Jesus - The Way To God
TEXT: John 14:1-7
INTRODUCTION: Jesus is the only way. He is the only way to a better life both here and in the life to come. Jesus is the only way. He is the only way to find forgiveness for our sins and sinful past. By His death on the cross, Jesus made the forgiveness of our sins possible. With our sins forgiven, we are no longer the objects of God’s wrath - Ro 5:9 - "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" As wonderful as knowing there is such a better life now and throughout eternity through Jesus and also having complete assurance that our sins are forgiven, we need more...we need to return to the kind of close relationship that existed between God and Adam before the "Fall". However, for a close relationship to exist between God and ourselves, we need to have an understanding of God and learn to be comfortable in approaching Him just as we would our own father.
The basic truth is there are differences between God and man. We must grasp that fact first of all. After we come to recognize there truly are differences and we come to understand these differences then we come to a better understanding as to why we often have so much trouble approaching Him comfortably. It is the differences that bring about the discomfort. But, God desires a close, personal relationship with everyone of us. He showed that by bridging the gap through Jesus Christ. Let’s look at these differences and then let’s see what we can personally do to bring ourselves back into this close fellowship that God so desires and we so desperately need.
I. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
A. CONSIDER THE DIFFERENCE...
1. When we consider the nature of God as revealed in the Bible and nature, we see:
a. One with unlimited power, unlimited wisdom, unlimited holiness
b. One who is the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things, the knower of all things
c. One who is eternal, immortal, and invisible
d. Indeed, this Supreme Being fills the entire universe with His presence - Je 23:23-24 - "Am I only a God nearby, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD."
2. Whereas, man is...
a. Mortal, finite in knowledge and understanding
b. The created one, sustained by God who supplies all his needs - Ac 17:24-28 - "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring."
B. THE DIFFERENCE IS OVERWHELMING...
1. The difference between God and man is so great, it should overwhelm man with awe
2. Note the reflections of David in Ps 139:1-12 - "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."
3. In the Bible, whenever man even came close to approaching God in His Glory, it was a terrifying experience!
a. When God first spoke to Moses, he was afraid - Ex 3:6 - "Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."
b. The Israelites at Mount Sinai were terrified - Ex 20:18 - "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear."
4. Looking at these overwhelming differences makes us wander how man can even hope to comprehend God or approach Him in a close relationship during this life.
The fact of the matter is within myself, within yourself, you can’t! We are absolutely without hope! Or are we? Jesus said, "I am the way!" Jesus became the means by which man can come to understand God and also approach Him in such a way as to enjoy a loving relationship with Him! Let’s look at...
II. HOW JESUS IS THE WAY TO GOD
A. BY HELPING US COMPREHEND GOD...
1. In coming to this earth, Jesus made God known to us - Jn 1:18 - "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known."
2. How was Jesus able to make God known?
a. First, He came to this earth from God, and is the only one who has truly seen Him - Jn 6:46 - "No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father."
b. But also, He is God Himself! - Jn 1:1-2 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."
1) Who is this "Word" that was with God and was God? - Jn 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
2) The "Word" was Jesus!
3. To understand the Father, we only need to look at Jesus.
a. Jesus told His disciples - Jn 14:7 - "If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
b. Paul proclaimed that Jesus was the complete manifestation, the fullness, of God - Co 2:9 - "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form."
4. God revealed Himself in terms that mortal, finite man can comprehend and personally relate to through Jesus.
- As we study the gospels, we see Jesus and His attributes (power, wisdom, holiness, love, mercy, divine wrath) and as we see Jesus, we see God and His attributes!
But Jesus not only reveals God to us; He also provides the only way to God...
B. BY HELPING US APPROACH GOD...
1. Jesus offered Himself as a propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Jesus has made it possible for a sinful man to approach God who is supremely holy and just.
2. Jesus also helps us to approach God in yet another way. He is our High Priest in heaven.
a. Though Jesus was truly God, by His becoming a man He fully understands our difficulties - He 4:14-15 - "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin."
b. With such a wonderful high priest, One who is both God and has been man, Jesus makes it possible for us to approach God with great confidence - He 4:16 - "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Through Jesus we can both understand God and approach God, thus making it possible to have a close relationship with our Heavenly Father, enjoying all the blessings such a relationship provides!
To better appreciate the beauty of this relationship available with God through Jesus, let’s look at some terms used in the New Testament to describe this relationship...
III. TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE THOSE WHO ARE IN JESUS
A. A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER...
- Paul used terms which proclaim a special relationship with our Heavenly Father - Ga 3:26 - "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus";Ga 4:6-7 - "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."; I Ti 3:15 - "if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth."
B. A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A HOLY, SUPREME BEING...
1. There are also terms which proclaim a special relationship with a Holy, Supreme Being
2. Paul describes us as a special dwelling place of God: the "temple" of God in II Co 6:16 - " For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
3. Peter speaks of our role in service to God: a "royal priesthood" - I Pe 2:5,9 - "you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ...But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
CONCLUSION: Other terms might be considered, but these suffice to show that it is possible for those who were once lost in sin to enjoy a new, personal, intimate and fulfilling relationship with the Majestic God in heaven! And what a wonderful relationship it is! It is a relationship that offers promises that overwhelm you; such as He 13:5 where God promises: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - He 13:5. There are definitely differences between ourselves and Almighty God. But those differences can be reconciled through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ makes the past the past. In Him and through Him everything becomes new.
I want everyone to be clear in their understanding...Jesus is the "The Way", the only way to God - Jn 14:6; only those "in Jesus" have the assurance of enjoying this wonderful relationship with God! How can we be sure that we are in Jesus, and as such the children of God? By taking to heart and life the truth of God’s Word...becoming the children of God through faith and remaining the children of God by abiding faithfully in the teachings of Christ.
Have you become a child of God by receiving Christ in faith? If not, why not today? If you have, are you maintaining your relationship with both the Father and the Son by abiding in the basic truths of Jesus Christ? If not, why not be restored to God today (through repentance and prayer)? Only in so doing can you let Jesus be your way to God!
