ADVENT SEASON
(ANTICIPATING THE BIRTH OF JESUS)
28 NAMES OF JESUS
DECEMBER 16, 2020
NAME #15: “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).
“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:8 – 10).
I had a friend in college who would always take different routes when going to and returning from each location he went. For example, to get to church from our college, the easiest way was to take a left, right, left, and right. He might go that route there, but coming back, he would take many more turns. I do not remember exactly his reasoning for doing this, whether it was because he was paranoid of someone keeping track of his routine or he just wanted to not see the same things every time he went somewhere. It struck me as odd because I always like going the quickest route to get to my destination. Today, with Google Maps, people have discovered numerous ways to get to their destinations. You can even select which route to go based on preferences. There are the quickest routes, ones with tolls, ones without tolls, alternate routes if there is an accident, and so forth. Google goes to great lengths to keep their maps up-to-date in order to provide the best routes possible. On the other hand, there is only ONE way to heaven.
We live in an age when multiple truths are encouraged and rewarded, unless you claim that your truth is the only truth. People from all over the world believe in a “higher power(s),” but their ways to get there are vastly different: anywhere from self-deprivation, to helping others, to giving money or possessions to their “religion.” One of the problems with this is that there cannot be multiple gods out there who all made the universe their own way. That just does not make any sense. Does it? Can you imagine if different engineers all designed the same building using different means of construction and different forms of measurement?
While Jesus was on Earth, He claimed that He was the only way to get to heaven: “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6b). With all of these false “truths” being taught all around us, we need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of making additional “routes” to get to heaven. Even Christians can sometimes unintentionally add their own list of requirements to salvation with good intentions. We will add things like Scripture reading or memorization, church membership or attendance, or only spending time with certain groups of people. While those things are not necessarily bad things, we need to stay focused on the truth. The ONLY way to get to heaven is by believing that Jesus, God’s Son, died on the cross for our sins and rose again. He is the only way.
Christmas will be here before we know it and it will be easy to get distracted by all of the fancy decorations and lights or even by the gifts that we will either give or receive. Christmas is a great opportunity for us as Christians to share with others the truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and without Him there is no hope. Whom will you tell this Christmas season?
Pastor David Guenin