“Jesus would not have had to die on the Cross if another salvation plan could have been achieved.” — alisa hope wagner
Why is Jesus the only way to God? Can’t we be good enough, nice enough, wise enough or spiritual enough to get to God on our own? In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in the presence of God. They were perfect in every way because they had not yet used their free will to decide for themselves. Along with the abundance God provided them, He also planted two essential trees in the Garden. These two trees are the foundation for life that incorporates both God’s love and His perfection. God cannot create anything that is not perfect and not loved.
The Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil established free will. This tree gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose the things of God and to choose the things not of God, that which God loves and that which He does not love. Without this tree, we would not have the free will necessary to be God’s sons and daughters created in the true image of an independent, creative God. Free will is the basis of human life to be independent and imaginative. Without it, we are merely robots unable to rise above our programming.
God gave us the Tree of Knowledge because He loves us. He wants us to choose to love Him and to be part of His family. He desires imaginative, free-thinking children who create beauty in His creation. However, God knew that we would fall short of His Holy perfection. Like all children, we would disobey and step outside of what God loves. As we eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we expose ourselves to more and more of things that are not of God, things that are imperfect and unloveable according to His holy standard. When we eat of these things, corruption seeps into our world, our lives, our minds and our hearts.
For this reason, God planted the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life represents Jesus and His Finished Work on the Cross. Since God is love but cannot love anything less than perfect, He decided to come into our earth through the person of Jesus, put on flesh, live the perfect life and die on the cross to redeem the world corrupted by everything done outside of His love and perfection. Jesus took our sins on Himself and gave us His perfection. Through the cross, God can now embrace us with both His love and His perfection.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our free will actions done outside of God’s will are instantly wiped clean. They are no longer there to corrupt our world and our lives. Through the lens of Jesus Christ, we are perfect and holy to God. Now we can have a relationship with God on earth. And when our bodies die, that relationship continues and we are in heaven. If we don’t have this Great Exchange of our sins for Jesus’ perfection, we cannot have a relationship with God. When our bodies die, that lack of relationship continues and we are in hell. To say it simply: Heaven is the presence of God and Hell is the absence of God. We cannot have God’s Presence without the Tree of Life, Jesus.
Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can now have the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit within us. God is Three Persons in One or what we call the Trinity. He is God the Creator, Jesus the Savior and God the Counselor. Or we can say He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He is the same God who interacts with His loved ones in three unique ways.
God created the world, and He designed each of us with purpose. Jesus saved us, and He prays for us always. The Holy Spirit guides us, and He helps bring God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. God created all six days to be good and pleasing. He gave us free will knowing we would corrupt His perfect creation. However, He rested on the seventh day knowing that Jesus would be Lord over the Sabbath. The seventh day is when Jesus’ Finished Work on the Cross restored all six days that were once pleasing to God. Now because both God’s love and His perfection are united, we can have God’s Spirit with us on earth and in heaven.
In the Garden of Eden, there were two trees. The Tree of Knowledge allowed us to fall from God’s perfect standard. And the Tree of Life allowed us to rise into God’s perfect standard. The Tree of Knowledge is our way out of God’s will. The Tree of Life is our way back into God’s will. There was only one way out, and there is only one way back in. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the sins of the world on His shoulders. Jesus became sin, so we could be loved by a Holy God. On the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus was forsaken by God, so we could be called God’s sons and daughters. Jesus allowed Himself to be separated from God for a time, so we could be united with God forever. Jesus took our hell (the absence of God), so we could have His heaven (the presence of God). Only someone perfect can offer perfection. Only Jesus has lived a sinless life. Through Jesus Christ, God’s perfection and love are now ours. We cannot achieve this on our own. This is the divine gift of God and it is freely yours if you accept it. Jesus is the redeemer of our free will. He is our only way to God.
If you want to be loved by God and perfected in His sight, please pray this prayer.
“Dear Jesus, I realize that my sin separates me from God. I have made many mistakes and have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Please give me the Tree of Life, so I can have a relationship with a holy God. I want I know that when I die, my relationship with God through the Finished Work of Jesus Christ will continue. I want to be with God forever in heaven. Thank You, God, for giving me free will. Starting today, I desire to use it to create that which You love and pleases You. Thank You, Jesus, for dying to redeem my mistakes done with my free will. I pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me, so I can hear God’s voice and listen to His leading. Thank You, Jesus, for being the way to God. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Be Blessed, Loved Ones
Listen to Podcast for this meditation.
The infinite way