Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and will go out and will find pasture.“

John 10:7,9

There is one important, unavoidable truth when it comes to who Jesus is. He is the ONLY WAY to get to Adonai. He is the Way we get in. Period. There is NO OTHER PATH to Adonai. No matter what you think. No matter what you’ve been trained to believe. It’s all lies. Only Jesus. Period. We can’t earn our way in. We can’t force our way in. We can’t get in by following anyone else. Nothing and no one in existence can get you to Adonai except Jesus. He IS the ONLY door that exists. There are NO windows.

Some people get offended by that. They feel that if they are a good person, they should be let into Heaven. That if Adonai really was loving, He would let everyone in. Well, I heard a great example. Find the best, most expensive, and most luxurious home in your country. Then travel there, knock on the door, and let them know that you’ll be living there from now on. And that it’s all right because you’re a good person. What are the chances that you will have that home as your new address? None. Because whether you are a good person or not doesn’t matter. Who you are doesn’t matter at all. What you have doesn’t matter. They have NO relationship with you. Why would they let you in? Heaven is Adonai’s HOME. He is under NO OBLIGATION to let ANYONE in that He doesn’t want to. And why would He want to if you can’t be bothered to even get to know Him? Who wants a stranger to live in their home?

Other people get offended because they think that their religious books and teachings are just as good as anyone else’s. That we don’t really know until we’re dead anyway. That they have beliefs just as strong as anyone. Who am I (or anyone else) to say that Jesus is the ONLY way to Adonai? I heard another good example. Two, actually. First, imagine you are in a big city looking for directions to a specific place. One person tells you it’s down this way. One person tells you it’s over another way. A third person heard it’s just a few blocks over. And then a fourth person says to head down a specific street, leave the city, cross a bridge, and go until you see the sign – it will be on your left. The others mock this fourth person. Tell you they’re crazy. So you ask the person how they are so sure. And the fourth person says that they know because they live there. They know the way to their home. The second example I heard recently was that I am going to invite you to a BBQ. I give you directions to my house. But you don’t like them, so you drive a different way in different directions. No matter what you do, if you don’t follow my directions when you leave your house you aren’t going to arrive at my house. I’m not being mean, I’m telling you the truth. In the same way as these examples, Jesus KNOWS where He lives. He KNOWS the Way to His home. He’s telling us the Way.

Jesus is the door, but He isn’t a secret door. He isn’t a hidden door. Adonai has wanted people to get back into proper relationship with Him since they chose to rebel. Adonai KNEW the ONLY Way that it could be accomplished. He knew it before anything got created (Revelation 13:8). Jesus volunteered to be the price for us before we existed. Jesus spiritually submitted to being the door, to becoming the Way before the Father spoke a single word about light. Jesus asked in the garden of Gethsemane for the Father to take ANY OTHER WAY to accomplish salvation without Jesus going to the cross. There was NONE. Adonai NEVER lies and CANNOT lie because He IS Truth. His Word could NOT be upheld if there was even a SHADOW of dishonesty in Him. His Word upholds creation, so we KNOW that He is truth because otherwise everything would cease to exist. Which means He was telling the simple and honest truth that He is the ONLY Way.

The door is right there. In plain view. Adonai has been talking about it and giving us pictures about it and explaining the need for it since the beginning of human history. Adonai has held back punishments, let things go on as long as He possibly could, and never stopped striving to get us to see the truth. “This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time,” (1 Timothy 2:3-6). It is OUR responsibility to hear the truth, see the truth, accept the truth, and submit to the truth. If we do, we WILL be saved. We WILL be able to start having a real relationship with Adonai. And THAT is eternal life. Anything else, anything less, is NOT relationship with Adonai. Anything else and anything less than Jesus is the WRONG directions to His house. You will NOT get in. Jesus is the door. The ONLY door. That is the objective, honest, and total truth.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 2 Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” Adonai DESPERATELY wants us to believe what He says is true and to accept it. But He will NOT force you. He could have stopped everything in its tracks right at the moment of rebellion, forced them into compliance, and done away with Sin. But then He would have had robots. Little AI mannequins running around pretending to be something they were not. Claiming to have something they did not have. Trust cannot be established outside of some kind of relationship. To trust someone or something, you need to have knowledge of it that isn’t superficial. We only trust what we know. Anything we don’t know we might take a chance on, but we don’t truly trust it. We don’t even really take other people’s word for it and most of the time do not trust until we have tested it for ourselves. THAT is why we have had so much human history. THAT is why Jesus couldn’t come to Abraham and die. THAT is why Jesus can’t come back yet. He has been the Suffering Servant (Messiah ben Joseph), but He can’t be the Conquering King (Messiah ben David) until EVERYONE has had the chance to hear the truth about Him and decide whether or not they are going to believe in Him. Adonai is waiting until EVERYONE has had the chance to get back into relationship with Him. He wants ALL people to be saved. EVERYONE needs the chance to have eternal life (which is a relationship with Him – John 17:3). No matter how much we care about each other. No matter how badly we want those we love to be saved – and everyone else we come across – Adonai will ALWAYS want a relationship with them so much more. He loves us SO MUCH. He’s giving every single one of us more than one chance to come and meet with Him. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8