Faith In Jesus For Eternal Life
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
I have met humble, good and morally upright people who care less about Jesus. Is Jesus then saying, "No way" apart from faith in me? even for these good people? Yes, that's exactly what He is saying. Either it is true that Jesus is "...the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.(John 14:6) or it is not true. I have said before in a post that beliefs--religious beliefs have dire eternal consequences and it is everyone's responsibility to have right beliefs. Your beliefs would either land you in hell or heaven. Well, you can also believe death ends it all...that also is nice. But it has its consequences.
In a democracy, we all have freedom of worship, but that democratic right doesn't change God's truth neither does God adjust His truth to accommodate our rights. Ignorance, legal language says is no excuse. Equally, Scriptures says for the lack of knowledge my people perish. This is no mere religious talk, this bothers on eternity; so seek for truth. If what you have is truth, great. If it is not, you might want to start considering your eternal destiny. For the believer in Christ and the unbeliever; we have all made a choice and our choice must necessarily be the truth NOW. You can't get to the other side of eternity and be shocked your beliefs were wrong.
One day, while interacting with the Jews, Jesus made some statements that ignited fury against Him. On this particular occasion, Jesus revealed His deity; "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). Such arrogance! Such blasphemy! Who is this insane person who claims to be God. They might have responded with fury. They picked up stones to finish Him there, but He calmed them and asked: "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?" (John 10:32). The charge, they responded; "...For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God". (vs 33).
Clearly, in this conversation with the Jews, they understood "I and my Father are one" as a claim to be God. God manifested in the flesh...that is the greatest claim a mere man can make, and rightly so, if His claims were false, He deserved to be stoned! In another interaction, this time with His own disciples, Philip made a request; "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8). See through that question; it carries with it an element of doubt "ermmm...is He who He claims to be?"...Jesus' answer was equally like the one that nearly sparked a mob action from the Jews: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (vs 9). C.S Lewis, in his great classic, Mere Christianity penned these words:
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God..."
Decide now...
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