All roads

“Well, if you haven’t been baptized then you won’t go to heaven” barked the man from the church on the corner.

“But I’m not a bad person, why wouldn’t God allow me into heaven just because I haven’t been baptized?” asked the young shoe salesman as he stopped to listen to the men who were talking near the bus stop.

“Listen, I pray every morning and evening, surely Allah has heard my prayers” replied the service station attendant who had just finished topping off a 1953 Bel Air convertible.

“You’re all so narrow minded, if you would just meditate, empty your mind then you would realize heaven is the universe that exists all around you” said the professor as she stepped into the bus and searching for an empty seat.

As the bus was pulling away from the curb, an unshaven man with a sandwich board slung over his shoulders and held on with a rope, slowly made his way through the crowd that had gathered at the corner. As the town herald made his way across the street all heads turned to read the sign hanging on his back “Repent for the end is here!”

From the very beginning it has been man’s desire to cover his sin and shame from the eyes of a holy God. Adam and Eve desperately sowed fig leaves together to hide themselves from their Creator, ushering in the very first religious service on earth. Years later, Cain lied to God about Abel’s whereabouts as his brother’s blood cried out to God from the earth beneath his feet.

Originally, in the beginning, God only wanted our love, fellowship and devotion but as our hearts grew colder we invented more and more profane ways to come to God until His presence, and His glory disappeared altogether. Our wickedness continued to grow as men began to carve representations of gods out of wood and stone. The last straw came as men began offering their own children in sacrificial fires of false worship.   

As mankind was once again was on the verge of self destruction, God Himself was required to come to earth in order to cover our sin. So He chose the nation of Israel to reveal Himself to an unbelieving world. Through the tribe of Judah and the throne of King David, God brought the Messiah into the world. God Inspired the prophets to write down what would take place in the future.

When the time was right, God sent His own Son into the world to pay our debt and lead us back into a relationship with Him. Jesus Christ was born at the perfect time, in the right place successfully fulfilling hundreds of prophecies. He arrived on earth heralding God’s love for all creation and before his death spent three and a half years preaching and teaching us to love one another.

However, evil men conspired against Him and power hungry, lust filled religious leaders plotted ways to silence Jesus forever. The crowd who had only days earlier shouted “Hosanna to their King” now screamed that they would have no king but Cesar. Jesus died as a large crowd mocked Him at the foot of a Roman cross. All hope temporarily vanished from the hearts of a few faithful followers as Jesus gave up His spirit. It seemed that their Messiah was dead.

Religion had once again reared its ugly head as men tried in vain to cover their shame by silencing Jesus. Even though He made the iron for the nails, the wood for the cross and the hill where it stood, He willingly died for the crowd who screamed “Crucify Him!”  There is no greater love than that.

With all certainty, I can tell you this: all roads don’t lead to God, the universe will never whisper any eternal cosmic truth to an emptied mind no matter how much sand slips through the hourglass and finally, senseless religious arguments over the significance of baptism, the necessity of speaking in tongues or the true meaning of hell will never draw a lost soul to Christ.

The apostle John was the oldest surviving disciple of Jesus Christ. John always stayed close to Jesus and was the only disciple watching at the foot of the cross when Jesus passes over his brother James to put John in charge of His own mother. So in John’s wisdom and at a ripe old age, he wrote this: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” 1 John 3:23.