Most of us wonder if religious leaders aren’t a bit like the three blind men asked to describe an elephant. One approached the beast, grabbed its trunk, and exclaimed confidently, “An elephant is long and tubular, capable of great contortions of shape.” The second encountered the elephant, and after placing his hands on the animal’s side said, “No, no, an elephant is very broad and leathery, hardly capable of bending at all.”
The third man grasped the elephant’s tail and remarked with disgust, “You’re both wrong. An elephant is quite thin and smooth with a wiry brush on the end.”
These three men encountered the same elephant, and each came away with very different, even contradictory, views. Most people believe the same to be true of the relationship between different religions. These people say all religions have partial truths, but no one religion has the whole truth. At most, each religion grasps only a piece of the truth about the vastness of God.
Believing all religions are partially true and that none capture the whole truth can lead to viewing truth as relative. Without the standard of absolute truth, then what is true for you can be different than what is true for me. Truth becomes based not on fact but on whether or not you believe it – therefore leading to a belief in many pathways to God.
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” With this one statement, Jesus boldly puts Christianity in a class by itself. Think about it. If the path to God is through Jesus, then Christianity cannot be reconciled with any other religion. Jesus was unique among the founders of world religions. Religions promote their teachings as the only way to God, but Jesus promoted Himself as the only way to God. This uniqueness of Christianity is rooted in the uniqueness of Jesus Himself. Simply and clearly, Jesus says to focus your life on Him.
How do we know Jesus is who He says He is?
We know this by the way Jesus backs up His claim. Lee Strobel writes in his book, “The Case for Christ”, that Jesus validated His declaration of being God by fulfilling dozens of centuries-old prophecies that defy every mathematical odd. These prophecies were as unique as a fingerprint; one that only the Messiah could match, and in all of history, only Jesus has proven a perfect match.
Jesus didn’t just say He was the one and only Son of God; He validated His claim like nobody else in history. He came to earth in human form to find you and lead you back to God. No other religion can point to a moment in history and say, “This is what God has done for you!” Remember, religion is our attempt to find God, but Christianity is God’s attempt to find us. Think about it; God sent Jesus to lead us back to Himself.
This takes some pressure off of me. I don’t have to perform in the right way, earn God’s favor, or find a pathway to God. No, He makes it unmistakably clear that this pathway is based solely on what He already did for me. Jesus’ life is the pathway to God, and God makes Jesus available to me. That’s a big weight off my shoulders!
Jesus is unique! You know, it really does matter which path you follow in your spiritual journey. Jesus’ own words and life dispel the myth that all paths lead to God.
So which path are you on, man’s or God’s?
Question to Consider: What fulfilled prophecies validate the claim of Jesus to the way, the truth, and the life?
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