Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?

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Question: "Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?"

Answer: "I'm basically a good person, so I'll go to heaven." "OK, so I do some bad things, but I do more good things, so I'll go to heaven." "God won't send me to hell just because I don't live by the Bible. Times have changed!" "Only really bad people like child molesters and murderers go to hell."

These are all common rationales among most people, but the truth is, they are all lies. Satan, the ruler of the world, plants these thoughts in our heads. He, and anyone who follows his ways, is an enemy to God (1Pet 5:8). Satan always disguises himself as good (2 Corinthians 11:14), but he has control over all the minds that do not belong to God. "Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

It is a lie to believe that God doesn't care about small sins, and that hell is reserved for "bad people." All sin separates us from God, even a “little white lie”. Everyone has sinned, and no one is good enough to get to heaven on their own (Romans 3:23). Getting into heaven is not based on whether our good outweighs our bad; we will all lose out if that is the case. "And if they are saved by God's kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God's wonderful kindness would not be what it really is - free and undeserved" (Romans 11:6). We can do nothing good to earn our way to heaven (Titus 3:5).

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way" (Matthew 7:13). Even if everyone is living a life of sin, and trusting in God is not popular, God will not excuse it. "You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God" (Ephesians 2:2).

When God created the world, it was perfect. Everything was good. Then he made Adam and Eve, and gave them their own free will, so they would have a choice whether to follow and obey God or not. But Adam and Eve, the very first people God made, were tempted by Satan to disobey God, and they sinned. This separated them (and everyone that came after them, including us) from being able to have a close relationship with God. He is perfect, and holy, and must judge sin. As sinners, we couldn't make it there on our own. So, God made a way that we could be united with Him in heaven. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Jesus was born so that He could teach us the way and die for our sins so that we would not have to. Three days after His death, He rose from the grave (Romans 4:25), proving Himself victorious over death. He bridged the gap between God and man so that we may have a personal relationship with Him if we would only believe.

"And this is the way to have eternal life - to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth" (John 17:3). Most people believe in God, even Satan does. But to receive salvation, we must turn to God, form a personal relationship, turn away from our sins, and follow Him. We must trust in Jesus with everything we have and everything we do. "We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this way, no matter who we are or what we have done" (Romans 3:22). The Bible teaches that there is no other way to salvation than through Christ. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

Jesus is the only way of salvation because He is the only One who can pay our sin penalty (Romans 6:23). No other religion teaches the depth or seriousness of sin and its consequences. No other religion offers the infinite payment of sin that only Jesus Christ could provide. No other “religious founder” was God become man (John 1:1,14) – the only way an infinite debt could be paid. Jesus had to be God so that He could pay our debt. Jesus had to be man so He could die. Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ! “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?

If God Created Everything, Who Created God?

Introduction

How did God get here?

Richard Dawkins, among other atheists, thinks he has the ultimate proof that God doesn't exist. If God created a complex universe, wouldn't it take an even more complex entity to have created God? However, such logic assumes that time has always existed, rather than being merely a construct of this universe.

Rich Deem

Who created God? It is an age-old question that has plagued all those who like to think about the big questions. Having grown up as an agnostic non-Christian, it provided me with a potential reason why there might not be any god. Various religions tend to solve the problem in different ways. The LDS church (Mormonism) says that the God (Elohim) to whom we are accountable had a father god, then grew up on a planet as a man, and progressed to become a god himself. Many other religions have claimed that gods beget other gods. Of course the problem with this idea is how did the first god get here? This problem of infinite regression invalidates such religions. Christianity claims that God has always existed. Is this idea even possible? Does science address such issues?

Christianity's answer

Christianity answers the question of who created God in the very first verse of the very first book, Genesis:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)

This verse tells us that God was acting before time when He created the universe. Many other verses from the New Testament tells us that God was acting before time began, and so, He created time, along with the other dimensions of our universe:

• No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
• This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9)
• The hope of eternal life, which God... promised before the beginning of time (Titus 1:2)
• To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:25)

God exists in timeless eternity

How does God acting before time began get around the problem of God's creation? There are two possible interpretations of these verses. One is that God exists outside of time. Since we live in a universe of cause and effect, we naturally assume that this is the only way in which any kind of existence can function. However, the premise is false. Without the dimension of time, there is no cause and effect, and all things that could exist in such a realm would have no need of being caused, but would have always existed. Therefore, God has no need of being created, but, in fact, created the time dimension of our universe specifically for a reason - so that cause and effect would exist for us. However, since God created time, cause and effect would never apply to His existence.

God exists in multiple dimension of time

The second interpretation is that God exists in more than one dimension of time. Things that exist in one dimension of time are restricted to time's arrow and are confined to cause and effect. However, two dimensions of time form a plane of time, which has no beginning and no end and is not restricted to any single direction. A being that exists in at least two dimension of time can travel anywhere in time and yet never had a beginning, since a plane of time has no starting point. Either interpretation leads one to the conclusion that God has no need of having been created.

Why can't the universe be eternal?

The idea that God can be eternal leads us to the idea that maybe the universe is eternal, and, therefore, God doesn't need to exist at all. Actually, this was the prevalent belief of atheists before the observational data of the 20^th century strongly refuted the idea that the universe was eternal. This fact presented a big dilemma for atheists, since a non-eternal universe implied that it must have been caused. Maybe Genesis 1:1 was correct! Not to be dismayed by the facts, atheists have invented some metaphysical "science" that attempt to explain away the existence of God. Hence, most atheistic cosmologists believe that we see only the visible part of a much larger "multiverse" that randomly spews out universes with different physical parameters.¹ Since there is no evidence supporting this idea (nor can there be, according to the laws of the universe), it is really just a substitute "god" for atheists. And, since this "god" is non-intelligent by definition, it requires a complex hypothesis, which would be ruled out if we use Occam's razor, which states that one should use the simplest logical explanation for any phenomenon. Purposeful intelligent design of the universe makes much more sense, especially based upon what we know about the design of the universe.

What does science say about time?

When Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose extended the equations for general relativity to include space and time, the results showed that time has a beginning - at the moment of creation (i.e., the Big Bang).² In fact, if you examine university websites, you will find that many professors make such a claim - that the universe had a beginning and that this beginning marked the beginning of time (see The Universe is Not Eternal, But Had A Beginning). Such assertions support the Bible's claim that time began at the creation of the universe.

Conclusion

God has no need to have been created, since He exists either outside time (where cause and effect do not operate) or within multiple dimensions of time (such that there is no beginning of God's plane of time). Hence God is eternal, having never been created. Although it is possible that the universe itself is eternal, eliminating the need for its creation, observational evidence contradicts this hypothesis, since the universe began to exist a finite ~13.7 billion years ago. The only possible escape for the atheist is the invention of a kind of super universe, which can never be confirmed experimentally (hence it is metaphysical in nature, and not scientific).

If God Created Everything, Who Created God?

What would Jesus ask an atheist? | Christ Church Central Sheffield

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What would Jesus ask an atheist?

Andy Fehler

An atheist is someone who is convinced that there is no God. They are not sitting on the fence like the agnostics - but they have clearly nailed their colours to the mast - there is NO GOD!

Well, what would Jesus ask such people as these?

He might ask:

• Where do you think everything came from?
• What is the point in living?
• How do you decide how to live?
• What hope can you find?

These aren't just good questions to ask an atheist - they are questions that we all need to ask ourselves and see how our worldview answers them, as our answers will determine how we live.

For an atheist they have to believe that all of this amazing world, all of the Universe in fact came out of nothing or has always been here - both of which are incredibly hard to swallow. While most scientists have now rejected the idea that the Universe has always been here and always will, they still struggle to explain what caused the Universe to burst into existence.

Without a God not only is it difficult to explain where the Universe came from - it is also clear that there can be no meaning behind the world. If there is no designer there can be no grand design. We were not planned, we are accidents, flukes of evolution - just animals made from chemicals. There can be no meaning to our short lives. We live then die. As the atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell put it: "We must build our lives on the foundation of unyielding despair."

Without a God revealing to us how we ought to live, our right and wrong becomes purely subjective - I can do what I like. Any attempt to say this is the right way to live is ridiculous as I can live how I want and no-one can tell me it's wrong. If someone chooses to rape or steal there is no overriding reason why that is wrong.

Indeed whilst there are lots of philosophical reasons put forward for God not existing the main reason that keeps cropping up is to do with suffering. The atheist says: "There simply can't be a God because of the terrible things that happen in the world." This is an interesting claim and a thorny issue to iron out - but it simply doesn't fit with the rest of the worldview that comes from rejecting God. (Check out our article How do we account for all the suffering in the world?). Without a God who is outside us and who makes distinctions about what is right and wrong based perhaps on His own Character, then who are we to say what is good or terrible. Furthermore, we can't intrude on other people's lives, to me rape may be wrong but to someone else it may be acceptable. Unless there is an outside agency to call upon to clarify these matters we will get nowhere!

Finally, there can be no hope for the atheist. It's clear that us humans are not going to change - however much we dream of making utopia here on Earth through education, social planning, sharing the wealth or whatever, we cannot do it - history is littered with attempts of making Heaven here on Earth that have failed. No, the only hope an atheist can possibly have is that they might leave something behind for future generations - whether that is children or art or some scientific discovery. Such people are described in the Bible as "having no hope and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12

These are difficult questions for all of us - but especially for the atheist!

So there is no God? No Creator? But why is it that all cultures have their Gods? How can the atheist explain away the "God-shaped hole" that people down the ages have described? The presence of this longing for something beyond ourselves explains why this country is still so spiritual despite the rejection of mainstream religions and despite being one of the most scientific nations around. Could it just be that God designed us that way? To me it is just as plausible - in fact more plausible to say there is an all powerful and eternal God who has not only created the Universe out of nothing - but through his Son Jesus he reveals what he is like to us, showing us how to live. Because God is outside us there becomes a concrete foundation on which to determine whether something is right or wrong.

We also find a purpose for our life - we live to glorify God. Through Jesus' death and resurrection we are assured that we can trust in Jesus and have a hope that this life is not all there is.

We may not be philosophical atheists we may just be practical ones who ignore God. Either way it's important to know that just believing in God is not enough. A lyric writer wrote: "The fool says in his heart 'there is no God'." (Psalm 14:1) the song this was taken from was used by the apostle Paul to make the point that no-one is right before the God who does exist! This is not just about atheists, it's not even just about practical atheists (those who ignore God most of the time) - but it is actually speaking about all people (Psalm 14:1-3 is the basis of Paul's argument in Romans 3:9-20 argument).

We all say in our hearts "there is no God" - we are all in one sense atheists - choosing to live as God of our lives, whether we believe in a god or not! As a consequence, Paul goes on: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside!" Romans 3:10-12 (emphasis added).

But the good news is that there is hope for us. Paul goes on to say there is a righteousness (that is a way of being right with God) that comes through trusting in Jesus: "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned [that is wronged God] and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" Romans 3:22-24. There are a lot of strange concepts and words in that sentence but the gist of it is this - we are all wrong before God - but we can all be made right by trusting in Jesus and receiving this rightness with God as a gift.

There is hope for the atheist - but it is not through continuing to deny the existence of God - the atheist, and all of us, need to realise that to find answers to the most significant questions we need to accept that there is a God and He shows us what He is like through Jesus Christ.