Do All Roads Lead to Heaven?

CPT: Jesus is the only way for for humans to go to heaven.

Purpose: Describe to the church the exclusivity of Jesus.

CPS: Jesus is exclusive in his claim as the pathway to heaven.

Introduction

Do all roads lead to heaven? We are in our God Questions series, where we are talking about the reality and reliability of the Christian faith. This particular question, do all roads lead to heaven, is an important one.

I was particularly struck by that question this past week. I was in Sacramento for a few days earlier this week at a church event. During my time up there, I used Uber to get myself back and forth from the hotel where I was staying.

Riding in an Uber is a great opportunity for faith conversations. I kind of have a built in advantage in my job title. I soon as I tell people that I’m a pastor, they kind of tense up. “Okay, here it comes. Why did I start talking to this guy? Okay, now, what did I learn in Sunday School?”

The Uber driver picked me up from the church, which was another opportunity for a faith conversation. I asked him if he went to church. He said that he is a Muslim, and so I asked him if he went to the mosque.

He was nervous. He admitted that he didn’t pray as regularly as he was supposed to. You know, people in Islam are required to pray five times a day. He admitted that he wasn’t practicing Islam like he knew he should. He was worried if what he was doing, not praying, was a sin.

Well, I asked if he read the Koran. He said he didn’t understand it, but he could read it, meaning that he could sound out the words. I asked if he ever read the Bible. He said no. He said the Bible was just another book, and it all gets you to God, right?

I gave him an answer to that, and its along the same lines from what we are going to look at today. Do all roads lead to heaven? Are all people on some circuitous path that get them to the same place? We will look at that through Jesus’ words in John 14:1-7:

Scripture Reading

John 14:1–7 CSB

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Pray

In John 14, we will focus specifically on verse 6, Jesus’ claim that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Many of us may be familiar with that verse.

This verse comes in the context of heaven. Jesus is describing this place where humans are with the Father. He calls for people to believe in him so that they can abide in his Father’s house. It is a place that Jesus is preparing for people.

Jesus says he is going away to prepare this place for his people, and says he will come again to bring people to this place. He says that if anyone wants to go to heaven, the place where God exists, this beautiful place prepared for humans to exist forever with God, it can only come through believing in him, in Jesus.

He emphasizes this in a way that is very Hebrew. The Bible uses repetition to say something is certain and sure. It will say, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come” (Rev. 4:8). It will say, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6). The Bible will say something, and then to emphasize, say it again in a different way to make it clear that this thing is certain.

Jesus uses that here in verse 6. Jesus says, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. And just to make sure you get it, here is the main point, no one comes to the Father but through me.” Then to repeat it one more time, in verse 7, “If you know me, you will also know my Father.”

Let’s take a look at these three claims by Jesus, as the way, the truth, and the life.

First,

Jesus is the only way humans can connect with God.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

Text: John 14:6; Matt. 7:13-14; John 10:9

Filler.

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Jesus claims to be the exclusive path to God

Jesus says in John 14:6 that he is the way to God. He is the direction post, the pathway for humans to connect to the Father. He says something similar to this in Matthew 7:13-14, where he describes himself as a narrow gate.

Matthew 7:13–14 CSB

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

Jesus provides this narrow gate, this small path that many people don’t choose to go down. Instead, most people choose this wide and broad road that leads to destruction.

The wide and broad road

What does this wide and broad road look like? Well, if you look at the world today, there are a lot of people who don’t follow Jesus.

Here is a list of people who follow different world religions:

Christianity - 2.38 billion

Islam - 1.91 billion

Unaffiliated (Atheist, agnostic…) - 1.19 billion

Hinduism - 1.16 billion

Buddhism - 507 million

Folk Religions - 430 million

Other Religions - 61 million

Judaism - 14.6 million

(source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/religion-by-country)

According to this list, Christianity is followed by 2.4 billion people. Now, that includes everyone who would call themselves Christian, and doesn’t look into what they call Christianity. It’s a mix of people who just identify as Christian but may not in fact be in Christ.

But, we’ll take it at face-value. Suppose for arguments sake that there are 2.4 billion Christians in the world. It’s probably less than that, but let’s say that’s the number. Well, in 2021 the world’s population was estimated to be at 7.837 billion!

That means, and I’m not great with math, but running some numbers, on any given day there are at least, at minimum, 5.4 billion people on earth who are on course to enter eternity without Christ!

That number is huge. It’s why people come up and say, “Oh, in the end, there must be some kind of winding road that all of these people take to get to heaven. After all, aren’t they all talking about the same God?”

The problem is that all of these religious ideas and systems contradict each other. Christians say that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is God in the flesh. But Islam says that Jesus was just a man, a prophet, a good man, but just a man, and not God. Atheists say there is no God. Hindus will take Jesus and try to stick him in with a whole pantheon of other gods that they worship, saying they are all gods.

Jesus can not be God and not god at the same time, or be the only way to God and be just an example of God among many ways to God. Or Jesus can’t be God and also God does not exist. Clearly out of all of these systems to know God, they cannot all be right. All of these paths do not lead you to God.

Rather, the evidence around us shows that many are walking contradictory roads. There is broad road that many are walking down. And I think, as you look at the evidence of the world around us, you can see the destruction that road is bringing. As people are trying to find hope, they are falling down on their face time and time again. Drug abuse is rampant. Alcoholism is rampant. Broken homes and loveless relationships are rampant. People are walking down a road that is destroying them.

The evidence says that the road to God must actually be quite narrow. It is a gate to a narrow road that is specific. Jesus says that he is that gate. Look at John 10:9:

John 10:9 CSB

9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

There are many gates that people are trying to find hope and salvation through. However, there is only one gate that works. The evidence is that people find salvation only through Jesus.

In seminary, I took a class on Islam. This class was eye-opening for me on the beliefs in Islam, and how really this system, and you should know that according to the numbers I gave you earlier, there are more people in the world who practice Islam then atheism. This system does not lead people to any assurance of salvation. They don’t know if at the end of the day, if they will get to heaven.

Part of our class project was to speak with a Muslim. So what I did was go online and contact a mosque in San Diego. It was during COVID, so it was actually at a time when you couldn’t go to the mosque. But I was able to get in touch with the Imam there, which is the name of the lead pastor or teacher in the mosque. He scheduled a day for us to connect over a phone call.

What I didn’t know was that I had contacted the largest mosque in San Diego, and I was about to speak with the head guy of that mosque. This was like the Imam of imams in San Diego. So I prepare a little list of questions for my class project, and call him on the day and time.

We actually had a good conversation. I liked talking with him and he answered the questions I had. There was one question that really stuck out to me in our conversation. I asked him, “Imam, how do you know that you will go to heaven?” He said, “I don’t.”

Now, this shocked me. Here I was speaking with the head Imam of the largest mosque in San Diego. Certainly this guy, of all guys, should think that at least he is going to heaven! But there is no assurance of salvation. There is no way that he can know if he can go to heaven.

I think this is an example of what you will find on this broad road. This broad road looks tempting. It looks like, “Look, all the people are going this way. Let me walk with them.” But in reality, there is no hope on that road. There are not multiple paths.

For my Imam friend, there is a picture of Jesus that he thinks he knows. He would tell you that Jesus is a prophet, but nothing more. But where is this belief leading him? It’s leading him to a place of no hope. It’s leading him to a place where he needs to try and be good and do a bunch of works.

The evidence shows that the multiple directions in our world lead everyone towards a place of hopelessness. In contrast, Jesus is the narrow gate, the one where “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and come in and go out and find pasture.”

Jesus is the only way humans can connect with God.

Transition

Jesus is the only way to know the reality of God.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

Text: John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 18:37-38; John 8:44

Filler.

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Jesus is what is real

The second thing that Jesus says in John 14:6 is that he is the truth. He says, “I am the way, the truth...” The Greek word here translated as “truth” means:

Lexham Theological Wordbook ἀλήθεια

Indicates the quality or state of being real or genuine—often in the sense of visible and verifiable reality, demonstrated by facts, actual events, or proven character.

Jesus is saying that he is what is real, what is reality. He is showing us what is actual and true. It is this same reality that Peter refers to when he says in Acts 4:12:

Acts 4:12 CSB

12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

There is salvation in no one else. That sounds pretty exclusive. It is the reality of what we are describing when we are talking about Jesus. “There is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

When we are talking about God, we want to discuss what is real. None of us are interested in fairy tales or in mythological ideas.

During Jesus’ trials, they take him before Pilate. Pilate was the governor of the area. They end up in this interesting conversation about truth. Look at John 18:37-38:

John 18:37–38 CSB

37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 “What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.

The Lord is saying that he has come to testify to the world about what is reality. Those who are interested in connecting with the real God of the universe listen to him. Pilate responds with a question that I think many people ask themselves, “What is truth?”

More and more, the world has a way of attempting to cloud up the truth. They will say things like, “Well, that may be true for you, but it is not true for me.” What are they actually saying? They’re not actually making a truth statement about reality, but it is a truth statement about their feelings. Something can at the same time make you feel uncomfortable and still be true.

What is truth then? Truth is a statement about reality. It is a statement about something that exists outside of yourself. Supposed I believed with my heart of hearts that this building was made of Jello. I have a very intense feeling about the building being made of Jello. I believe it! However, no matter how hard I want to believe it, it won’t change the fact that the building is not edible. It is not made of Jello.

Now, it doesn’t matter what I feel about the building. That will not change the reality of what is. The reality is that the building is made up of cement and wood frames and everything else.

Jesus says he was born to testify about the truth. Jesus came into the world because people need a reality check. Here is the situation. If Jesus is the way, then this broad road that a lot of people are walking down has a lot of lies in it. The world is full of lies.

The Bible says that the world is under the control of Satan. Jesus describes Satan this way in John 8:44:

John 8:44 CSB

44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

The broad road is full of Satan’s lies. Often times we don’t find out that it’s a lie until its too late. We are told that we can find happiness and fulfillment apart from knowing God. We are told that once we achieve this thing, once we achieve success, whether it is success in our career, or in our relationships, or in whatever else you’re trying to get, then we’ll be happy. Then everything will work out.

The evidence in this world is that the broad road is full of lies and leads to destruction. Finding hope in this world only happens through a narrow gate.

We are told that there is happiness and success when you achieve something. We hold up actors, musicians, and celebrities as people who have made it in life. These are artistic people who make people life, move people with their acting, and motivate people with their music.

Yet, I went online to research actors or celebrities who died via suicide or overdose. It’s a sad reality of people who would do that, and its usually because they are trying to escape. The first list that I clicked on had, and I wasn’t prepared for this, but a list of 192 people on it. You would recognize some of these names. They are people like Anthony Bourdain, Kurt Cobain, Ernest Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe, and Robin Williams.

Clearly, there must be more in this life than the broad road that many are walking down. The heights of success in this world cannot create happiness and fulfillment in your soul. There must be a narrow way that only some people find. It’s not through money or career success. We see people who achieve still looking for an escape from reality.

Jesus came to testify to the truth, a truth that there is hope in reality. I don’t need to escape from reality. In fact, I can embrace reality through faith in Christ. That will get us to our final point.

Jesus is the only way humans can connect with God.

Jesus is the only way to know the reality of God.

Third,

Jesus is the only way to know God's intention for life.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

Text: John 14:6;

Filler.

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Jesus is the life

Jesus says one last thing in John 14:6 about himself which is interesting. Jesus says that he is the life. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Now what does Jesus mean by being the life?

It’s a little curious, because this is clearly something more than simply being alive. It’s something more than just having consciousness.

The Bible describes life as something greater than mere consciousness.

John 1:4: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

John 5:21: “The Son gives life to whom he wants.”

John 5:26: Just as the Father has life in himself, the Son has life in himself.

John 6:33: Jesus came down from heaven to give life to the world.

John 6:51: Through Jesus’ death, people will have life.

John 10:28: Jesus gives eternal life, a life that no one can take away.

Jesus goes to visit a woman named Martha. Her brother Lazarus had died. Now, Jesus was about to do a miracle there, but before he did that, he told Martha something about himself. He says this in John 11:25-26:

John 11:25–26 CSB

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Now to understand life in the Bible, you need to understand death in the Bible. You will not understand life unless you understand death.

In the Bible, death is a consequence of sin. People have rebelled against God, going back to our first parents, Adam and Eve. As a result of our rebellion against God, the consequence is death.

But death in the Bible is not merely physical. It is a spiritual death that we all need a rescue from. It is the spiritual death inside of us that we need to escape from. The Bible describes death as an enemy. It says in 1 Cor. 15:26:

1 Corinthians 15:26 CSB

26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

The broad road in this world is leading people on a destruction path towards an eternal death, which is eternal and conscious separation from God. The Bible calls this the second death. The Bible says that we will all stand before God one day, and the consequence of our rebellion against God should lead us towards the second death, eternal separation from God in a place called the lake of fire, or hell.

So what I want you to understand is that the escape that people feel deep down that they need is a reality. It is the reality of a spiritual death inside of you that is eating you away.

But the good news is that God didn’t abandon us or leave us that way. He provided a way. He came to testify about the truth. He came to tell us that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Heading: This is not just something in a book. Jesus changed my own life 16 years ago, as he has done for so many in this church. As I believed in Jesus, I spent time getting to know him. I took time to get to read through the New Testament. As I spent time daily in God’s Word, there was a new life inside of me. There was this love growing within me that I had never known. There was a dead man inside of me that came to life because of Jesus.

There is a resurrection for you this morning, and it is through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if you believe in Jesus, there is a resurrection that can happen in you this morning. There is a resurrection and a life that comes only through Jesus. Would you believe that this morning?

Conclusion

Jesus is the only way humans can connect with God.

Jesus is the only way to know the reality of God.

Jesus is the only way to know God's intention for life.

Conclude

Have you heard the message today and realized that you need Jesus? Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? We want to pray with you, and celebrate your new life. Please see one of our pastors after the service.

Blanks:

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!