Why is Jesus the Only Way?


Why is Jesus the Only Way?

Christianity is unique from every other attempted solution in history for the problem of sin.  No matter what religious system you choose in the world, religion simply provides a standardized system of efforts one must accomplish in order to achieve goodness.  The appeal in such philosophies is the perception that growing in self-control, self-discipline, and personal sacrifice will make someone a better person.  

Anyone who has tried knows it isn't permanent, it isn't satisfying, and it doesn't solve the greatest problem, which is restoring our relationship with God despite our eventual inability to be perfect all the time.

Why Jesus?

God is perfect and He is not going to lower His standards for himself or anything He originally created perfect simply because we choose to rebel against such an idea.

In order to make things right between us and God, we needed a sacrifice that would cover our sinful, broken rebellion against God's soveriegnty in our lives.

That's not a new concept!  Every religion in the world incorporates some kind of sacrifice, whether it's animals, personal defamation and denial, or even bodily harm.  What makes God's requirement different is that it had to fulfill two requirements.  Of all the attempted solutions the world has ever offered, this is the only one that even makes sense.  Those two requirements were this. 

1.  It had to be a sacrifice that appropriately represented human beings (So it had to be human.  Sacrificing a cow isn't an acceptable substitute for the crowning jewel of God's creative work - mankind).

2.  It had to be a sacrifice that was powerful enough to pay the debt of, not just one human, but all humans who would ever be (There's only one thing in all of the Universe that is powerful enough for that - God Himself).

So God's solution to the problem involved the necesitty of a Human and Himself somehow combined into one thing, so that it could be sacrificed.  Enter Jesus, the God-Man.  Jesus has always been a part of the Trinity, so He is God - and powerful enough to be a sacrifice for every created thing.  But, he took on human flesh and became an acceptable sacrifice for us when he chose to enter the Human race via the womb of a Human mother.  There is no other sacrifice that can satisfy those two requirements.  Jesus is the only way to get right with God.

Why His Life, Death, and Resurrection?

Jesus lived a perfect life.  Would a non-perfect life be an acceptable sacrifice to God?  Only Jesus was able to accomplish such a feat.  No one else can... and in our hearts, even the most avid opponent to that claim knows it is true.  Just ask them if they have ever made a mistake or thought something evil.  

Jesus died the perfect Sacrifice.  Even if someone could have lived a perfect life, their sacrifice would only be good enough for one other person, becuase their value, their life was only that of a created being. Jesus was not created.  He is the Creator!  He is eternal.  His death was the perfect sacrifice in type, value and power.

Jesus came back to life.  It is historically verified.  His death alone would have paid our sin debt, but it is His resurection that secures for us all the blessings which the Bible tells us are ours.  We can have peace with God.  He promises us adoption as Children of God our Father.  He will NEVER go back on any promise.  We can have new life, with renewed minds, and new hearts.  We can experience joy no matter what our circumstances.  We will live forever in a new, perfect world with Him in a very literal and specific Kingdom!  and more...

It boils down to this:
1.  God loves you and has a purpose for your life.
2.  You are broken in your sin and cannot experience His love or realize the purpose you were created for.
3.  Jesus overcame that problem through His death and resurection as the only way to be reconciled to God.
4.  But it requires a personal response.  

It doesn't matter if you have gone to church your whole life, or if your grand-dad build the Church building.  It doesn't matter how much scripture you can quote from memory.  If you havn't repented of your rebellious heart and surrendered your life to Him, you are not yet reconciled to God.  

Know He loves you and offers you the very best life you can have.  He has a purpose for you no matter where you have been or how long you have been there.

It is NEVER TOO LATE.

With you for His glory,