Christ is the way of salvation

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6)

INTRODUCTION

When we say that Christ is the only way of salvation, we should not be surprised that many people are not happy, because it means there is no salvation in other religion. Many people will say, Are you saying that those who devote their lives and try their best to live according to their religion will not have salavation?

Our only reply is that there is salvation apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, whether the person dies for his own religion he will not be in heaven. This is the absolute truth we have as true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our text this morning says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Everyone desires to go to heaven but they are on the wrong way. What all people need they want to have what the apostle John said in Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

All relgions describe heaven as a place which is extraordinary, as a good place. And all people want to go there but no one will reach heaven accept by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ will never see heaven. Man may work hard to reach heaven as commanded by his religion but all these will be in vain.

Prophet Isaiah tells us, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). All good works, dedications that man have, will never please God because man is undone before God. All man under the condemnation of God, and no one obtains salvation because of hard hard.

The apostle Paul also said, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10-11). If so, does God plan all man to die in their sins? Does God desire that all man perish? Of course not, for God has planned for the salvation of man when Adam fell into sins.

God knew that man does not have any hope of eternal life except God himself gives the way. For that reason God gave promises to His prophets for the coming of the Great Prophet, the Messiah, the Annointed One. Christ is the Saviour of the Word in whom we trust. How did Christ save sinners from their sins and iniquity?

I. God appointed Christ as a reconciliation between God and Man (Rom 5:10-11)

We know that man is sinful, and because of sin, man can not enter heaven, man is the enemy of God. We are not the friends of God but His enemies. As long as sin is reigning in the heart of man, man is still under the control of sin and he is against God and enemy of God. Since Adam untill today, sins have controled the heart of man. Man cannot have peace with God through all heardworking that he does in his lifetime is in vain.

But God with His soverign wisdom, knew that man can not save himself from damnation of sin. Man will be still in sin though he tries to please God. God planed to save sinners like us. He gave a promise of the coming the messiah right after fall in the first book of the Bible (cf. Genesis 3:15) and revealed progressively to the nation of Israel that the Messiah, the Christ will come to reconcile us, sinners.

And in the fullness of time Christ comes, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). What man is not able to do, Christ did for us that the wrath of God might not be given to us. Jesus is not a sinner like us, but He was willing to do the requirements of God in order to appease God with man. He filfilled the commandments of God righteously during His earthly life and ministry.

However Jesus was not only fulfilling what the law required but He himself offered as a Lamb sacrifice, Passover Lamb. Jesus Christ came to reconcile us to God that we might have peace with God through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ at the cross. God had appointed Jesus Christ to die on the cross that we might have peace with God.

And God did this while we are still the enemies of God. As Paul said, “For if, when we were enemies, we are reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10). Whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ he is no longer an enemy of God but God calls him as a friend of God and an adopted son of God, an heir of God’s kingdom.

God appointed Christ to reconcile man with God that we might have eternal life. Jesus Christ is the way of salvation. Apart from the reconciliation Jesus did for us we shall never have peace with God. Apart from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ we are condemn to hell.

God not only appointed Christ as a reconciliation between God and man, God also appointed Christ as the Mediator between God and man.

II. God appointed Christ as the Mediator between God and Man (1 Timothy 2:5)

What is a mediator? A mediator is a person who stands in between two people or groups of people. A mediator must understand and represent both parties.

Let us illustrate it this way: Right now I am speaking to you in English. When I preach the inerrant, infallible and preserved Word of God in English, some of you understand it very well. But in the midst of you there are Chinese speaking brethren who do not understand English. And in order for our Chinese speaking brethren to be benefited from the message I preach, we need an interpreter who can understand English and also Chinese. Our interpreter is called a mediator in that sense because he stands in between two group of people.

In the same way, Jesus Christ is our Mediator. He understood the nature and condition of man because He came to this world as fully Man. He knew what temptation was, for He was tempted and yet not sinned. Jesus came to this world through the virgin birth as predicted the Holy Scriptures.

He lived in this world for 33 years. He grew up just like us. He ate and drank. He walked and spoke. However He did no sin. He is not a sinner but the Holy One. If Jesus is not fully Man, He cannot be our Mediator. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:5 said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

On other hand, Jesus Christ is also God. He understood the holiness and justice of God. He understood the demands of God for sinful man. Therefore He is our Mediator to appease us to God on our behalf. Jesus is God-Man. Whoever wants to come to God must come through the Lord Jesus Christ because God has appointed Christ as the Medioter between God and Man, the Saviour of the world.

Just like the High Priest in the Old Testment, God appointed the High Priest as a mediator between God and the Israelites, and whosoever had sinned, he must come to the High Priest that he might bring him before God. Therefore whosoever does not come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ he does not have salvation. Christ is the way of salvation.

Luke wrote it this way, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And Jesus himself said, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

God did not only appoint Jesus Christ as the Mediator, but also He appointed Him as the Substitute of man.

III. God appointed Christ as our Substitute (1 John 2:2; 4:10)

A substitute is someone who takes someone’s position on his behalf. This can be illustrated in this way. The law in this country is whosoever takes the life of someone, his life will also be taken. This is the demand of the law. Imagine someone has appointed to die as a consequence of his sinful deed.

The judge has decided that man must die and be hanged. But on the other hand, the same judge loves him so much, he desires to save him from the penalty. But in order to save this sinful man, murderer, the judge must have someone else to be hanged on his behalf. The judge cannot release him unless someone stands on his position.

God is our judge. He has decided that sinners must die, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23). But because of the great love of God toward us, He sent His only begotten Son to die on our behalf, to replace us. He is our Substitute. We are supposed to die on the cross to bear the punishments of the sins we have committed. The apostle John wrote, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). John also wrote, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

Friends, unless we know that Christ had died on our behalf and believed in our hearts we will never have the assurance of salvation. Christ is the only way of Salvation.

CONCLUSION

Friends, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you truly believe and trust Him with all your hearts and mind? Unless you believe Christ is the way of salvation, you will die without eternal life and you are the same with those who worship idols.

Jesus said to you this morning, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).