Jesus Is The Only Way

‘And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”’ [John 14:4-7]

The world does not have a short supply of philosophers or religious leaders who for generations before and certainly those to come have spoken or will speak words that motivate many to act them out. Many of these have said things that have become part of many cultures world over but Jesus comes and begins to speak in a way that no one had ever done. While religions have been specific to the local tribes and cultures, Jesus does not speak to the Jewish culture alone. His claims have a bearing on all people on the earth. He is not a tribal deity. Unlike Alexander the great who wanted to have political dominion on all the people of the earth, Jesus did not come as a politician or a powerful military leader to conquer the nations. He had a different agenda.

Jesus never said anything controversial but everything He said disturbed the lives of the people who heard His words. Everything He said could not and certainly cannot be compared to anything said by world philosophers, political leaders or any other religious leader. We often hear people acknowledge that Jesus was a great teacher yet none of them wants to follow Him. Mahatma Gandhi inspired a lot of people and still does today. He believed Jesus taught the truth and was a man of integrity yet he amazingly did not believe what Jesus said about Himself- that He would rise from the dead. Such is the way many people believe in Jesus and they know the “golden rule” [Matthew 7:12] and the “judge not” [Matthew 7:1] statements as the best words of Jesus yet those are not the only words that He spoke. He also said He is The Way: the only Way to God the Father but they do not believe He was right. 

Now this is not any Christians’ statement which they made up on their own, it is Jesus Himself, the one they politely say was a great teacher who said that and His followers likewise hold to His teaching that there is no other way to God except by Him. What makes Christianity distinctly different from other world religions and cultures is that all religions seek a way to God but in trying to do so they do not reach God. Many politicise religion and say Christianity is a western religion but it is not. They think all the westerners or Europe had one religion and that is far from the truth. Firstly, the roots of Christianity are not found in America but Asia. Secondly, there is in the Bible many records of people in Asia, Europe and Africa who worshipped many different gods. Starting with Europe it says, “Now while Paul was waiting for them [Silas and Timothy] at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” [Acts 17:16]. It is at Athens that Paul showed the Europeans that God is not worshipped the way they were doing it and like today, they called him a babbler and a preacher of foreign divinities [Acts 17:18]. Some of them may have known that the idols the rest of them were worshipping were not the true God, so they dedicated one alter with the inscription, “To the unknown god” and Paul used that to show them the God they wanted to reach. 

Athens, the Greek capital did not just have one or two idols but it was full of them. As it is today, there was freedom of religion and each person could worship his or her own god depending on his or her preference and Tim Keller in his book counterfeit Gods is right to say, “The Bible’s answer is that the human heart is an ‘idol factory’. He says, “When Paul went to Athens he saw that it was literally filled with images of these divinities [Acts 17:16]. The Parthenon of Athena overshadowed everything, but other deities were represented in every public space. There was Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty; Ares, the god of war; Artemis, the goddess of fertility and wealth; Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship. Our contemporary society is not fundamentally different from these ancient ones. Each culture is dominated by its own set of idols. Each has its “priesthoods,” its totems and rituals. Each one has its shrines…”. 

The Bible shows us that there were many gods that were worshipped by people starting in Genesis up until Revelation. For instance, we see that Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees which is modern day Iraq and we see from Joshua 24:2 that his family worshipped idols, strange gods until the Lord called him out. We also have references of other idols that were worshipped as household gods as some religions still do this day [Genesis 31:19 et al], Ruth a Moabite is told ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”’ [Ruth 1:15-16]. Orpha may have had more than one god since Naomi said she went to her gods. Naomi had one God; the God of Israel since Ruth chose the only one God of Naomi. This is another biblical evidence that the people of the East had many gods. Isaiah 36:19 says, “Where are the gods of Hamath [Syria] and Arpad [part of Syria also]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim [part of Iraq or Turkey today]? Have they delivered Samaria out of My hand? [ESV, words in brackets mine].

The word god is mentioned in every culture and there are as many gods as there are tribes and cultures if not more and to each of them is ascribed certain supernatural powers like the power to create, cause fertility, give rain, to give prosperity, to punish, give beauty and so on. Some cultures do not know the names of their god and they simply call him or her god. They have intermediary spirits that they worship yet they dare not call them gods because they believe there is the ultimate one being who is above all. This makes me say though there are three major monotheistic religions in the world namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there are plenty other smaller religions that seem to practice monotheism especially in some African cultures where I come from. 

To say that a religion is monotheistic does not mean that that religion is right but it simply describes its beliefs. Christianity and Judaism believe the same God but they interpret the Scriptures differently. They both differ with Islam when we look at their teachings. In Surah 5:68 the Koran encourages the Jews and the Christians to follow the Law and the Gospels yet the same book denies the death of Jesus on the cross [Surah 4:157]. Now, why am I saying this? I am saying this because if the Law [the Old Testament] and the Gospels [the New Testament] are inspired by God then they must not contradict with other writings, if those writings are also inspired by God. It would only show that God is confused and even goes further to confuse us since He says one thing today and then another the next day. 

The gods that are worshipped in the world are both animate and inanimate objects. Some worship their gods of silver, bronze, gold and things that they made with their own hands and others worshipped gods that are spiritual or things that fell from the sky like part of the stars or comets that fell from the sky. Others worship the sun, moon and stars and animals like elephants, mice and the like. "For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge ..." [1 Corinthians 8:5- 7a].

Now God is not worshipped as we please since we lost our way and were banished from His presence when Adam our first father rebelled against God’s command. So, Paul did not reference any of the gods worshipped at Athens but he spoke to them about the unknown god because God the true God is really unknown and needs to be revealed through his own messengers. “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” [Romans 10:14-15a]

Now, Christianity is different from the world religions because it is not a human attempt to get to God. For centuries, man has tried to worship God but he has not reached Him because sin has been the problem that separated him from God [Isaiah 59:2]. Man lost fellowship with God since Eden where Adam was banished from the presence of God; “therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man …” [Genesis 3:23-24a] and it was not Adam that banished God but God who banished Adam from His presence. God knew what the requirements were for one to be in His presence. Sinful man whether dead or alive is not one of the prerequisites for him to enter in the presence of God. Though man rejected God, he has only had an awareness that there is a high being who has to be worshipped but every attempt man made to reach to God starting from the tower of Babel has been fruitless. We have never known the way on our own and only God knows how to get to Himself. He is the only one who could reconcile man to Himself [2 Corinthians 5:19] and show man the way. All religions may sincerely make attempts to get to Him but that is on their terms and not on God’s hence they end up worshipping gods other than the Creator Himself. Again, no angel or any created being could do this. God Himself had to show the way and bring mankind back to fellowship with Him. You see, if we are not in talking terms, unless I give you the directions to where I am, you can never get there and this is where grace comes in and this is why Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. This is an exclusive claim by Jesus. It is not something that His disciples added to His teachings. Jesus excluded all others. 

This is a long subject and there are some questions that need to be answered but for now, how can we in short answer questions like, “Did the people who worshiped god[s] in their cultures and religions not know God and isn’t he the same God?” Well, they had a god alright but that god was not the same as the God of all creation we read about from Genesis “because that which is known of God is [was] manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse:  because that, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened [Romans 1:19-21]. They knew their own gods fashioned by their own hand and imagination [Acts 17:29], made by their own craftsmen, philosophers, or religious leaders [Isaiah 44:9-20; Habakkuk 2:19-20]. Some of them may have been sincere in their seeking after God but no matter how sincere one may be, if you do not know the way you will be lost. Though Cornelius was a devout and God-fearing man, he still needed to hear the gospel for his salvation. So, if there is anyone who genuinely seeks Him, God will reveal Himself to you. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” [Acts 4:12].

Though all these are essentially spiritual, I have spoken mainly about physical idols that can be made by man but there are many other non-physical idols that are worshipped. These idols may be ancestral veneration of some kind, some eastern spiritual practices like yoga or idols of the heart and we need to look at these in the next article Lord willing. But what can we who are alive today do in response to this teaching? Paul the apostle again gives us the answer in Acts and says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man [Jesus] whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.” [Acts 17:30-31]. I am yet to see someone who wins a lottery but refuses it and starts to complain why the next person did not win also. Everyone who is in his right mind rejoices it was him who won. Now the offer of eternal life is the free gift that God is giving each of us. He wants to give us life and peace in Him because there is not life elsewhere? He says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]. 

Now what is not attractive about God that we should refuse Him? He sacrificed His only Son that you and I may have life and gave Him as a gift to all who will believe in Him. This is the heart of God for you; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” [John 3:16-17]

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About The Author:

Pastor Sam Machacka is co-founder of Brink Ministries Southern Africa. A wonderful colleague and good friend. Equipping Pastors and Church leaders in Southern Africa. He grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe with his beautiful wife Mildred and they are blessed with three lovely children namely Samantha, Munashe and Joshua but they are now serving as missionaries in Malawi since August 2018

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