Christ is the ONLY Way to Heaven

Beloved, we live in a generation that has grown terrified of absolute truth.

The world around us preaches a gospel of universal compromise. It tells us that truth is whatever you wish it to be; that eternity is a broad mountain with many trails; that as long as a man is sincere in his striving, his destination will be secure. The culture demands that the Church bow before the altar of inclusion, dilute the holy scandal of the Cross, and declare that all roads lead to the kingdom of God.

Hear this clearly today: God did not leave eternity to the wandering imaginations of men.

Heaven is not an open plaza where human philosophies gather to compare merits. Heaven is the holy dwelling place of the Living God, and into that holiness, no sin, no self-righteousness, and no counterfeit gospel can ever enter.

There is one Door. There is one Mediator. There is one Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. His name is Jesus Christ.

## The Great Deception of Human Religion

From the dawn of human history, man has attempted to build his own towers to the heavens. Every religion constructed by human hands is an attempt by fallen creatures to bridge an infinite chasm through finite effort. We invent rituals, we tally our good deeds, we devise moral philosophies, and we say to ourselves: Surely this will be enough to satisfy the justice of God.

It is not enough. It will never be enough.

Scripture leaves no room for illusion: all our righteousness is as filthy rags before the blinding holiness of the Creator. If man could have climbed his own way to God, if any philosophy, prophet, or moral code could have canceled our debt and washed away the rot of sin, then the Cross of Calvary was an utter waste. If salvation could be earned, then Christ suffered the scourge, bore the nails, and tasted death for nothing.

The Cross stands as an eternal rebuke to all human arrogance. It declares in blood what human pride refuses to admit: man cannot save himself.

## The Exclusivity of the Promise

The words of our Lord in John 14 are not a suggestion, nor are they an option among many. They are a divine boundary stone set down for eternity:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."[[quote]]

Notice what Christ did not say. He did not say, I am one of many valid ways. He did not say, I am the truth for those who choose me, while others may find their own truth elsewhere. He spoke as the sovereign King of the cosmos.

In Christ alone, the holy justice of God and the infinite mercy of God meet. Only a Savior who is fully God could bear the infinite weight of divine wrath against sin; only a Savior who is fully man could stand in our place and pay our ransom. No other figure in history made this claim. No other founder of any religion died as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world and walked out of a sealed tomb three days later.

The tomb of Buddha is occupied. The tomb of Muhammad is occupied. The graves of every philosopher, sage, and king who ever walked this earth are filled with dust.

Only the tomb of Jesus Christ is empty. Death could not hold Him, and because He lives, His promise alone carries the authority of eternal life.

## Standing Unashamed in an Age of Compromise

To declare that Christ is the only way is not cruelty; it is the highest form of love.

If a bridge is out on a dark highway, you do not tell oncoming travelers that every lane is equally safe. You do not flatter their intentions while they speed toward the cliff. You sound the alarm. You point them with tears and urgency to the one narrow route that carries them safely over the chasm.

The Church cannot remain silent while souls perish under the soothing lie of universalism. We do not apologize for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. We do not negotiate the terms of grace. We point a broken, dying world to the bleeding Lamb of God who alone takes away the sin of the world.

## The Summons to the Cross

If you are seeking rest for your soul, stop looking into the broken cisterns of this world. Turn your eyes away from your own good works. Abandon the foolish pride that says you can bargain with the Almighty.

Look to the Cross.

See the Son of God bearing your reproach. Hear Him cry out in victory: "It is finished!" The debt is paid. The veil is torn. The way to the Father is open, but it is open only through His wounds, His righteousness, and His resurrection.

Come to Christ. Repent of your sins, renounce every false foundation, and cast yourself completely upon His mercy. There is no other foundation. There is no other shelter. There is no other Savior under heaven.

Christ is the Way. Christ is the Truth. Christ is the Life.

Forever and ever. Amen.