It is an audacious claim of the Christian faith that there is only one way to heaven. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” we believe. Not most, not some, but all. Since all of us have sinned, all of us are lost and in need of saving. And this saving we so badly need can come from only one Savior since “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Thus, we believe, there is only one way to be saved, only one way to heaven—Jesus Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” No one comes to relationship with God, no one comes into the presence of God, no one gets to heaven, except through faith in Jesus Christ.
But why? Why is there only one way to heaven? The answer is far simpler than we may think. Far more logical, too. There is only one way into heaven because there is only one way out of heaven.
The fact is, in essence, there is only one kind of person on this earth. While in some regards humanity is a stunning display of diversity, there is something that unites us, something that is essentially the same: We are all descendants of one man. This first man Adam was our representative. He stood before God as the head of the human race and was able to choose whether we would be at peace with God or at war, whether we would submit to God or rebel against his rule. He chose war. He chose rebellion. And he made this choice not only on his own behalf, but on behalf of all who would follow in his line. He was, after all, our head, our representative. When he went to war, we went to war.