Bringing Hope

I was talking to a friend about faith and spiritual matters the other day. She was having trouble believing that there was only one way to heaven, and that followers of Jesus had the market on Truth. I agree that it can come across as somewhat arrogant to think you are right and the majority of the world is wrong. The catch is, I truly believe that the Bible is God's word and that it teaches that trusting (putting faith in) God is the only way to heaven. I tried to explain to her what an insult it is to look at the sacrifice that Jesus made (God himself, leaving Heaven, dying a painful and humiliating death, and then resurrecting) as just one possible way to salvation. To say that you can get to heaven by some other means is to figuratively throw his offer in his face and tell him he wasted his time, because you can do it yourself. No, Jesus came to Earth and died because there was no other way.

Then we began talking about Old Testament people and how they got saved, and what Jesus' main purpose was for coming to Earth. She said his chief purpose in coming was to teach about love and compassion. I disagreed. Those are important, and every Christian should be loving and compassionate, but Jesus came because we needed a savior. Prophets before Jesus had taught about love and compassion, but Jesus had a unique job that only he could fulfill. We needed someone to restore our relationship with God. We as a people had blown it, and we needed help. We needed forgiveness.

Now here's the thought that has stuck with me since that conversation. We considered two scenarios. One that we are familiar with and take for granted; the one where Jesus comes and gives us the option of following him and being restored. Now consider the other option, the one where Jesus never comes. Adam and Eve sin, and God just kicks them out of the Garden with no promise of a redeemer. Abraham is given the Promised Land, but not promised to be a blessing to the world (through Jesus). David is promised to be a king, but his line will one day lose their throne because there will be no King Jesus. The Old Testament would be much shorter, and the new testament would be nonexistent. Worst of all, we are left with no savior and left with no hope. Without Jesus, hope would be lost and we would have no true way to find peace in our souls, to reach up to God, or to find forgiveness for the things we have all done wrong. Imagining a world without the cross of Christ has given me a renewed appreciation for it.