2009-06-24 - None but Christ

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, ˜I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me”

It is popular today to hear someone graciously say that there are many ways to God. "The Muslim worships god in his/her way. The Hindu has another way of worshipping god, and a different understanding of the nature of god, than maybe I do, but it is just as valid. We each have our own ways that we worship. We each reach the goal in our various ways." These are popular views today. In the Bible, God’s Book, there is not a single verse that would lead anyone to believe that there are many, equally valid ways to Him. The true religion of the Living God is exclusive, and it is found in Jesus Christ. It is found nowhere else. We do not hold out hope that those who worship false gods, who are no gods, will be accepted by the Living God. We are to love them, pray for them, and plead with them, but we must also understand that those who try to come to the Living God, in ways other than through Christ, never find Him. We should be as tolerant as Jesus was. Jesus says, “He that believeth not shall be damned,” Mark 16:16.

You may have heard this line of thinking before, and I know that I have it goes something like this. “I worship god in my own way. I like to go to a mountain, or stand by the ocean, and I worship there. I feel closer to god there.” In some sense, God is seen in nature. Romans 1:18-32, tells us this clearly. The only way to get to the Living God, who can be seen in nature, is through Christ. How can I say this? It is because Jesus declares here in our verse above (John 14:6) that He is the only way that we can come to the Father. Jesus has given us the way, and thankfully God is evident in His creation, but He cannot be worshipped, understood, or met with apart from Christ. It is to be wondered if those who only worship the god they meet with in nature are really worshipping the god of fallen nature - Satan. I say this because we cannot have access to the Living God, who is God of all Creation, outside of Christ.

Natural religion, if we will so call it, is generally an excuse for no religion. It is generally an attempt to dodge the question why God’s house, and the fellowship of the saints, are being neglected. Do we really feel more at home with the crabs, fish, and seagulls than in the house of the Lord, with God’s people, who are gathered together, coming out of the world and seeking their Lord? It seems that true worship of the Living God is found more with God’s people than at the ocean or on the mountainside with birds, flie, and crickets. To be sure, we glorify the God who made the cricket. Its design is beyond any thing an evolution theory can intelligently elucidate. But that God is reached through Jesus Christ, not the cricket. It is when we go to the mountainside and notice the beauty of the changing seasons, or the lofty scenery of a mountain range, and it leads us to glorify the Living God who has redeemed us in Christ - it is then that God is seen in nature. His handiwork is all over His creation. Every tree says, “Made by God,” if we consider where it comes from. We see these things when we perceive them through Jesus Christ. When we attempt to distinguish or catch a glimpse of God outside of Christ, by nature or any other means, we cannot come to the Living God with whom we have to do.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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