Jesus Christ is the Only Means of Salvation

MAIN TEXT: JOHN 3:14-16

HIGHLIGHT VERSE: JOHN 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)

TOPIC POINTS:

Jesus Christ, Lifted Up – John 3:14
For Those Who Believe – John 3:15
To Have Eternal Life – John 3:16

INTRODUCTION:

The way of salvation is a one-way road with no alternative or shortcuts. Jesus Christ is not one way among many but the only way to God and eternal life. His death is not one of the means of salvation among many but the only means.

Many things in life are usually obtained in a plethora of means. We will be mistaken to consider salvation as one of those things. The death of Jesus is the only escape from death, His life is the only way to life.

JESUS CHRIST, LIFTED UP

– JOHN 3:14, 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21, JOHN 12:32-33

When the people of Israel rebelled by murmuring against God and His servant Moses, God sent venomous snakes to bite and kill them. When the people repented, God commanded Moses to cast a bronze snake and put it up on a pole so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and live.

This event that happened centuries before Jesus was born was a testimony of what He was to be for mankind. That Jesus was not sent to condemn us as we deserve but to be lifted up so that we can look to him and be saved.

He was not only lifted up in His crucifixion but also lifted up in his ascension after conquering death to the right hand of the Majesty. This separates Him from every false messiah people look to.

FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE

– JOHN 3:15, ROMANS 8:32, JOHN 1:29

Jesus is our sin offering, He was sacrificed on our behalf to bear our sin and guilt. Unlike the Old Covenant that was limited to the nation Israel, this Lamb is a sin offering for all people, Jew and Gentile. This atonement covers you irrespective of your ethnicity, class, age, gender, etc and is able to efficaciously and permanently take away your sin.

The offering of Christ is a complete package, it not only saves from death but secures true life for all of God’s people. Everything we need for godly living is found in Christ alone. Since God did not spare Him but gave Him up freely, He will, along with Christ, also freely give us everything – no if, no buts.

TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

– JOHN 3:16, JOHN 5:24, ACTS 16:30-31

Jesus was given by the Father to save humanity. God could have sent Jesus to judge and condemn the world as is well within His rights to do so. But because of the great love by which He loved us, He sent Jesus to redeem us so that in believing in Him, we pass from death to life.

We are saved by grace, through faith – that is, by believing. It does no good to admire Jesus or his teaching and miracles from afar, you must place your trust in Him. For those who believe, they are kept from eternal death, freed from sin and hell. They receive eternal life, the quality of life that comes from God.

CONCLUSION:

Just as a bitten Israelite in the hot desert had to look away from everything else and look up at the bronze snake with belief, we too must turn and look to Jesus for life. When we do, we receive a new life that starts here and now into eternity.

Just as it would be futile for that Israelite to try any home remedy apart from what God has provided, we would be foolish to think there is a way to salvation that can surpass the very life of God’s Son. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Give a summary of our main text
Recite our highlight verse
Jesus is not the only way to God, true or false?
Mention 3 means of salvation apart from Jesus
What was the event behind the bronze snake?
How is it a testimony to Jesus?
What does it mean that Jesus was made sin on our behalf?
What differentiates Jesus from the lambs of the Old Covenant?
The offering of Jesus is based on our good works, true or false?
Is it enough to admire Jesus without placing trust in Him?
Name 5 ways an Israelite bitten by the snake could escape death
Mention 2 other religions that one can join to be saved