“I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” – John 10:9

“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.'” – John 14:6

“Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”                  – Matthew 7:13, 14

#20 – God provides the way

I have heard it said so many times that the Christian faith is “narrow minded” and “arrogant” because they believe that faith in Jesus is the only way that a person can get to heaven.  “How could a loving God only provide one way and condemn people for not following His?”  This has always been a difficult position to defend because we DO believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  Jesus Himself proclaimed that in the verses above.  But, is that narrow minded or merely stating the truth?

Truth #1:  This is a sinful world, broken and lost, and in need of saving.

Truth #2:  God provided a way.

Christmas is God providing a way when there was no way.  This is not the work of an arrogant, “My way or the highway” god who will “smite” those who do not fall into line.  This is an act of love not condemnation.  This is the work of a merciful Father who has burst upon the scene to rescue us from certain destruction.  Jesus clarified this when He was speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3;

“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.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”                         – John 3:17, 18

We were drowning…sure to die in the ocean of our sin, but…”God so loved the world…” (John 3:16).  To say God should have provided more than one way is like a drowning man pushing away the life preserver and saying, “Orange is really not my color.  Do you have anything in a light blue?”

God has provided a way where there was no way.  This is mercy.  This is love.  This is available to all who will take it.  It is “Good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10).  This leads me to a third truth.

Truth #3:  Take the Way that God has provided and you will be saved.

Christmas is for everyone whether they believe it or not.  Let us continue to proclaim what the angels proclaimed to the shepherds that first Christmas, “Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”