The man was created to live in a vibrant relationship with God. When people live apart from that reality they live in a habitat not conducive to the fullness of life. True salvation can only come from one source, for it is only one source that brings true life. Your life force is sapped dry by separation from God, and you can only find in God the eternal life from which you were designed to live.
The declaration of our salvation
When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” he was making an incredible declaration. He is not only the source of life, but he is also life itself. Moreover, he is the way to himself and the Truth. Salvation is not given by him. Salvation is Jesus. He is the life you need, and when you come to Him through Him He communions with believers, making them one with him as he is one with the Father. Thus salvation comes only from him who is the Savior. It cannot be separated from him, for it is his identity.
Jesus stunningly stated that “before Abraham was, I am.” He was on the verge of being stoned for saying such an incredible statement. He was not only uttering the name of the Lord God given to Moses thousands of years past, but he was uttering it as his own name. The magnitude of this choice of words was not lost on the crowd, as those who did not receive him picked up stones to levy upon him.
People often want to believe that salvation could come from a variety of sources or diversity of paths, but in reality, people desire that because they do not trust in the goodness of God. They think that surely there must be other ways because a good God would not want any to perish. They don’t trust his ways of being good. They think they might have a better way, and they cheapen the Gospel to accommodate when in reality they create a situation that keeps people from the life of Christ instead of bringing them to him.
It is quite true that God would not want any to perish; this is precisely why he sent his Son to take all the sin and corruption of this world upon himself, thereby redeeming the life of all creation. The Son of God, who knew no sin, took on your sin and died for your sin so you can have life everlasting. Jesus said he came to the world, not to condemn the world, but to give anyone who desires eternal life. Every tribe, tongue, and nation has the same way to the Father.
Dreams and visions of the risen Lord
Reports are coming out of the Middle East presently of Muslims having dreams and visions of the risen Lord giving their lives to Jesus without ever meeting a missionary or reading a Bible. Whole communities of believers are forming in the midst of Islamic nations to worship Jesus.
Jesus has a way of getting past religious barriers to the hearts and desires of people. He is not just the God of the Jews or the God of the Christians; he is the God of the nations. Jesus was talking to his father in John 17, and he said that the world will know believers are of Christ by the love that they have for one another. It is this testimony of love that will show the world that God has sent Jesus to the nations to redeem them.
Jesus further instructed his disciples in John 13:34 -35:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Looking for another way to God other than Jesus doesn’t help bring the nations to the Father, for Jesus says that no one comes to the Father except through him. He even said if you have seen me you have seen my Father. To point away from Christ is not to help the world but to hinder the world. Your lives and words should reflect and point to your Lord. This is the way to bring salvation and restoration to the nations. Philippians 2: 16 relates that believers “shine like stars in the universe as [we] hold out the word of life . . .” Believers want the world to know the love of God; they do that by loving them as Jesus loves them.
