[1]CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (BP) — There is only one Truth that remains unchanging, as we read in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Thankfully so, since from birth to death our lives are marked by constant change.
That is why we need to be anchored on the unshakeable foundations of God and the Bible. The Scriptures tell us that since the nature of man’s sin also has not changed, the truth of the Word of God is relevant for all mankind throughout history.
Several years ago my wife and I took a cross-country train ride in a sleeper car from Tacoma, Wash., to Boston. For several days I observed the miles of track before us and I realized how important it was to remain on course toward the destination. If a train gets off the track, it means something went deadly wrong.
The spiritual lesson I got from the trip was very simple. Like the train that runs on a one-way track toward the destination, our lives were meant to run on the one-way track of Jesus without derailment or detour.
After the Apostle Paul’s conversion, he lived this way, as he was able to proclaim toward the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
John Bunyan, too, wrote “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” an allegory of the perilous journey of faith. Despite many temptations, Christian is able to make his way toward the goal of the Celestial City. Though we are weak, if we stay on course with Jesus, He is able to lead and guide us. Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life.
[2]Over the course of millennia, mankind has tried to construct other ways, which have proved futile. There is no new way to be discovered in the future. Apart from the cross of Jesus Christ for salvation, mankind has no hope for eternal life. This was God’s wonderful plan of salvation before the foundation of the world. He made manifest His unconditional love through Jesus Christ, the only mediator between sinful man and a holy God.
I still remember lines from a sermon the late W.A. Criswell preached at First Baptist Dallas when I was a seminary student in the ’70s: “When a sinner becomes educated, he or she becomes an educated sinner; when a sinner becomes wealthy, then he or she becomes a wealthy sinner.” We are born as sinners and are on a one-way path to die as sinners if not for God’s intervention. His rescue plan was to send His Son to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice in place of us sinners.
The Bible has numerous accounts of salvation, a life made new through repentance and the forgiveness of sin. Once a sinner’s name is written in the Book of Life, it is a one-way track toward the end. As citizens of heaven, our longing is for our new home, and our lives eagerly await the return of our Savior.
The tragedy is that millions of people have yet to hear this Good News. Their lives continue toward the one-track way of destruction. So-called Christians continue to be derailed by worldliness and Satan’s temptations. We are to pray for worldwide missions and global revival. Let’s continue to preach the eternal message: One Way — Jesus!