... Isn't that Intolerant? What about Other Religions?
By Beth Jones

This is a big question! Is Jesus the only way to God? What about other religions? Are Christians just intolerant, narrow-minded, politically incorrect people? What is the basis for thinking that Jesus is the only way to God? What makes Jesus stand apart from any other religious guru, prophet or leader? We can answer these questions in two words. The Blood.

Before we dive in, let's first just thank God we live in a country where we are all allowed freedom of religion and we can all exercise our free will to determine what we want to believe. While we respect the right of all other religions to hold their own beliefs, we as Christians believe in Jesus Christ and we adhere to the things He said-even when it's not popular. Let's look at what He said.

Aren't Christians way too intolerant and narrow-minded?

Jesus Himself said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) That's a pretty bold, straight-forward statement. We believe that Jesus meant what He said and for good reason. He was qualified to make that statement because He stands apart from every other religious leader in history!

The thing that makes Jesus different from any other person who has ever lived is that He claimed and demonstrated that He was God in the flesh. Jesus didn't claim to be just a prophet or religious teacher—He claimed to be God in the flesh. In fact, His claims so inflamed the religious leaders of the day they sought to stone Him and eventually they did crucify Him!

So, who was Jesus and why was He here on earth? As we will see the entire Bible revolves around two words: Life and Death. Jesus came on a search and rescue mission to redeem mankind from death and bring us into eternal life. Let's take a quick historical journey into the Word of God and see what we can discover about why Jesus is God's plan for getting man to God. Let's go back to the beginning-to the book of Genesis.

Adam and Eve

We see in Genesis 1:26-28, 2:7, God created Adam and Eve and gave them dominion on planet Earth. He put them in a lush garden to rule and reign. God's original plan was to bless humanity with an environment that resounded life! He told them they could eat from any of the trees in the garden, but if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die. We all know the story. They were tempted through lies and their own lust and they ate the forbidden fruit. Once they ate the forbidden fruit, they died just like God said. They died spiritually the instant they sinned against God and they became separated from God. It took 900 years for the life of God that was in them physically to be extinguished. Adam died physically when he was over 900 years old!

The moment Adam and Eve sinned, death entered the human race for the first time in human history. Where life once resounded, death now reigned. For the first time man experienced spiritual death which is separation from God, and physical death where his body stopped living. Romans 5:12 tells us, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ... ."

As a result of disobeying the voice of God and sinning against Him, mankind needed forgiveness. Man needed to be forgiven so that life could replace the sin and death that had overtaken them. Romans 6:23 tells us, "the wages of sin is death," and for hundreds of years-until Jesus came on the scene-man was paying the wage of death for the sin of Adam brought to the human race!

Fortunately, God had a plan! His plan was to restore man back to life and to eradicate death! God's plan was to strategically work through the ages so that He could legally impart "life"—the life of God-into the "death" situation that every human being now faced. Patiently God worked through generation after generation, making a way for Him to send His own Son as the Redeemer and Savior of the world.

So, after the fall of Adam and Eve, when God was faced with a "death" situation, somehow He needed to impart "life" into the human race, but where was He going to get "life"? Leviticus 17:11 tells us:

"... the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

As it turned out, God needed blood! He legally needed to get sinless, spotless, eternal blood into mankind's dilemma to provide an eternal cure for the sin and death that had now lodged itself in mankind.

To read Part Two, click here.

For a more detailed study on this topic, I recommend my book: "CRUCIFIED: Why the Gory, Bloody Cross?"

Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.