Are there Many Paths to God?
Well it’s been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I would post the notes from my message this past Sunday. We are doing a series of sermons on Questions I would like to ask God.
Series, Questions for God
August 7, 2011 CWCC
Are there many paths to God?
That is a valid Question!
Has a very easy answer in my opinion!
John 14:6 (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There you have it – the answer is NO! There is only one path JESUS.
Stand with me and sing from your heart.
For our invitation – “There’s Just something about that Name”
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There’s just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
The mere mention of his Name,
• can calm the storm,
• heal the broken,
• raise the dead.
At the name of Jesus,
• I’ve seen sin hardened men, melted.
• I’ve seen the strong hold of addiction Beaten
• I’ve seen hope restored in the eyes of the hopeless.
AT the name of Jesus,
• I have seen hatred and bitterness, turned into love and peace.
• Marriages ready to break apart, transformed – those hearts renewed and drawn back together,
• I’ve seen the broken hearted wife find peace even though her young husband is dying,
• The young mom weeping over the lost child find rest in the name of Jesus.
• I’ve sat with those nearing the end of their life, finding hope restored and peace in those final journeys.
• I heard my mom as her kids and grandkids surrounded her in those last minutes singing of Jesus, her last remembered words, “I like that”
• And there will be a day, when every knee that has knelt on this earth and every tongue that has spoken a word, will one day kneel before him and proclaim him King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There’s just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there’s just something about that name
There is something special about that Name isn’t there. (Go ahead have a seat)
Video – Are you Amazed? (5 Min)
Well, you knew it couldn’t be that easy!
Let’s take a look at this question.
Are there Many Path’s To God?
There is a problem in our world – A recent Barna survey revealed that 59% of Americans believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
I’m actually surprised that number isn’t a little higher – HOWEVER there was another more disturbing fact!
40% of “Born again” Christians believe the same fact!
I want that thought to sink in! 40% (Nearly half of all) those professing to be born again see no distinction between Jehovah God and Allah, god of the Muslim faith.
That’s Disturbing!
I don’t get how you can profess faith in Christ and believe that he is just one of many ways to God!
IT DOESN’T FIT WITH BIBLICAL TEACHING!
This morning I want you to se the incredible power in the name of Jesus, Christ – our Messiah!
Let’s start with just that. THE NAME!
It all began when an angel appeared to a young woman named Mary who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph – but before they came together, she was found be with child (Unfortunately in our day that isn’t such an unusual thing) through the Holy Spirit!
Luke 1:31-33 (NIV)
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
As unusual as this situation might have been, her husband-to-be, struggled with this issue, he had to be confused, probably even hurt that his beloved wife-to-be could have become pregnant! But his righteous nature prevented him from casting her out, bringing shame upon her, he simply wanted to divorce her quietly – UNTIL
An angel appeared:
Matthew 1:20-21 (NIV)
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The next verse gives us one more insight into this child and his glorious name!
Matthew 1:23 (NIV)
23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”
And soon after his birth he was taken by his parent to the temple in Jerusalem to present him before the Lord. While he was there a man called Simeon, who had lived his life in or near the temple of the Lord because he had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah – While they were in the temple making their customary offering for a first born son – Simon came and took the Boy in his arms and said:
Luke 2:29-33 (NIV)
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
Now you may be thinking, Come on Rick – We’ve heard all this before, and anyway it isn’t Christmas time what’s the deal?
Here is what I want you to get! God had a plan in bringing his son into this world – did you note the themes in these verses?
Give Him the Name Jesus!
• Called the Son of God
• King Supreme (Reigning on David’s Throne)
• Save his people
• Immanuel – (God with us)
• Salvation
Then we fast forward through his entire ministry – his miracles, his teachings, his arrest, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. And we come to the day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:36 (NIV)
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
LORD!
from kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication Mr. (as a respectful title) :- God, Lord, master, Sir.
CHRIST!
Simply put – Messiah – For our English mindset Messiah doesn’t mean much but to the Jewish tradition – the Messiah was the one who would come, bring deliverance, salvation and establish the kingdom of God.
That’s exactly what Jesus Did! He brought Salvation by dying on the cross and raising from the dead, he established the kingdom of God and today is reigning and will always reign on the throne of David.
Philippians 2:8-10 (NIV)
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
What does it mean that Jesus brought Salvation?
We hear and use phrases all time, Joe got saved or you need to get saved – It becomes some kind of Christian talk that we throw around without realizing that there might be folks who don’t understand what it means. We take it for granted that everybody wants to be saved.
To help us understand, let’s go back in time – to the very beginning
The Garden of Eden
• Paradise
o Food
o Fellowship
o Fun
Sounds like a church picnic doesn’t it?
It was an awesome place- everything you would ever need or want was there for the picking – More importantly it was a place where God – the creator of the universe would come in the cool of the day and walk and talk face to face with his creation. I think that is a beautiful picture – Oh so desire that – to top it all off there was only one rule.
Eat whatever you want, except for the tree in the center, called the Knowledge of good and evil – That tree – you must not eat or – the day you do you will die.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NIV)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
We know all to well how that story ended don’t we? Eve, the woman god created to be his companion was tempted by the serpent and took and ate of it, and gave it to Adam who was with her and he ate – Immediately it tells us, their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
The prophet Isaiah tells us
Isaiah 59:2 (NLT)
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Adam was afraid to face God – because of Sin – Disobedience
God made coverings of skin – Notice Death entered the world because of Adams sin, and animal died to cover his sin – the first picture of What Jesus Christ would eventually do, a Substitute –
Hebrews 9:22 (NIV)
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
As we fast forward through the pages of the Old Testament we begin to see a picture of one who was to come – someone who would save the people from their sins, establish the divine Kingdom of God.
All this brings us back to the New Testament, even more direct it brings us to today!
My question for you is this – Has the Name of Jesus Affected your Life?
We have seen this morning the power of the precious name of Jesus, the power to totally change lives. Has your life changed since you met Jesus?
(Luke 18:18-22)A young man came to Jesus one day, “master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” A valid question, a question we all should ask and seek and answer for – but the answer Jesus gave him wasn’t quite what he expected – Keep the commandments, – I’ve done these from my youth up, you still lack one thing “Go and sell all you have and give it to the poor” And the young man went a way sorrowing because he had great wealth.
Now Jesus wasn’t telling him the secret was buying eternal life – but it was getting things in perspective, this young man’s god was his wealth – that is what controlled his life and before he could have a relationship with God he had to dethrone all other gods, and make room for Jesus to be King
Another young man came to Jesus one night, seeking the same basic question –
Jesus replied, John 3:3 (NLT)
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
Have you been born again? – From above?
If it hasn’t, perhaps today could be the day that you can allow him to make a difference in your life.
What we have seen:
Man sinned – lost fellowship with God
This is the same for everyone of us – Romans 3:23 (NLT)
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 6:23 (NLT)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin required blood to be shed to cover sin
For Adam – he provided an animal to cover his sin
For us, he has provided His son to die in our place.
God provided a substitute for us to pay for our sin
Acts 2:38 (NIV)
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
