Currently, we’re in a message series called “God Questions.” We’re looking at some basic and tough questions that people have about God. I encourage you to read along in The God Questions book that we have made available. If you’re a first-time guest, you can pick up a free copy at the end of the service at the rear of the auditorium.
Today, I want to address the question “Is Jesus The Only Way To God?” The majority of people in America would answer that question with a resounding “No”. For most people, getting to heaven doesn’t have anything to do with Jesus. How do most Americans believe you go to heaven? Simply by being a good person. The equation is simple: good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. What does good mean? Well, that varies greatly among people. Most people think they fit in the good category, only 0.5% of people think they will go to hell.
What does Jesus say? NIV John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Notice the article, Jesus says “I am the way”. Then in case that wasn’t clear, he says that no one comes to the Father except through Himself. That sounds pretty exclusive to me.
How did the early church answer the question “Is Jesus the only way to God?” Speaking of Jesus, Peter says NIV Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. That seems pretty clear. Peter is saying that the only way to be saved, to have a relationship with God, to go to heaven when you die, is through Jesus Christ.
What about the great apostle Paul? How did he interpret Jesus’ teaching? NLT 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. Paul says that there is only one person who can bring men and God together, and that person is Christ Jesus. So, Christianity and the Bible are pretty clear, Jesus is the only way to God.
What about all the other religions in the world? What do they believe? Could all those people be wrong? Let’s look at this chart of the top religions in the world. The blue area in the pie chart is Christianity with 33% of the world’s population The red area is Muslim with 20 % of the world’s population. The green area is Hindu with 13% of the world’s population. The purple area is Buddhism with 6% The orange area is non-religious with 12%.
How are these religions distributed across the world? Here’s a map of the countries of the world, color-coded with their main religion. The purple, blue and pink areas are Christian – North and South America, Europe, southern Africa, former USSR and Australia. The green areas across northern Africa and into the Middle East are Muslim. The orange area is Hinduism in India And the yellow-tan areas are Buddhism and other Chinese religions.
Today, we’re going to look at the top religions in the world to see what they believe. A lot of people think all religions are the same, we’ll see if that is true.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my June 10, 2007 message entitled Is Jesus The Only Way To God?