How many ways to heaven are there?

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead.  But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. --1 Corinthians 15:12-19

We have raised an American generation that worships at the altar of Tolerance. We have taught our children to respect other cultures, even their religions.  We have asked them to turn a blind eye to pagan rituals, Muslim jihad, and militant atheism.  As a result, we do not speak out against astrology, fortune telling, or mysticism; we make excuses for middle-eastern immigrants bent on the destruction of the Christian way of life; and we have allowed our government to become antagonistic toward Christianity, outlawing public prayer and display of Bible verses on public (and even private companies engaged in public commerce) property.

The over-riding theology of today is this: All roads lead home.

Those who did not grow up in the church ask our children, "How can you be sure you are right?"  Those who have grown up in the church, but who are not rooted in Christian scripture, accept the arguments that:

• The world came into existence through a "big bang", and all life on Earth has evolved to its current form, thus nullifying the concept of Creation by a Powerful God;
• Human beings are basically "good", thus contradicting the concept of Original Sin and its aftermath;
• Humans can do enough good in life, or make up for their mistakes, so that eternal punishment isn't necessary or worthy of thought, thus making Christ's sacrificial death unnecessary, nullifying God's great act of Grace;
• Jesus was a good man, and perhaps a great teacher, on par with other great religious leaders like Mohammed, Ghandi, or Joseph Smith, thus making Jesus a liar when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me."
• Everybody on Earth, no matter what they believe or don't believe, will end up in Heaven, because a loving God would not condemn three-fourths of all humans to an actual Hell, thus making God a liar when He promised a final Judgment Day, a "separation of the sheep and the goats," as Jesus said.

To be fair, this is not a new concept.  When my late father started guest preaching in 1970 as he was training to become a full time pastor, I remember him summarizing the then-current theological culture in this way: "It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.  That is a lie from Satan himself."

This morning I heard a powerful sermon on Luke 22:44.  Jesus was in fear of His life--perhaps the first time in His entire existence that He felt fear.  He begged the Father three times to spare His life, to find another way of redemption so that Jesus would not have to suffer.  Knowing beforehand the circumstances--the arrest, the mock trial, the people slapping Him, beating Him, and mashing a crown of thorns into His head, before being forced to carry His own cross up a hill so that He could have His hands and feet nailed to that cross and left to die--knowing all this, He literally sweat blood thinking about it, begging His Father to let Him avoid it.  Luke, a physician, described the medical condition called Hematidrosis, which can be caused by extreme stress. Jesus took that fear to his Father, and the Father said no.  Even after Jesus had prayed about it three times. 

The preacher went on to say this: If Jesus is not the only way for us to have fellowship with the Father, then we should have no respect for God.  If the whole Crucifixion story was for show, and it was not absolutely necessary for Jesus to die to take away my sins, then that was an awful lot of drama for nothing.  Any parent who would allow that much drama to go on in their child's life without any meaning is a parent that does not deserve respect at all.

When we ponder that, we really have to reassess what we think about God.  If we trust God to be all-powerful, and all-knowing, then we must conclude that the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus was the only way to set things right between God and man.  There was no other way.  On the other hand, if we truly believe that all roads lead to heaven, then we do not believe in God at all.  Jesus was just a man, and the stories of the miracles He performed are the stuff of myth and legend.  And, as Paul said in the quote above, "we, above all men, are to be pitied."  Jesus died for a cause without eternal implications, like someone who would die for global warming, or to stop the death penalty.  The Apostles, who all died as martyrs, each gave his life for a lie.

My friends, I believe that Jesus is the only salvation we have.  I believe that if you reject Him in this life, He will reject you in the next.  And I believe that time is running out.  In the 13th chapter of Luke, Jesus told this parable:

A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.  So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?"  The man replied, "Sir, leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine!  If not, then cut it down."  (Luke 13:6-9)

The one who cares for a vineyard is called a husbandman.  The Church is called "the bride of Christ".  Heaven is often referred to as the Marriage Supper of The Lamb.  So the Husband of the Church, the Son of God, is interceding with the Father for your soul.  He is digging up weeds, putting out fertilizer, and providing water.  If you do not respond and bear fruit, you will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  I urge you, Friend, to respond to Him; give Him your life, and let Him produce fruit in you.  Without Him, you are fruitless, and God may remove you from this earth to make room for others who might be more receptive to Him.

God stands ready to forgive.  His rejecting the plea of His Son was the ultimate act of grace for you and me. He is a God of love, a God of grace, a God of mercy.  No matter what we have done, it will not separate us from His love.  But if we reject the sacrificial death of His Son for our sins, as the one and only salvation for us, then we will spend eternity separated from Him.  God will use all means possible to woo us into His presence.  But the choice is ultimately ours.  Choose Him!