The Way

"Let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you  know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how cann we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If  you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is suffiecient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us  the Father?'  "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak onn my own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does tthe works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."
John 14: 1-10 NKJV

There's a popular saying out there for those who seem to have a certain knowledge that the life they are living is, in their own eyes, righteous enough to pass Gods muster.  For these heaven bound wannabes, they claim to have already "Punched their ticket" to heaven.  Really?  For I know of only one way to enter into that paradise which Christ Jesus has prepared for those who trust in Him.  There is a reason that Jesus claimed to be "The way, the truth and the life," BECAUSE HE IS!  Anyone who claims that they cann enter our Lords paradise without knowing and trusting in Christ Jesus is simply chasing a lie.  For it is not our good works, self righteous thoughts or vain belief that we are better than most that will get us into heaven.  This puts the emphasis on our own efforts and off of Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2: 8-10 NKJV

As the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that it is not by our very own efforts in which we "Punch our ticket" for heaven, but a gift we ultimately receive from God.  Oh the pride and boasting of the man in whom his own efforts would secure his place in eternity with God!  I'm not sure I could live with such a prideful dude.  It is for this very reason for which our heavenly Father has, by His own grace and mercy, provided for us the opportunity to spend eternity with Him.  Not only has God provided for us a way into His paradise, but He has saved us from our own arrogance in the process.  For if we could "Buy" our own way into heaven, what would that price be?  How many good works would one ultimately need to punch that ticket into heaven?  I imagine that ebay and Amazon would have the cheapest tickets for such a destination?  Now, obliging this world view of allowing those who are self righteous to spend their eternities with God, where would that leave tthe rest of us?  What of those who, through no fault of their own, could not afford that ticket into heaven?  How many who have placed their trust in Christ Jesus would be left behind when that final trumpet blares?  I would hate to imagine a black market for tickets to heaven.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5: 6-8 NKJV

In Romans 5, Paul tells us the glorious truth of just why He did things the way He did.  For "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"  There is no rich man who will ultimately outbid us for a place in Gods kingdom.  There is no proud, arrogant one who will, for the sake of proclaiming their own rightousness, be able to say that they made it on their own accord while we didn't.  No, for there is one, and only one way into our Lords eternity.  For those who have trusted in Christ Jesus, they know the way.

~Scott~