922 Ministries - The CORE & St. Peter Lutheran

Well, good morning, everybody. Today we wrap up our sermon series called objections to Jesus. A lot of people have been saying how very helpful this is. Maybe you yourself struggle with some skepticism, or maybe you know somebody that does. And over these three weeks, we've been taking a look at God's answers to these very difficult questions that are sometimes posed to, to christians.

So if you missed any of these series of these messages, be sure to go to our YouTube channels. Just on YouTube, go to 922 ministries, the core. Just search for that. You'll find our channel and you can watch these again. And please feel free to forward them.

This is often a non confrontational way to share Jesus with your friends. Maybe they don't have to take the big step of actually coming to a church, but if they could watch that video, that might start to introduce them to Jesus. Be sure to use them that way as well. So today we cover the last of this topic, an objection to Jesus that I'll word like this. The objection is about exclusivity, the exclusivity of the christian faith.

Why is there only one path? Because that's what you Christians claim, right? There's only one path of salvation. And what about those who haven't or can't hear about Jesus? What about them?

Those are the questions we're going to be trying to answer today. So in other words, Christians claim that Christ is the one path, he is the only way, and there is no other way. And that can be a challenging thing for people to believe. In fact, in our world, in our culture today, that is extraordinarily inclusive. To say that Jesus is the only way of salvation is something that is viewed as, as narrow minded and judgmental and very unloving.

And I just don't think God could be like that. That's a common objection that we often hear. So people will often say, there are lots of good people in this world, and many of them aren't Christians. There are good Muslims. There are good hindu people.

I even know a good atheist or two. There are other good people in this world. So shouldn't they get to go to heaven, too? Now I understand why this is such an objection and why this is such a challenge. When you look at the population of the world, 8.1 billion as of right now.

And of those, roughly a third would say that they are Christians. And of those that say they're Christians, how many of them are just saying it because they grew up with it, but they don't actually believe it? All those billions of people that wouldn't be going to heaven. Yeah, I can see why this is a challenging objection, and I bet you can, too. But the thing that makes this especially challenging is that for I bet almost everybody here, this is very personal.

So let me just see a show of hands. If you know somebody that is maybe not an active Christian, but they kind of seem to you like a halfway decent person, could you raise your hand just about everybody? Yep. So this is probably something that you have struggled with, too. This isn't just for the skeptic non Christian.

This is for Christians, too. How do we address the exclusivity of the christian faith? A couple weeks ago, I was at a conference and talked to a fellow pastor there, and in a presentation he gave, he talked about how he actually had this struggle with when he was in Bible college. In fact, he was struggling so much with this question, he wrote a letter to his grandfather, who happened to be a professor at a theological seminary. And here is the gist of what he said in that letter to his grandfather.

So scripture says that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. And then his question was, so what about Native Americans who apparently had no possible way to have heard about Jesus for at least 1600 years or so, and for many of them long after that even, how could they have possibly heard the name of Jesus Christ? I have a hard time sleeping with these questions in mind, and I hope to find answers soon, for I fear the devil could easily use these to weaken my faith. That was what a current pastor wrote to his grandfather when he was in Bible college. So if you struggle with this question, you are not alone.

And this is maybe one of the most challenging ones we've tried to address over these three weeks. But we'll try to look at what God says about this and find his answers to this difficult question. So what is the common objection when they hear the christian faith has just one path and it's through Jesus? The response to that, the objection, the thing that is in most people's minds is this, all good people should go to heaven. Right?

Isn't that kind of, what's the thinking behind that? Not just christians or good christians, but all good people should go to heaven. To which my reply to that is agreed. You weren't expecting that, were you? In fact, I would say that even God says that, that all good people do go to heaven.

That's actually a scriptural principle. Now what we have to wrestle with is, so what does good mean? And how good is good enough to be able to go to heaven. That's really important for us to know, isn't it? So if you would imagine there's a line in the center of the stage here, everyone on this side of the line would go to hell and everybody on this side of the line would go to heaven.

Who belongs on which side? Right? So if you go to the extremes, people usually are in more agreement about that. Hitler, which side?

He's absolutely, he's over here. Right? I try to think of the very best person people think of maybe Mother Teresa. Like, oh, without question. Yep, we put Mother Teresa over here.

And a lot of people in this world would say Gandhi, not a Christian, but obviously he belongs on this side. He was a good person. But we're already starting to feel like, yeah, but what is the criteria? Which side would I be on? What side would you be on?

And we all think, well, I'd like to think I'm on this side. I mean, I'm not a bad person. Am I perfect? Hey, nobody's perfect. But, yeah, I've got to think I'm on the side of the going to heaven part.

But do you see what's happening? The problem here? Uncertainty. If being good is what gets you to heaven, you will never know if you're going to heaven or not. Are you on this side?

Are you on that side? Are you on the fence? Does it just take one more good thing and then you'll be good and you'll go to heaven? What does good mean? And how can we be sure that we are going to heaven?

Well, if we're going to answer that question, don't we have to ask the one to whom heaven belongs? Don't we have to ask God? God, what does it take to be in your eternal presence? I want to be with you in heaven forever. What does that look like?

And fortunately for us, God tells us, do I make the cut? Am I good enough? And God has a very clear answer to that question. Here's what he says. Romans 323, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Any questions? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You fall short of getting God's praise, God's approval. You fall short of being able to be in his glory and in his presence, and so do I. All have sinned. All fall short. Jesus himself said it this way.

This is Jesus speaking, mind you. And he says in Matthew, chapter five, be perfect. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. I wish he hadn't finished the sentence there, because if he just said, be perfect. Like what?

Like as perfect as my brother. I can do that. As perfect as my next door neighbor, maybe? Yeah, I think so. But he says, be perfect.

Not as them. Be as perfect as him. Be as perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. So all have sin. What does that mean?

Well, sin means missing the mark of God's perfection. God says, hit a bullseye every time of perfection in your actions, in what you do, in your actions, in not doing what you're not supposed to, but also doing what you are supposed to, in your words, everything that you speak, in your thoughts, in the attitudes of your heart. Always be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. But all have sinned. And here's why sin is such a problem.

All sin is anti love, and all sin is anti God. So all sin that we commit is the opposite of what God wants. It's the opposite of love. Sin always hurts. Sin always deceives.

Sin always destroys. And it's even the small stuff that God knows and that God cares about. So I tried to think of the most innocent example of sin. Okay, say you're driving to church this morning, and you get behind somebody driving too slowly. Get the Sunday driver, and you start to feel that anger welling up inside.

You're stuck behind them. You can't get around them. Why are they driving so slow? And for three minutes, three whole minutes, you're stuck behind them. And finally the road opens up into two lanes and you're able to pass them.

And before you do, you're quick to get the scowl off your face. And you just keep your eyes straight ahead, and you just pass them and you keep going. You didn't hurt anybody. Nobody else in the world knew what was in your heart, but God knew that what was in your heart was anti love. Instead of doing what God wanted, putting the best construction on this situation, being patient, understanding this person might be a brand new driver.

And that's as fast as they can safely drive. Thank God they're not going faster. You didn't think that you got anger in your heart. That was anti love, and that was already falling short of the perfection that God requires. And not only is sin anti love, it therefore is, by default, also anti God, because God is love.

So if you are against love, you're also against God. Every sin that we commit is telling God, the creator of the universe. You're not the boss of me. I will do what I want, when I want, how I want. You don't get to call the shots here, God.

I do. Do you hear how that sounds? Can you imagine how God receives that? That is not perfection. That is called sin.

And all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. Every sin is our attempt to overthrow the reign, the rule of the only rightful king of the universe, God. And that is an enormous problem. And Hebrews chapter twelve tells us just how big of a problem this is. Without holiness, no one will see God.

That's what the Bible tells us. Without holiness, no one will see God. Because of your sin. Because of my sin, no one deserves to be in God's presence. Okay, so we just solved the exclusivity problem, right?

To be in heaven, you must be holy. God will not lower his standard. He can't. And I would even suggest you don't want him to. Let me explain why.

So imagine that God goes with our human way of thinking, and he says, okay, we're gonna go 50 50. That's pretty generous, right? The 50% best people will go to heaven, and the 50% worst people are not going to go to heaven. You don't know where you fall, but that's besides the point. But imagine that you are among the 50% that find yourself in heaven one day.

You're like, yes, I made it. But you find out that because the requirement was no longer perfection, heaven wasn't what you thought it would be. You find out that good news because God took the best 50% crime compared to earth, crime is down 90%.

But there's still crime because there's still imperfect people there. You're still gonna get stolen from every now and then. There's hardly any murder in heaven, just occasionally, no. You wouldn't go for that, would you? Something inside of you right now just said, no.

Pastor Michael, that's not right. You're not describing heaven. Isn't there something inside of us that just knows and yearns for perfect love, perfect beauty, being in the perfect presence of God, where people love on us perfectly all the time and we on them. We can imagine it. And can you imagine getting there and finding out?

God lowered his standard? And it's not that we wouldn't even want that, would we? So God says, no, only perfect people get into my eternal presence. And a part of us says, thank goodness. Except now nobody gets to go to heaven.

Everyone is excluded. So we'll see you next week for our new series when.

Well, that would be a depressing ending to a sermon, wouldn't it? Aren't you grateful that God says more than this? He doesn't say less than this. What I just told you is all scriptural, and we have to take this to heart because it is all true. But he also says more than this.

Now there's an important note that didn't make it into the bulletin. Somehow it got omitted. I missed it. So you might have to hand write this one in, just before it says Romans chapter three. There should be one more line there.

It says, so God found a way to make people perfect. If that's not in there, please write it. So God found a way to make people perfect. And I want to share that way with just one part of scripture, although we could use dozens. And I just want to share with you what's in Romans chapter three, starting at verse 21, it says this, but now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify.

Now, let me just pause to unpack this a little bit. Apart from the law, that means apart from God's rules, apart from God's requirements, apart from your doing and striving and trying, apart from that way, which we kind of inherently know we should be perfect in trying and striving and obeying the will and the law of God. But apart from that way, there's a righteousness of God that has been made known. There's a way that God makes people righteous. What is righteous, by the way?

Righteousness means to be in a right standing with God, that when God looks at you, he would say, you are what I'm looking for. Yes, you have a right standing with me. There is a righteousness, a right standing with God that God has made known, to which the law and prophets testify. That's just the way they used to say. The Old Testament, even the Old Testament talks about this other way that we can be in a right standing with God besides the way, based on what we do.

This righteousness, this right standing with God, is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Okay, so there's the working way, and there's the way you receive as a gift by simply relying upon Jesus. That's the other way. That's the way God devised to give us the perfection and the holiness that he requires. Then he says this.

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, to which we don't really fully grasp that because we're not in that culture. But back then, it was God's chosen people, the Jews, and there was everybody else. They were called gentiles. And now Paul drops this bomb and he says, if you are God's chosen people, a jewish person or a gentile, one of those heathens. It doesn't matter.

There is no difference at all between those two groups. For this is the verse we looked at earlier. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And I'm so glad it doesn't stop there. And all are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

There are some big words in there. What is this saying? All are justified. Justified means to be declared not guilty and to have God's approval. All are justified freely.

That means it's for all. You don't pay anything for it. It's costly. Because we're going to find out how Jesus died for it. But it's free to you.

You are declared not guilty before God. You are clean and pure, holy in his sight. This happens freely. Why? By his grace.

That's the opposite of you doing it. God did it. His undeserved loving kindness was at work for you. To declare you not guilty, to declare to you you have a right standing with God. How well this happened.

This comes to you through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. The redemption, the ransom price that Jesus paid. Well, what was the ransom price he paid to set you free? To pay the price for all of your sins? Well, it was the cross.

Jesus went there to pay your penalty in full. The anger and the wrath of God should come down on you. It should come down on me because we have not been perfect. We have committed treason against the ruler of the universe with every sin we committed. And instead of his wrath coming on us, his wrath comes on Jesus and we are declared not guilty.

Then, verse 25. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith. A sacrifice of atonement. That's wording we don't hear these days. But it means that Jesus gave a sacrifice that satisfies God.

Jesus gave a sacrifice where God can say their sin has been paid in full. We are reconciled, we are good, you are righteous, you have a right standing with me. God says, because Jesus paid the necessary price already, and he paid it in full through the shedding of his blood. Again, costly, the most precious substance ever. The holy blood of Jesus had to get poured out for you because you are that valuable to God.

And all of this is received by you by faith. Somebody wants to describe faith like this. Faith is the hand that receives. Thank you, God. This is for me.

And what's a lack of faith? It's this, not me. Don't need it. No, thank you. Okay, that's a lack of faith.

But it is received by faith, the hand that receives. So your sin and guilt should exclude you from the presence of God. But because of the sacrifice of Jesus that you receive by faith, you are included in the kingdom of God, and so is everyone that believes in Jesus. When you stand before God, in Christ, with Christ, with Christ around you and in you and you in him, your father says, oh, you're beautiful, you're perfect. You're exactly what I'm looking for.

You are righteous. You have a right standing with me. Yes, you are ready for my kingdom. You belong here in this perfect place, and you're not going to ruin it because you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. So is Jesus exclusive?

Absolutely. And I'll say that unapologetically. There is no other son of God. What else could God have done? He gave his very best.

The one and only son of God came and lived among us. He was perfect, blameless and true. True God and true man, holy and precious. Exactly what God was looking for, then sacrificed himself on the cross, paid for your debt of sin in full so that you are forgiven and redeemed. And that one and only son of God, the only one who paid your sin debt, he is the way.

He is the truth. He is the life. He is the only one.

It's exclusive. It has to be. There's just no other way. Right. But even though the way of salvation is exclusive, it's found only in Jesus.

At the same time, it's all inclusive. And what I mean by that is, it's for everybody. God's way is open to everyone. It's open to everyone. There's a passage that says God wants all people to be saved.

Not some people, not the best people, the good people, all people. He wants them all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, the truth that I just shared with you. For God so loved the good people of the world that. Well, it doesn't say that. For God so loved the christians of the world that.

No, it doesn't say that either. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him, the hand of faith will have eternal life. God wants and invites all people to turn from sin, to turn to God, to turn to Jesus and have the full and free forgiveness that he offers at the cross.

So that answers that one question. Why one path? What other path could there be? It's the only payment for sin that could happen. So there is the one path, but it's open to everyone.

But that leaves us with a second question. This one's a little bit more challenging, and that is okay, I see that there has to be one path. But, Pastor Michael, what about all the people who can't hear, who haven't heard, who will never hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? I've got three points, and I'll be honest. Right now, this might not be a fully satisfactory answer, but I can't say more or less than what scripture says.

So let's take a look at it. First of all, keep this in mind that anybody perishes, that anybody doesn't go to heaven, God is not to blame for that. We are. Humans are. Okay?

So if you would trace back anybody's heritage, anybody on the planet trace back their heritage, generation after generation after generation, you will reach a point where there was a believer in the family. Okay, why do I say that so confidently? Because we are all children of Adam and Eve. And then at the time of the flood, everybody was killed except for the family of Noah, a family of faith. And we are all children of Noah and his family.

So at some point, somewhere, somebody decided they didn't need to talk about Jesus anymore. They rejected him or the promise of the messiah, and they didn't pass it on to the next generation. And then that generation probably wouldn't have passed it on to the next. And sometimes an entire culture forms from that, of people that don't know Jesus, but God didn't cause that. And if your heart breaks for them, please know that God's does, too.

He's sad about that situation, just like you are. But we can't blame God for it. Second thing, God does give evidence of himself to everybody on the planet. So sometimes we call this the natural knowledge of God, that anybody, anywhere, doesn't matter what your culture is or where or when you live. You can look out at nature, look at the cosmos, and the incredible, incredible universe around us.

Look at the beauty and complexity of life and the interdependency of life and the complexity of it all, and the perfect conditions that enable all of this to be there. And you have to rationally reach the conclusion, there's a God, and I need to find him. And everybody's got a conscience. And that conscience says, I'm accountable, and I haven't been perfect. And it doesn't matter if you're muslim or a Native American or.

Or a german anglo saxon person. Your conscience says, I haven't been perfect, and I am accountable for it. I need to seek God, I need to find him. So in acts chapter 17, it says exactly that. These invisible qualities of God that I just told you about, they are evidenced to all people, so that all would seek God and perhaps reach out for him.

This is a quote from acts 17, and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. So ultimately, nobody has an excuse is what that passage teaches us. Okay? And then there's a third reason or a third argument for this, and it's this. God does reveal himself, and God wants people to know him, right?

Those are truth. That's just true. God has revealed himself to us through his word, and he has told us if we want to reveal God to others who don't know Jesus, the tools we have to use are the word of God in the sacraments, baptism, and holy communion. Those are the tools that God gave us to tell people about Jesus, to connect people to him. Those are the tools we must use.

Now the question is, does God bind himself to those tools? Does God have to use just those things? I do, and that's how he's promised me that he will work. But could God do something different if God so chooses? Well, he's God, right?

I think we can let him do that. So here's an interesting thing. Somebody did an interview of 750 former Muslims who converted to Christianity. 750 of them. And they asked them, what was instrumental in your conversion to Christianity?

And 27% of them said, a dream or a vision was very instrumental in me converting to Christianity. And other studies have actually shown a very similar percentage. In other words, a Muslim who was in a muslim country, who was cut off from other Christians or the Bible or the christian faith, they may have gotten a vision of Jesus, holy and perfect and true and full of love. And when they woke up from that dream or had that vision, they said, I gotta find out about him. Who is this Jesus?

So can God reveal himself in other ways if God so chooses? Yes. But let's stick with what we know. God has promised that he has revealed himself in his word, and God has given to us the responsibility of sharing that word. So remember that pastor when he was in Bible college, who was troubled by this very question, who lost sleep at night because of the Native Americans, who never could have possibly heard about Jesus?

Well, maybe they could have somehow. But what the seminary professor grandfather answered him is something that has stuck with him for the rest of his life and something that gives him peace about this question, and maybe it'll give you a measure of peace as well. His answer was very short, very simple. He simply said this. Where you can't see God's hand, trust his heart.

Where you can't see God's hand. In other words, God isn't doing what you would expect. I don't see God working here. I don't understand how God could work in such a circumstance. Okay, where you can't see God's hand, what should you do?

Trust his heart. What do you know about God? What is true of God? Well, if you want to know the heart of God, just look at his son, because he is the full revelation of God in human flesh. And what you see is power and holiness and justice.

But if you look at Jesus, you're going to see compassion and love and sacrifice and forgiveness, all of your sins. That is the heart of God for all in the world who are lost. So even if you can't fully figure it out, how God is at work, you don't need to. If you can't see his hand, be sure to trust God's heart. And since we do trust God's heart, we got to get busy, don't we?

We've got some urgent work to do. Because the God who loves us more than we can possibly imagine has said, go, you guys. Go and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing and teaching is what he said. Using his word, using the sacraments.

We gotta get out there because we know people who don't know Jesus. The only way, the only truth, the only life. Cause the truth is God really wants to include them two. Trust the heart of God.