JESUS IS THE WAY
George Crumbly April 16, 2006 AM
Easter Sunday Humphrey UMC
John 14
I prayed for a message for this Easter Sunday. Easter is a very special time for the Christian. We do not keep Easter in commemoration or in remembrance but as a CELEBRATION!! If we’re not careful Easter will become a “ritual” to folks.
CELEBRATE: “Perform ritually, mark or commemorate with festivity, do honor to.”
While here on this earth Jesus made some great claims & some great promises. He could make these promises because of who He was & because of what He was going to do in the hearts & lives of those that trust Him as their Lord & Savior.
If there was a message today for this beautiful Easter Sunday morning it would be that JESUS IS THE WAY.
John 14: verses 6-11
6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
The text today contains one of the greatest claims of Jesus Christ. I want to challenge each of you this morning to open your minds & your hearts to this great claim made by Jesus: I AM THE WAY:
I. JESUS CHRIST IS THE WAY- OUT:
The way OUT. So many folks today are looking for a WAY OUT, any way out. People do drugs, alcohol, sin, even take their own life as a way out. (One of the things I’ve seen today more than in the past? People today have some REAL life changing, life threatening problems)
a.) Jesus is the WAY OUT of difficulties & perplexities that threaten our lives every day.
b.) Jesus is the WAY OUT from under the condemnation & guilt that weigh us down.
c.) Jesus is the WAY OUT of failure & even emptiness.
d.) Jesus is the WAY OUT of spiritual death.
The thing that encourages me today that no matter what we might be going thru or facing….ALWAYS REMEMBER that Jesus Christ is the WAY OUT & the only way out.
II. JESUS CHRIST IS THE WAY – IN:
John 14: verses 6b “ No one comes to the Father except through me”.
a.) Not only is Jesus Christ the WAY IN….He is the ONLY way in. (Acts 4:10-12) 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,* whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11This Jesus* is “the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.”* 12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’
If you intend to be everything God wants you to be, if you intend to know your purpose here on earth. If you intend to spend eternity in heaven & not hell then know this morning that Jesus is the WAY IN.
b.) Jesus is the WAY IN to life & love. (w/o Jesus there would be no life & love)
c.) Jesus is the WAY IN to hope & peace. (w/o Jesus there is no hope or peace)
d.) Jesus is the only WAY IN to that what makes life meaningful & beautiful.
III. JESUS CHRIST IS THE WAY – THRU:
a.) The thing I have learned about tomorrow? It is UNCERTAIN. Job had no idea when he went to bed that night that the next day was going to be the worst day of his life. When we go to bed at night we can only assume & hope what tomorrow will bring. Yet it remains uncertain.
b.) Last Sunday we talked about Rick Warren how during the best year of his life was also the worst year of his life. There will be clouds that cause our future to seem dark.
c.) There will be many uncertainties in our tomorrows, there will be storms that we face with our health, with our families, many things. One thing we can be certain of each & every tomorrow & that is that Jesus Christ is the WAY THRU. (I remember the disciples out in the boat & the storm came & Jesus walked out to them on the water. Jesus had told them that HE WOULD MEET THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE)
d.) Jesus has told us today that HE WILL MEET US ON THE OTHER SIDE. Other words Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY THRU.
IV. JESUS CHRIST IS THE WAY – UP:
a.) Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY UP. Up to the father and to the home above. We keep talking about this world not being our home. The thing that we have to look forward to is making heaven our home. (There are things that we look forward to that help us get thru the week or even the day) We can make our WAY OUT of any & all circumstances; we can make our WAY IN to any & everything God has for us as well as make our WAY THRU anything we come up against simply because we have something to look forward to.
Jesus Christ is the WAY. He is the only way to our being WHOLE, our being COMPLETE. When I do the grave side committal I always use the song “Victory in Jesus” saying that I personally have been delivered from many things in this life, things I can say I have gotten victory over, but we will only experience COMPLETE VICTORY when we die in Christ.
There is no other way to happiness. There is no other way to fulfillment. There is no other way to heaven but by Jesus Christ.
6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
If you are planning on receiving the blessings of God, being in God’s Will, knowing & fulfilling God’s purpose for your life THEN JESUS IS THE WAY. Most important though? If you are planning on spending eternity in heaven & NOT HELL then JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY.
