You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. James 2:19 (NIV)
It is not enough to say there is one God. From as far back as there is written history, there have been false man-made Gods. Man has always been recreating God in his own image. An image that makes him feel better about his sin about what he know he should not be doing. In modern day America we have seen the softening of absolute truth to the point that we don't want to speak the truth about eternal life for fear of offending people in this life. The notion of sin is offensive. The notion of hell is offensive. The Gospel message is offensive because it cuts to the heart of the hearer. Jesus taught:
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' Matthew 10: 34-36 (NIV)
The true Gospel message is divisive because some people will refuse to hear it. Instead we want to believe that there are "many roads" to eternal life. We want to desperately believe that parts of the Bible are "culturally out of date." Anything to make us feel better about being disobedient to God. We must take the entire counsel of God from the Bible, not just the parts that are easier. We must take all of it to heart:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14: 6 (NIV)
There is no wiggle room or equivocation. Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. None come to the Father except through Him. That may sound offensive from a human standpoint but not taken in the proper context. The context of our key verses. God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn us beloved but so that we can be saved through Him. Picture it this way. We are caught in a burning building. There is only one way out, through a locked door. God is the only one who has the key and He is offering it freely to you. All you have to do is accept the free gift and believe that it will open the door. Belief and faith. You can doubt the existence of the God offering the key and simply sit down in the burning building. Throw your hands up in the air and wait for it to burn down around you. Or you can believe that the God offering the key is real, but yet not care that He has the key you need. The house is still burning down around you, but you refuse the gift being offered to you.
This world is that burning building beloved. You look around the world and see the signs. The signs of the times. These have been prophesized in the Bible. These are the beginning of the birth pains as Jesus taught. With each passing natural disaster. With each passing famine. Realize that events across the world will eventually come home to this country as well. In Egypt 40% of the population lives on less than $2 per day. That is the famine behind the revolt. I wish I could ease the suffering for those in mourning this week in Japan. Or those in such poverty in Egypt. Or the marginalized in America. But I am not the way Jesus is. I am not the truth Jesus is. I am not the life Jesus is.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2: 4-9 (NIV)
Jesus is the key. We were dead in our transgressions, our sins. But God so rich in mercy offered us the key. The way out of the burning building. The coming ages are upon us beloved. I pray that you see the signs for what they are and accept the gift of God He is offering you. Take the key. Unlock the door. Walk into your eternal life today. For God so loved you. For God so loved the world.
Reverend Anthony Wade March 14, 2011
