We can believe that Jesus existed, the Bible is trustworthy, and Jesus is the risen Lord. But what makes him the only way to God, as he claimed (John 14:6)? Don't all religions lead up the same mountain to the same God? Why do we need to trust in Jesus to go to heaven?

Some say that objective truth does not exist, so the claim "Jesus is Lord" is merely personal and subjective. But if I say, "There is no such thing as absolute truth," haven't I made a claim to absolute truth? We don't accept relativism with regard to the historicity of the Holocaust, or our doctor's diagnosis, or the airplane mechanic's assurance that the plane is safe. Objective truth is an intellectual and practical necessity in life.

Others say that all religions teach the same truth. But Buddha taught that there is no "god," despite the fact that some of his followers now worship him. Hindus believe in thousands of territorial deities but no "Lord" of the universe; Brahman is the divine force which sustains the universe, not a personal God to be worshiped. Muslims believe that Allah (the Arabic word for God) is the one supreme ruler of the universe. Jews believe that Yahweh revealed himself through the Laws and Prophets of their Scriptures, that Jesus was not the Messiah, and that the New Testament is not the word of God. And Christians say that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

If any one of these religions is right, the others by definition are wrong. None believes that other religions are equally correct or divinely inspired. The scriptures which the various world religions trust do not describe different paths up the same mountain, but very different mountains.

And no other faith rests on historical evidence as compelling as that which exists for Christianity. No other religious leader was raised from the dead; no other ancient religious book possesses the kind of manuscript, archaeological, and prophetic evidence which the Bible can claim. If Jesus is alive, then he is Lord and God. And we can trust him to be our Lord and our God.