Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
If you closely follow the statistics given in the Bible, you come to the conclusion that there are not going to be many who make it to heaven. I say this not as a matter of my own personal opinion, but as an observation of a direct statement by Jesus Christ. Jesus said concerning heaven, that “There are few who find it.” On the other hand, those who will miss heaven: ”broad is the way to destruction” and “there are many who will go in by it.”
If you don’t like it that there will not be many who make it to heaven, you can take it up with Jesus when you next see him. These are his words and it is for certain that if he said it, it is going to happen. Rather than fight against what Jesus said, I think that it would be wiser to just try and be one of those who make it in by the narrow way.
Many years ago a fellow wrote a book called “Your arms are too short to box with God”. When the creator makes a statement, it seems better to listen than to argue with him. The fact that he is God and we are not, means that he sets the boundaries, the rules, rewards for obedience and the penalties for disobedience. It matters very little whether we claim that we don’t believe in God, or agree with his rules, the fact is there is just one narrow way into heaven, His way. God is going to do whatever he pleases and he is not going to asks me or you if we like it or not.
If any person wants to make their own planet somewhere in their own universe, then they can set all the rules for how they want to live. Until that time, we would be wise to follow the directions given in the owners manual called “the Bible”. This is God’s universe and his planet, and he get’t to set the rules for how his creation must live.
The reason that Jesus described the way to heaven as “narrow”, is that God only made one door, one entrance into this eternal home. Jesus claimed that he was that only way to heaven.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus said that if we do not repent of our sins and turn to him for salvation, we will be lost forever:
John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Paul wrote to Timothy that there is only one way to heaven, through Jesus Christ:
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
Jesus proved that he was this single way to heaven by his claim that when he was crucified, he had the power to raise himself back to life again:
John 10:18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
God chose just one way to heaven for several reasons, a few of which are:
- Simplicity: One way is easier to understand than multiple ways.
- Necessity: No sinful human being could die for any other sinful person. Salvation can only come from a completely sinless individual, who’s life has eternal value, in order to qualify to be the Savior of all other men.
- Bragging Rights: God will not share his glory with anyone else. Because only he is Holy and the judge of all men, only he has the right to receive any glory for salvation. He will not allow any person to participate in their own salvation by doing something to which God is indebted to that person for their good works. Salvation comes only as a free gift from God, with only he receiving the credit for accomplishing it.
- To display His Glory: So that all creation throughout all the ages of eternity would know that God is truly righteous and just in that He has punished sin as he promised he would. In the death of Jesus Christ, God poured out his wrath on all sin for all time. In doing this, he displayed his righteous, by making salvation possible to a race of beings who had no hope of redemption on their own.
Despite how complex and difficult it was for Jesus to become a human being and to complete the work of dying for all of our sins, I do not think that it is really very hard for any person to be saved. When I examine the second thief on the cross, who was next to Jesus, I see something very interesting:
Luke 23:39-43 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
After witnessing Jesus on his cross, this criminal came to the conclusion that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the savior of the world. The thief simply said to Jesus: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus answered him and said: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
That’s it. No good work performed. No baptism in a certain prescribed way. No church affiliation. Just “today you will be with Me in Paradise.” This thief on the cross next to Jesus had so thoroughly messed up this life, that he was being put to death for his crimes. By a very simple expression of faith, Jesus assured this lost man that heaven was now his destination.
By this example, we can clearly see that heaven is very easy to obtain, if you believe that Jesus is the only way and accept this truth.
On the other hand, if you are highly educated and believe that only weak and misinformed people believe in God or a savior like Jesus Christ, your wisdom can keep you out of heaven. If you like your sin and the fun that you are having with it, and you do not want anyone to tell you how to live your life, you can miss heaven because of your unwillingness to turn from your sin, to Jesus Christ. If you feel you must work and earn your way to heaven, you will miss it because God will not allow any human being to take any credit for their salvation. He will however, give to you as a free gift, eternal life for you faith in Jesus Christ. If you can see the beauty and complexity of this massive universe and your own human body and still believe it all just “happened by chance” and maintain that “there is no God”, then you will be right, for you there will be no God. You will miss heaven and the dwelling place of God and live will all the others who don’t believe in God, in hell.
It is a historical fact that the Bible has come down through time, into our possession today. Through all the ages, the Bible has been unspoiled from it’s original writing. The Holy Spirit moved men to pen the words that He intended we know about God and what is required for salvation. Since God has the technology to created this amazing and complex universe, it is certain and reasonable that he has the technology and power to insure that what he wants man to know about him, has been preserved in written form. The Bible contains the plan by God, given to all men, for how they can have their sins put away and receive eternal life. That plan was, and always has been, through God’s only Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
It is a matter of history that Jesus was born and lived 33 1/2 years on the earth. He was completely sinless during this life. He healed the sick, raised the dead, opened the eyes of the blind, and made the deaf to hear. When they crucified Jesus, he rose from the dead on the third day, and was seen alive in bodily form by more than 500 eyewitnesses, over a 40 day period of time. Those eye witnesses who saw him, and heard what he said and did, recorded this testimony for us in the New Testament. The Old Testament contains more than 365 Predictions that are detailed and specific about how we can identify this Savior when he arrives. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the best documented events for the fulfillment of all these old testament prophecies, ever recorded in all of human history.
If you have this far, mistakenly rejected Jesus Christ and have lived all of your life without him, it is not too late for you today to receive him. Jesus said this as he was dying for you:
Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Heaven can either be extremely hard to find, or extremely easy to find, depending on your attitude and receptivity to what God has said. It would be a fatal and eternal error to miss heaven when God has made it so easy for you to obtain. Salvation is available to anyone as a free gift from God, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, for all sins. If at the end of this age, anyone should find themselves in hell and cut off from eternity with God, they will have no one to blame but their self. God has done everything that he could do to save us and make salvation easy and free.
Ephesians 2:1-9 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Rob Robinson
