking. I am daily dying to self that I might become a clean vessel for His use.

Please
email
me!

I would
love
to hear
from you!

I present this information to you so you can join me in the peace and joy that God has for you. I started out viewing Jesus intellectually. Hard to believe in something you can't see.... How do I know the pastor isn't lying to me? I want proof! God gave me the proof I needed. He will give you whatever proof you need, too. All you have to do is ask. (Of course, then the ball is in your court. You then have to listen and watch for that proof!)

I learned how to make Jesus my Lord after I got into a Bible-believing church. Committing myself to ongoing Bible study, seeking God's will in my life, learning how to pray, and asking God to use me has brought me to the point I am today. I have asked for increased faith and wisdom and have received it. I am far from having all the blessings God has for me. I continue seeking. I am daily dying to self that I might become a clean vessel for His use.

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and any there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Matthew 7:13-14

Translation: Jesus is the narrow way--the only way.

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