The debate rages on over what it takes to obtain eternal life. With thousands of religions in the world claiming that theirs is the “only way to heaven”.
Upon a close examination of all religions, they have a few things in common.
1. They require you to do some type of work.
2. They require you to adhere to the rules of their organization.
3. Their leaders are all mortal human beings.
Only true Christianity is based not upon an organization but instead, on a person. Jesus claimed that He alone was the only way to heaven and that failure to receive Him as Lord and Savior meant a person would die in their sins.
1. Christianity is not based on anything you can do, but what Jesus has already done.
2. You cannot keep the law of God perfectly, no matter how hard you try. That is why you need a sinless Savior.
3. The leader of Christianity is Jesus, the Eternal Creator of all things.
If you asked most people about Jesus Christ they would tell you that they know who Jesus is. The problem is that knowing who Jesus is, is not enough to have eternal life.
A person can know intellectually many things about Jesus and even spend their whole life going to church, reading a Bible and studying the life of Jesus. None of these will give you eternal life.
Jesus said that on the day that He returns to earth and requires all men to give an account of their life to Him, this is what many will say to Him:
Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!“
“I never knew you…”
The Greek word for “know” here is Ginosko, “to have close and personal relationship with”, and “to know by experience”
Jesus said the key to heaven and finding eternal life is not whether you know Jesus, but does He know you. It is possible to know everything there is to know about Jesus but not know Him personally.
There is a moment in a person’s life where they make the transition from and intellectual knowledge of Jesus, to a heart felt belief. You can say with your mouth that you believe in Jesus, but you must also believe this in your heart in order for salvation to take effect.
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.“
The Lord knows the exact moment when you go from knowing about Him to actually knowing Him personally.
If you mentioned various names of people that I have met in my life, I could tell you that “I know them”. The truth is though that perhaps only one or two could I say that I have intimate knowledge of.
How does a person go from general knowledge about someone to an intimate knowledge? You would need to go through a few struggles in your life in which this person was a part of your trial.
Perhaps a member of your family became very sick and then eventually passed away. A true friend would be right by your side through the darkest moments of that loss. As a result of going through something that was so painful, you would have grown very close to a friend who was at your side through all the distress you felt.
When Job finished the trial that he went through with the Lord, he said something very interesting at the very end of the story:
Job 42:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.”
In other words, “Lord at the beginning of this terrible trial that I went through in which all of my children died, I lost everything materially that I had in this world, and the loss of my own health to the point of my death, I only knew about you from what I heard other people said. Now that the trail is over, I can see with my own eyes what you are really like.”
Therein is the key to eternal life:
To know Jesus through your own suffering and that He is so very close to you and remains close by your side through all the most difficult moment of your life. Paul wrote that the way that He came into the closest relationship with Jesus, was when he suffered:
Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…”
Yes a person can know about Jesus intellectually all of their life but never believe in their heart and make the relationship personal.
How far is Heaven? Not far really.
Just 18 inches, the distance from your head to your heart.
Rob Robinson
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