"He's Part of the Package"

John 8.30-57 selected verses HCSB (42a; 44a, d; 57-59a)

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me...  You are of your father the Devil,... he is a liar and the father of liars.”

The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “...Before Abraham was, I am.” 

At that, they picked up stones to throw at Him.

Do all paths lead to God? Will I get to heaven as long as I am a good person? Can I trust my heart to know the right thing to do? Is it enough that I am sincere in my beliefs? Was Jesus just another great spiritual leader like Mohammed, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa? No, no, no, no, and no. 

Jesus is often glamorized by those who do not know Him. They place Him on a pedestal with other enlightened and inspirational historical figures while disregarding His highly controversial statements that made Him hated by many of His generation.

• Jesus called “God his own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5.18), a comparison that infuriated the religious leaders of His day. 


• He boldly announced, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8.58) claiming His own pre-existence. 


• He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14.6), thus completely shredding the ‘all paths lead to God’ theory. 

According to Jesus, truly ‘spiritual’ people who know God, would also love Jesus.

“If God were your Father, you would love Me.”

Jesus claimed, “I and the Father are one” (John 10.30). Apparently, I cannot have God the Father without the God the Son. I can’t know God without Jesus. He’s part of the package.