Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)

Jesus is the one and only way to God and into His Heaven. He reveals to us the truth of who God is. That’s why He could say emphatically in 14:9 – Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. And Jesus is himself the life God wants us all to have and the power to live it.

Jesus is the only Way to God and Heaven. (John 14:1-6)

Jesus and His disciples were still in the upper room where they had just observed the Passover meal together – the Jewish Seder. Jesus was preparing them for His imminent departure. He said in John 13:33, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.” And, although the disciples didn’t realize it, within 24 hours Jesus would be lying dead in the tomb He borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea.

A point to ponder here is the omniscience and sovereignty of God. Jesus knew everything that was going to unfold in a day’s time. And, although His disciples didn’t understand, He was preparing them for what lay ahead. Jesus knew and had known for some time that this day was coming. He said only a few days before when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed His feet – “It was intended, that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (12:7) He also explained that dying is why He came into the world: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. . .No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” (12:23-24, 27) We never know what the next day may bring in our lives, but God does; and true to His Word – He goes with us and will never leave nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). That’s why Jesus says: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (v.1)

While Jesus was preparing them for His imminent departure, He also promised them His imminent return: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (vv.2-3)

Please allow me to give you Garmon’s paraphrase: Jesus said, “I am returning to my Father’s house to prepare a place for you to come and stay. When all is ready, I will be back to pick you up and take you home with me.”

“Receive” in the KJV means to “take out” – to catch away! In 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, Paul says both the dead and living saints will be caught up together. . .to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (NIV)

Interpretations vary on the details of Jesus’ second coming; but He made some things very clear:

1. His return is certain! He said – “I will come back”.
2. His return is imminent! To His disciples’ earlier question “when” would it be, Jesus gave no date, no time and said only “keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Mt 24:32-42) That means it could happen any time!
3. He is coming to take us to Heaven! “My Father’s house” is synonymous with “the house of the LORD” in Psalm 23:6 and is God’s dwelling place, i.e. Heaven (Matthew 6:9).
4. Heaven is real! If it weren’t, Jesus would have said so.
5. Heaven is BIG! The rooms are big as mansions and there are many of them – enough for everyone who wants to go there. John gives its physical dimensions in Revelation 21:16.
6. Jesus is the ONLY WAY to the Father who is in Heaven! “I am the way. . .No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (v.6). If you want to go to Heaven, you got to go through Jesus!

Jesus is the Truth of God revealed to us. (John 14:7-14)

I know, people believe all sorts of things about all sorts of gods, and the universal question is – who is telling the truth? It was no different in Jesus’ day. The clear majority believed in many gods (polytheism). A few believed in no gods (atheism). The Jews, and later Christians, believed in one God (monotheism). Most people, then and now, are very mixed up in their understanding of God. Jesus said, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29 NIV)

The POPULAR CULTURE of our day believes there is NO TRUTH and that whatever one person or one religion believes about God is as true as any other. But TRUTH EXISTS, and it is by definition EXCLUSIVE, CONSTANT and REAL. Let us consider just one truth of God revealed to us in Jesus that is exclusively Christian, constant in Scripture and made real to everyone who believes it, i.e. the LOVE of God expressed in the GRACE of God through Jesus Christ, the SON of God.

Many people mistakenly think the God of the Bible and the god of the Quran (Islamic Scriptures) are the same God. Nothing could be further from the TRUTH!

The Quran (Islamic Scriptures) states – “If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love and forgive you your sins.” (Qur’an 3:31) “Allah loves not transgressors” (2:190) “He loves not creatures ungrateful or wicked” (2:276) “Allah loves not those who do wrong” (3:57, 140) “Allah loves not the arrogant, the vainglorious” (4:36).[1] Allah will show mercy to those who call upon him, forgive their sins and provide them guidance to follow “the straight path” so they may please him.

Now listen to what the Bible says about God in Psalm 103:8-12:

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (NIV)

Unlike Allah, GOD LOVES EVERYONE, even sinners! The Bible says, God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  (Romans 5:8 NLT) To be sure, God DOES NOT ignore our sins. But, realizing our complete inability to follow “the straight path” (according to Islam) that pleases Him, God sent Jesus, His only Begotten Son, into the world to fulfill justice through His death and to make us righteous through His life: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 English Standard Version) The word for the love of God expressed to us this way in Jesus is GRACE!

THE TRUTH IS, God by any other name is NOT THE SAME! Acts 4:12 declares, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (NIV) Allah requires we please him to be saved. God saves us so we can please Him. That is LOVE! That is GRACE! And, that is the God I serve!

Jesus is the Life God wants you to live! (John 14:15-31)

Jesus is much more than our example of how God wants us to live. Jesus IS THE LIFE God wants you to have and the power to live it!

The whole of a Christian’s life might be summed according to 2 Corinthians 5:7-10:

• Living by faith in the Lord – We live by faith, not by sight. (v.7)
• Longing to be with the Lord – We are confident. . .and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (v.8)
• Living to please the Lord – So we make it our goal to please him, (v.9a).
• Looking for reward from the Lord – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (v.10 NIV)

The only way we are able to live the Christian life is by Christ living in us: I have been put to death on the cross with Christ; still I am living; no longer I, but Christ is living in me; and that life which I now am living in the flesh I am living by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who in love for me, gave himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20 Bible in Basic English)

Through His death, Jesus justifies us. Through His life, He makes us righteous (pleasing to God):

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:15-21 NIV)

Conclusion

If you’re alive, then you’re on your way somewhere. Life, this life, here and now, your life is not an end in itself. It is a journey on your way to eternity, and at the end of your journey you will spend eternity either with God or away from God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, this world, this life to show us the way to God and into His Heaven. He came to reveal who God is to us, that He loves us and wants us to come and live with Him forever. And, Jesus came so that we might please God in our lives both now and forever. No matter where you look, you will never find in anyone else or in any other faith/religion One who is the Way to God, the Truth of God and the Life of God. All you must do is BELIEVE!

[1] http://www.religionfacts.com/allah