If you knew an easier, less time-consuming, and cheaper way of accomplishing a task, would you choose to accomplish it more difficultly and painfully? I ask this question to get you to ponder this: if there were other ways to remedy sin to God’s satisfaction, do you think He would have given His Son as a substitute for us? Would Jesus have willingly gone through all that agony? The answer to both questions is 'No!' Jesus made it clear when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).
I’m convinced that if there were other ways we
could get to God, Jesus would not have died such a cruel death. And we are
reminded in the Scriptures, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given
no other name under heaven by which we might be saved” (Acts 4:12). So, if you
choose to not go to God through Jesus, you’ve elected to go to hell at the end
of this life. God doesn’t force His love on anyone. He tells us what is good
for us and why, and admonishes us to go with His recommendation. But He leaves
the choice to us and makes it clear what the consequences of our choice will
be.
You might
think that obeying the ten commandments (the law) makes you acceptable to God.
If you are honest, you will admit that you don’t always keep the commandments
perfectly 100% of the time. Nobody has ever been able to do that. which is the
reason you need Jesus. He’s the only one who pleases God completely and
therefore qualifies to purchase our freedom, so God can adopt us. Before Jesus
came, the Israelites were commanded to obey the law and live, but they
couldn’t. And the Scriptures tell us, “The law was our guardian until Christ
came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And
now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian”
(Galatians 3:24-25). Simply put, obeying the law will not make you right with
God.
Also, God
gets to make the rules, not you or I. We only get to obey or disobey Him.
Whichever we choose to do has an associated ramification: obey and live or
disobey and die. But why would you choose to die and miss all the beauty and
glory of God and heaven? Understand that dying doesn’t mean a non-existent
life: it means pain and suffering that never ends. Think about it! If you’d
like to avoid that kind of death, then follow God's direction, because nothing
else will do.
Let’s assume
that you accidentally dropped your keys in a sewer. Would you choose to
retrieve them by jumping into a dirty sewer and getting hurt and who knows what
else, if you could get a new set made for a minimal cost? I would choose to get
a new set made, but that’s just me. By the same token, Jesus wouldn’t have died
if there had been a better or easier way to save mankind from sin and hell.
Jesus' death was necessary; it is the only way!
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