Hey Gang,
We continue this week in our study of Apologetics with our series of lessons entitled The Case for Jesus. Last week we considered the question - What's so different about Jesus? This week we explore the apologetic that Jesus is the only way to God and your only way to salvation.
We continue this week in our study of Apologetics with our series of lessons entitled The Case for Jesus. Last week we considered the question - What's so different about Jesus? This week we explore the apologetic that Jesus is the only way to God and your only way to salvation.
Many people our age realize that Christianity is important, but also feel that other religions are important too. Some think that it sounds a little intolerant to say that Jesus is the only way to God. Why couldn't there be other ways and expressions that lead to the same God? What about those people that have never heard of Jesus, but are following a moral path that they believe leads to God?
What will our special guest say about this?
How do you answer the question of people that have never heard of Jesus, but are following a moral life showing love, kindness and generosity as Jesus taught, and believing that their chosen path leads to the same God?
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We will look at three answers to this question: Why is Jesus the One and Only Way?
1. John 3:16-18 to see the importance of Jesus being God's One Son.
2. John 14:6-11 to explore how Jesus described Himself as the One Way to God.
3. 1 Timothy 2:3-6 where Paul warns Timothy that there will be many false teachers out there that will try to say that there are other ways, but that there is only One God, One Son and One Way.
I. ONE SON – JOHN 3:16-18
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
What do you read from these verses alone that give you a defense for Jesus being the One and Only way?
1. The Father gave Him to the world as a sacrifice.
2. He is the only Son of God.
3. Eternal life is only for those who believe in Him.
The moment we believe in Jesus, eternal life is ours. And this salvation from sin is eternally secure. John 3:16 contains the truths of the gospel. Even young children can understand a loving Father who gives so they could live.
God’s plan of salvation is One Dimensional: people either believe in Jesus or they remain lost. Do you agree with this statement?
II. ONE WAY – JOHN 14:6-11
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
What do you read from these verses alone that give you a defense for Jesus being the One and Only way?
A Cross Eyed Christian - people keeping their eyes on the Cross where Jesus paid for our sin, to remind us that....Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
Jesus said, “I am the way” why is this so important to you? How do you translate this?
- I have discovered over the years that, for me, the best way is not always my way. There are times in which I could sing along with Frank Sinatra, "I did it my way." The results were not always the best. A lot of people have messed things up doing it their way.
- Jesus said, "I am the way." He didn't say "a way." There was a finality with which He spoke. There was an absolute to His expression. I need to decide if it will be my way or if it will be His way. His is the way away from sin and guilt. His is the way toward restoration of all I was created to be. His is a narrow way; it is not an easy way. Jesus made that clear when He stated, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
- This week I have been browsing through that classic work by John Bunyan titled The Pilgrim's Progress. It is a story of a man named Christian who determined that life in the City of Destruction was not the best existence. With the help and guidance of the Evangelist, he headed out on a journey, fraught with many perils, to the Celestial City. It describes the struggles of the Christian life. The way is not easy.
Jesus said, “I am the truth” why is this so important to you? How do you translate this?
- Option 1: Philosophical Truths like Capitalism, and Marxism, - I am vulnerable to falsehood. I am susceptible to myths, some myths that are true and some that are false. Some myths have that ambiguous mix of both truth hood and falsehood that lead me in the wrong direction.
- Option 2: Relativisms - This is such a temptation for so many today. We live in a relativistic age. For many, truth is a matter of opinion. Morality is a matter of personal choice. Not all issues are clear-cut. I must learn to live with ambiguity. I am watching people I love self-destruct as they buy into this notion that truth is a matter of opinion and morality a matter of personal choice. I see men and women leaving spouses and children, listening to the siren song that promises a better life. They say, "I have a right to be me," only to find themselves tossed about in the waves of relativism to final shipwreck. They are persons who are determined to have their one chance at life at the price of nurturing. Career and pleasure become more important than commitments made. And God only knows what the ultimate result will be.
- Option 3: Jesus is the embodiment of truth - I'll trust Jesus to be the truth, my absolute referent for life. He is the One who tells me where I came from, why I am here, where I am going, and how I can live the most creative existence in the now. He gives me His Handbook for living, the Bible, to alert me to right and wrong, the best ways of handling situations, and relating to myself and others and to Him.
Jesus said, “I am the life” why is this so important to you? How do you translate this?
- I have discovered that doing my own thing, fleshing out an animal existence based on pleasure, doesn't bring ultimate fulfillment. Certainly Michael Vick, Amy Winehouse, and O.J. Simpson are finding this out.
- I get things beautifully structured for myself. I hedge all my bets by careful, calculated living. Then some catastrophe hits, or more subtly things start leaking around the edges. My best plans for life can't guarantee the health and the safety of the people I love. Those of us who are the most organized often end up the most frustrated because we can only organize a part of our lives. Our best-written scenarios don't turn out the way we'd always like.
- Jesus’ life puts purpose behind the inexplicable. I can't make any sense of a child being abducted, raped and murdered. I can't make any sense of a beautiful mother being killed by a drunken driver. I can't make any sense of innocent lives taken by a terrorist's actions. I can't make any sense out of malignant cells stripping life from the people I love.
- But Jesus sees the overall pattern. He didn't create evil. He doesn't like disease. But He has a way of taking the worst tragedies and enabling us to survive, and to be more than survivors. We can trust Him with the lives of our loved ones. We can trust Him with our own lives because He has made provision for us. His life turns our insignificance into significance. Jesus says that you have worth, that you are not an accident. The greatest of difficulties need not conquer you. He gives you His creative energy to handle whatever comes your way.
III. ONE GOD – 1 TIMOTHY 2:3-6
3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
What do you read from these verses alone that give you a defense for Jesus being the One and Only way?
- One God & One Mediator: Jesus Christ
- Paul wrote 1Timothy shortly after his release from prison in Rome. Paul assigned Timothy to Ephesus to continue the work that the apostle had begun on his third missionary journey. 1Timothy contains instructions on several matters of doctrinal importance, many dealing with the truth of the gospel. Everywhere Paul traveled, false teachers appeared denying what Paul had said about salvation by faith in Christ alone. He knew that Timothy would face these false teachers as well, so he spelled out essential truths of the gospel again.
- Matthew 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
How do we recognize and guard against false teaching?
1. Know what you believe
2. Know what others believe
3. Reach out in love
4. Be ready to explain what you believe
In order to recognize false teaching, we must have a clear, objective standard of what truth is. The only standard that has stood the test of time is the Bible. As we look for false teaching, the best place to look is what the teaching proclaims about Jesus. Is He God? Is He human? Both of these things must be true. Does His death provide the only way to be reconciled with God?
One way believers can recognize and guard against false teachings is to have a list of probing questions based on the focal verses of this lesson. These may include, but are not limited to the following:
Three (3) Questions You Can Ask
1. Does the teaching magnify Jesus Christ?
2. Does the teaching stress visions, special knowledge, or subjective experiences more than the written Word of God?
3. Does the teaching elevate man-made rules above God’s grace?
Prayer of Commitment
Lord, deliver me from the deceptive snare of false teachings and the powerful influences of false teachers. Amen
I hope everyone has a blessed rest of the week as we continue in our defense of Jesus.
Hope to see everyone this Thursday!
In His Love,
David
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