There Is No Escaping Jesus

First published August 8, 2009

No Escaping Jesus - Reality points to the one true Savior

Certainly there are other religions and practices, but the fact that they exist do not qualify them as gates to the eternal place of wonder. As I said before, Jesus never mentioned any other gates as there was no need to.

That might sound arrogant to someone who believes in including all religions as equivalent. In a legal sense, all religions are indeed equivalent. It would be a negative for Christianity to be forced on a person; anathema to the whole message of Jesus. Religions are equivalent in that they are treated equally in the body politic, but that does not mean they are equally valid.

The truth is that Christianity is a world apart from all other religions. All other faiths rely on acts performed by its believers; the five pillars of Islam, the steps to Nirvana, etc. Yet this does not match the reality into which every human being is born into. We begin as babies unable to reason or care for ourselves.Often we go out the same way we came in, dependent, helpless, incoherent. We did not make ourselves babies. We had no control over how we came into the world, and despite thousands of years of medical progress we haven't found a cure for keeping us from going out of the world.

To make things even more clear, we see a phenomenal world made up of abundant life; trees, animals with amazing capabilities, beautiful beaches and mountains. By which human being's determination were these things made? Why do we find them here if we are the ultimate intelligence and could not have produced them in a million years of corporate effort?

Indeed it is nothing we do that would save our immortal soul either. There is no procedure, no secret seminar, no special talent, that can lead us to an unperishable life after death. Only Christianity places salvation firmly in the hand of the One who can guarantee it, the Creator of the universe Himself.

The Creator qualifies for the job. There are no other applicants, no other gates. Certainly Islam claims to own the rights to this God. Eastern religions speak of a force that is similar to this God's spirit side. But is it the same God, the one God?

The Qur'an claims that God sent down the Gospel and the Torah (Law) but that it got corrupted. So God sent the Qur'an to clarify what He wanted from us. Mohammed and the scribes of the Qur'an do not explain what exactly was corrupted, only that their new version replaced the old, not unlike Microsoft's updates every few years. In comparison the theology of the Bible is much stabler than that of the Qur'an. Who is Allah anyway? Where is His interaction with Mohammed that might resemble God's interaction with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

The Qur'an claims that all previous God books were initially pure but became tainted. Why would we not think the same of the Qur'an? It's a fair question. If God's Word can be contaminated by men, how could we trust in God's Word? How could it be God's Word if that were possible?

Jesus did not disqualify the Scriptures. He came to "fulfill them" and He certainly did; completing hundreds of Old Testament messianic prophecies. His God is the infallible God of the Scriptures. His Word is not corruptible. He is an all-powerful God, not the God who needs Mohammed to get things straight. Jesus declares convincingly that He is this God that has always been around. Unlike Mohammed's warmongering and whore mongering, He does not leave any contradictory words or behaviors behind. His words and actions, His life, His love, is flawless. Jesus unites the Word of God and resolves all the mysterious prophecies perfectly. Mohammed's God is an order-giver, a projection. I do not find Allah convincing as the eternal, all-knowing and all-powerful God.

Oh, but what about the Jewish people, don't they serve the same God? Yes,of course. The Scriptures make it clear that they are God's chosen people. The Jews were the nation from which God revealed Himself specifically to the world. Jesus was born a Jew, as was predicted.

But modern-day Jews have a problem. Many of their prophecies in the Torah and Tanakh have not been fulfilled. Where is the suffering servant if it wasn't Jesus? Where is the shepherd in Zechariah 12? What happened to God's promise in Genesis 12:3, that Abraham would have more descendants than there was sand on the seashore? Are we to believe that today's 15 million Jews are that prophecy? There are 100 times more Muslims and 150 times more Christians than Jews. Without Jesus, modern day Judaism has to do cartwheels of scholarly legerdomain to get around the creeping possibility that God is fallible.

Jesus has ingeniously placed Himself at the center of all existence. There is no escaping Him.

I used to have a problem with the exclusiveness of Christ. Now I know I didn't understand what He meant by "I am the way, the truth, and the life". Indeed, if Jesus is who he said He is, then, of course, He'd have to be the only way. He is one with our Creator and there is no other. His gate is narrow, AND it's the only one.

I know this is not a very sensitive message. But I am not passing judgment on anyone. I am not forcing anyone to believe what I believe. That would reveal what I believe to be suspect.

Yet if the Holy Spirit can use my writing and my life to convince one person of the invaluable power of the gospel of Christ, then that would be worth a million scathing replies.