Jesus is the Way to Heaven

This free Bible lesson, The Way, The Truth, The Life, will teach preschool and elementary students about the lesson Jesus taught His disciples (and us) at the Last Supper when He said that He is the only way to Heaven.

FOCUS BIBLE PASSAGE: John 14:1-14

This lesson comes from the Seeds of Truth Elementary Bible Curriculum that is free to anyone looking for ideas to "plant seeds" into the hearts of children as they are learning about Jesus. Find more details HERE.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Seeds of Truth podcast, where seeds of biblical truth are planted into the hearts and minds of listeners so they can grow into a relationship with Jesus. I'm your host, Miss Dana. Thank you for joining me today. Let's get started. Welcome back, friends. Today we are going to talk about how to get to heaven. Heaven is a place where God lives, where Jesus lives. This is a place that is full of perfection and happiness and joy. And it's definitely a place that I want to live forever. So we're going to talk about how to get to heaven. How many ways do you think there are to get to heaven? Think about that. Do you think that there are many ways? Or only one way? So Jesus taught his disciples while he lived on the earth about how to get to heaven. Since his words were written down and recorded in the Bible, that means he taught us how to get to heaven. We can find Jesus' teaching in the Gospel book of John. The Gospel book of John is in the New Testament. Remember, the Gospel books teach us about the life and ministry of Jesus. So Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. The Passover celebration is when the Israelites celebrate the time that God saved them from the last plague in Egypt, way back in the time of Moses. Remember, at that time, some people believed that Jesus was the Savior that God promised to send, but some people did not believe. In fact, the religious leaders, most of them, did not believe in Jesus. They were afraid that he was teaching the people incorrectly, and they thought that he was causing problems. So the religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus doing something, anything wrong, so they could arrest him. John, the disciple who wrote the book of John, records in chapter 14 the true story of an amazing truth that Jesus taught as he was meeting with his disciples at the Last Supper, just a little before he was arrested. So Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover by eating a meal together. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, but since the Bible was written for everyone, the lesson he taught that night is also for us. The disciples were worried about what was going to happen to Jesus, so he comforted them with his words. The Bible records Jesus' words in John chapter 14, starting in verse 1. Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe in me also. There are many rooms in my father's house. If this were not true, would I have told you that I am going there? Would I have told you that I would prepare a place for you there? If I go and do that, I will come back and I will take you to be with me. Then you will also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Now the disciples were probably confused because they because Jesus said that he was going away, but they didn't really understand where he was going. You and I know from reading the Bible that Jesus was talking about how he was going away to heaven. So Thomas, who was one of Jesus' disciples, said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father also. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him. So Jesus is telling the disciples that since they know Jesus, they also know God the Father. Remember, God exists as three in one God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, he sends the Holy Spirit to live inside of us, to comfort us and to guide us. Philip, another one of Jesus' disciples, said, Lord, show us the Father, that will be enough for us. Jesus answered, Don't you know me, Philip? I have been among you such a long time. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, Show us the Father? Don't you believe that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. The Father lives in me. He is the one who is doing his work. Believe me when I say I am in the Father. Also believe that the Father is in me, or at least believe what the works I have been doing say about me. What I am about to tell you is true. Anyone who believes in me will do the works I have been doing. In fact, they will do even greater things. That's because I am going to the Father, and I will do anything you ask in my name. Then the Father will receive glory from the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, I will do it. Jesus told the disciples, There are many rooms in my Father's house, and that he is going there, and he will come back, and he will take you to be with him. So Jesus was talking about going back to heaven to prepare a place for all of the people who love him. He said that he is going to prepare a place for us and that he will come back and take us with him to heaven. Jesus said, You know the place where I am going. But the disciples were confused by this. In fact, one of the disciples, Thomas, asked Jesus, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. Jesus meant that He is the only way to heaven. Jesus is God, and He is the only way for us to get into heaven. If we trust in Him and ask Him to save us from our sins, He will save us, and then we will get to live forever in heaven with Him. That is what the Bible teaches us. The world teaches us that there are many ways to get into heaven. The world says we can get into heaven by doing good things or good works, by going to church, by praying, by reading the Bible. Are these great things to do? Absolutely. But doing these things without trusting Jesus will not get us to heaven. In some parts of the world, people believe that there are even other ways to get into heaven. But Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the way to heaven. Jesus is full of truth, and Jesus is the only way to have life forever. There is only one way to heaven. Jesus is the only way to heaven. The only way to heaven is to believe that Jesus came to die on the cross for your sins and believe that he rose from the dead three days later. Remember, we are all sinners. We were born into a world full of sin because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Sin separates us from God, but Jesus will save you if you ask him to. Then your sin will be erased, and you will get to live in heaven with God forever after you die on this earth. Not because of anything you did to earn your way to heaven, but because of what Jesus did for you. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for the true story of this lesson that Jesus taught his disciples and us about the way to heaven. We thank you so much for sending your son Jesus the only way to heaven to die for our sins on the cross. And we thank you that he rose again so that our sins could be forgiven and we can live forever in heaven with you. Help us to make good choices in our lives. We love you and we pray all of these things in Jesus' sweet name. Amen. Until next time, friends, God bless. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Seeds of Truth Podcast. For more free Bible resources, visit Seeds of Truth Ministries.com.