Jesus said, "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life"

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Jesus Leads To Heaven
by J. Grant Swank, Jr.
Published: Jan 29, 2011
http://www.postchronicle.com/religion/article_212346338.shtml

The most important question known to man is: "How can I find the way to heaven?"

Therefore, the answer given to that question is most important.

The Bible, that is the Word of God in contrast to the mere word of man, provides us with the concrete answer of hope and challenge:

(1) COME TO JESUS.

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Matthew l8:ll).

"For the Son of man is not come to destroy man's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56).

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).

"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" (John 3:16).

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16-17).

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21).

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

". . .we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved " (Acts 15:11).

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

(2) CONFESS YOUR SINS TO JESUS.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

(3) CAST YOUR SOUL UPON HIS MERCY.

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5).

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (Peter 1:3).

(4) COMFORT YOURSELF WITH THE REALITY OF SALVATION AND HOPE OF HEAVEN.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).

". . .to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father" (Romans 8:14-15).

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

"If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:3l-32).

The most important question known to man is: "How can I find the way to heaven?"

Therefore, the answer given to that question is most important.

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We all have access to eternity with God
By Billy Edwards
Evansville Courier & Press
Posted January 15, 2011
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jan/15/we-all-have-access-to-eternity-with-god/

Access is truly important to us all, but this is especially true if you have any kind of physical impairment. I cannot go where I want to go and do all that I may want to do because I can't get around as well as others.

The older I get, the more I have to rely on the help of others to get to the places that I need to go.

Steps pose a greater challenge to me than they once did. I can't navigate stairs much any more due to my limited mobility. Most public buildings and many others are now constructed to help provide accessibility for the handicapped.

Now, when they build buildings, they will put in ramps and elevators so that people who are mobility-challenged can get around more easily.

Beyond this, accessibility poses a problem for all of us no matter who we might be. I doubt very seriously if I could walk into the mayor's office and demand to speak to the mayor about some important matter I have on my mind.

If I suddenly took a notion to go to Frankfort to see the governor, I would probably not get to speak face to face with the state's top leader. More than likely I would get escorted out by armed guards!

There are many people and places we may not be able to get to, but we can go to the most important place of all and speak with the Supreme Ruler of the universe any time we are ready.

We do not need an appointment. We do not have to get in line and wait days, weeks, months or even years just to have a consultation with the Master.

As we talked about last week, when Christ died on the cross, the veil of the temple was ripped into shreds. This was very significant because for the first time ever, man had exclusive and unlimited access to God.

No longer was it required of man to bring his blood sacrifice to the priest to make an offering for his sins. No longer was it required for priests to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year to bring a blood offering to God as an atonement for their sins.

Through the blood of Jesus, we have access to the Father. Through Him and His forever completed work on the cross for our sins, we can come into His presence any time we get ready.

We do not have to wait until some appointed time. We do not have to wait until we have met the requirements of God as outlined in the law. God had fulfilled all of the requirements through His beloved Son on the cross of Calvary.

This is the reason God said, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

God never said this of any other person than the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is this? It is because He was the only one who could live up to the perfect standards of God. How can He do that, you may ask. He was able to do that because He was fully God and man.

You may say, "I do not fully understand this. How can Christ be God and man at the same time?"

Join the crowd! This is a great mystery of God that we cannot grasp here in this life, but thank God, we don't have to understand the mysteries of the Almighty!

All He asks us to do is to believe. It does not matter about all of the hows and whys, because He is God. He is the sovereign of the universe.

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me."

There are people who say they don't need Christ, they don't need the church. They are so wrong! They are arrogant people who take pride in themselves and what they think they are. However, they are sadly mistaken. They are fooling themselves. They are in for the surprise of their lives.

In John 10:10, our Lord said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

In the physical realm, we have life. We can feel, see, hear and taste, but there is so much more to life, to our existence in this human body.

This is what Christ came to give us. He came to give us access to the abundant blessings of God that had been lost through our sins and willful disobedience.

Through Christ's death on the cross, we are made fellow heirs with Him in the kingdom of God. We were "afar off from God" as the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:12-13, but we are now made nigh. We were strangers. We were aliens. We had no hope.

But, now, that is all in the past. In Ephesians 2:14, he says, "For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us."

God sent Christ to construct us a way, but before He could do that, He had to do some demolition work! He had to demolish the wall that separated a holy God from sinful man.

We are no longer separated from Him by our righteousness, but we have been given the birthright of being one of His children through Christ.

Of all that we may accumulate during our passage through this life, this is the greatest of anything. Other things that we may have will fade, but the blessings from God are everlasting.