Part II: The Way, The Truth, & The Life

🤗Welcome back family!

If you haven’t read Part I, we highly recommend you go back and read it.

Jumping right into it!!

📝Jesus Was Promised From the Beginning

As we discussed in Part I, the Gospel did not suddenly appear in Matthew.

God had already revealed His plan throughout Scripture.

After the fall of mankind, God told the serpent:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed…” Genesis 3:15 (KJV)

This is often understood as the first glimpse of the Gospel, the coming offspring who would ultimately defeat the serpent.

From the beginning, God already had a plan of redemption.

Centuries later, Isaiah prophesied:

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)

Matthew later shows it fulfilled:

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel… God with us.” Matthew 1:23 (KJV)

Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was not conceived through an earthly father.

God had already spoken about what He was going to do before it happened.

The Prophets Spoke About the Cross

Hundreds of years before the crucifixion, Scripture described suffering that points directly toward Christ.

Psalm 22 contains imagery that Christians have long understood in connection with Jesus’ crucifixion.

Jesus even cried from the cross:

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 (KJV)

Those words point directly back to Psalm 22:1.

Then we have Isaiah 53.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…” Isaiah 53:5 (KJV)

Isaiah spoke centuries before Jesus’ birth, yet the chapter describes the suffering servant who would bear the sins of others.

Isaiah also wrote:

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7 (KJV)

During His trials before the authorities, Jesus did not defend Himself in the way one might expect from someone facing death.

He knew why He came.

The cross was not an accident.

Jesus came to give His life.

“They Shall Look Upon Me Whom They Have Pierced”

The prophet Zechariah wrote:

“They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him…”— Zechariah 12:10 (KJV)

Again, we see the piercing and mourning spoken of before the crucifixion occurred.

After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, Peter stood before the people in Acts 2 and boldly proclaimed the Gospel.

He told them:

“God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36 (KJV)

Their response?

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart…”— Acts 2:37 (KJV)

They realized the seriousness of what had happened.

So they asked:

What shall we do?

Peter answered:

“Repent…”— Acts 2:38 (KJV)

And thousands responded to the Gospel.

Then There Was Saul

Saul was not looking for Jesus.

He was persecuting Christians.

He was actively trying to stop the spread of the Gospel.

Then, on the road to Damascus, Saul encountered the risen Christ...

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”— Acts 9:4 (KJV)

Saul asked:

“Who art thou, Lord?”

And the answer came:

“I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”— Acts 9:5 (KJV)

The persecutor became a preacher! My God this is heavy! Redemption!

✨Think about your life before Christ…

Okay well let me talk about mine since we don’t want to be real here! Come on children of God!

Every time I willfully sinned I was persecuting Christ! Every time I acted on flesh and allowed foul language to come from my mouth because it was in my heart I was persecuting Christ.. You don’t have to do what Saul did to persecute our Lord and Savior.

When you live in disobedience to the Lord you are persecuting Him and making yourself an enemy of God.

Now back to Paul (Formerly known as Saul)

The man trying to destroy the Church became one of the greatest proclaimers of Christ in the New Testament.

✨An encounter with Jesus changed everything!

The Grave Could Not Hold Him

Jesus died.

Jesus was buried.

But Jesus did not remain in the grave.

HE ROSE.

That is central to the Gospel.

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” Matthew 28:6 (KJV)

The disciples did not go throughout the world preaching about a dead teacher!

They preached the risen Jesus.

They testified that they had seen Him alive.

And they were willing to face persecution because they refused to stop proclaiming what they knew....

Jesus Christ is risen.

Jesus conquered sin and death.

He lives forevermore.

✨Jesus Is LORD!

This is where every person must eventually come.

Jesus does not become Lord because we decide to believe in Him.

He already IS Lord.

Our unbelief does not remove Him from His throne.

Our opinions do not change His identity.

Another religion cannot redefine Him.

A denomination cannot reduce Him.

A false translation cannot dethrone Him.

Human philosophy cannot erase Him.

And every religion that teaches there is another way to God apart from Jesus Christ is teaching a lie.

All religions do not lead to the same God.

All spiritual paths do not eventually arrive at the same destination.

The idea that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age spirituality, or any other belief system can all be equally true and simply represent different paths to God directly contradicts the words of Jesus Christ.

This does not mean we hate, mistreat, mock, or disrespect people who believe differently. We are commanded to love people. But loving people does not require us to call something true when God has declared it false!

There is only one Gospel, one Savior, and one way to the Father: Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 (KJV)

Notice what Jesus did not say.

He did not say, “I am a way.”

He said, “I am THE way.”

He did not say He possessed one version of truth.

He said, “I am THE truth.”

He did not say He was one spiritual option among many.

He said, “I am THE life.”

So if another religion teaches that Jesus is not Lord, that He is not the Son of God, that He did not rise from the dead, that salvation can be obtained apart from Him, or that there are multiple ways to God, that teaching is false according to the Word of God.

We cannot confess Jesus as “the truth” while simultaneously declaring contradictory religious teachings to also be true.

Scripture says:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”— Acts 4:12 (KJV)

There is no other name.

Not another prophet.

Not another god.

Not another spiritual system.

Not our own goodness.

Not our works.

Not our traditions.

Not our ancestors.

Not the universe.

Jesus Christ alone saves.

This is not about winning an argument with someone from another religion. This is about souls.

If we truly believe Jesus is the only way to the Father, then remaining silent because we are afraid of offending people is not love.

We tell the truth because we love people.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

But the question is not whether He is Lord.

The question is whether we will surrender to Him now?

Will you choose full surrender to Him?

Scripture says:

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”— Philippians 2:10–11 (KJV)

EVERY knee.

In heaven.

On earth.

And under the earth.

Every tongue will confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

The Gospel is not simply “Jesus loves you.”

Yes, He absolutely loves us.

But the Gospel also tells us that we are sinners in need of a Savior, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He rose again, and that salvation is found in Him alone.

And if you believe this with all your heart and all your soul and live out His commands.. you will be saved.

Jesus was there in the beginning.

All things were created through Him.

The prophets spoke of Him.

He came in the flesh.

He was crucified.

He rose from the dead.

He reigns.

And He is coming again.

You can bow willingly now, surrender your life, repent, believe the Gospel, and follow Him, or you can reject Him.

But rejection does not change who He is.

Truth does not stop being truth because someone chooses not to believe it.

Scripture tells us how this story ends:

EVERY KNEE WILL BOW.

EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

To the glory of God the Father.

In Jesus name, Amen.

If this message placed a fire in your heart please do not hesitate to like, comment, and share this blog.

We encourage commenting your thoughts and questions because they may be the same questions someone else may be struggling with..

You are not alone and we are here to grow in Christ together.

God is not offended by your questions, or frustrations.

He invites us to bring it all to Him.

We Love each and every one of you.

🤍Obedience Over Compromise

—The Surrendered Walk

Resources:

Please check out this teaching by Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell

https://youtu.be/TddATr3O4RQ?is=ulEUmZv0NULnQtr7