Why is Jesus the only way to God?
Christianity claims that Jesus is the only way to God. Why?
Answer
NOTE: This claim of exclusivity only makes sense if you see that God (a singular supreme God) is the entity which Jesus represented. Certainly there are other incompatible entities being promoted in this world as god or as deities. Jesus does not represent them, and so Jesus is not a way to them.
God tells us that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). This is because we have all chosen a selfish value system of our own. In contrast, the value system of God is sacrificial love for the benefit of others. Our values and his values are in conflict. This means we do not have anything in common with God, therefore, there is no basis for relationship with him.
God's command for us has always been that we are to love God and love people (Matthew 22:35-40), but we fail at this. Because we love self, we do not love God, and (selfishly) we do not love people, so we have offended God and we continue to pile up a debt of offense against him. The consequence of having nothing in common (no shared values) and also accumulation of offenses is the death of any relationship.
It is not possible for offenders to pay for the relational consequences of their offenses. Only the offended are able do that by forgiving them. A key part of this forgiveness process is that the offended pays the full cost of the relational debt. Jesus as God did exactly this at the cross. For those that ask for God's forgiveness and accept it with the restoration that it offers, this was made possible by Jesus.
An important part of the way to God is that we need to be in Jesus' Kingdom so that what Jesus did is effective for us. (See about the kingdom, and why does it apply.) Only when we are in his kingdom can Jesus take responsibility for us to restore our relationship with God. When we are in his kingdom, he can work in us to help us adopt and mature in his value system so that we remain in relationship with God.
The way to God for all people is blocked by their offenses against God and by a complete lack of shared values with God. Jesus implemented forgiveness for the first, and he established the context for us to grow in his values for the second. Only Jesus overcomes these insurmountable human problems; no one else does. Therefore because of this Jesus is the only way to God. (See also here, and here)
The value system perspective used here is based on ideas from the work of Darren Twa.