Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God
It is my desire to persuade and convince you of only one God, who you can only come to know through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, in the book of John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus made it absolutely clear He alone, is the only way to the God the Father, there is no other way to God accept through Jesus Christ. The Word of God is very clear that there is only one way to come to God the Father and to know God personally. The Scriptures reveal there is one way and that is through Jesus Christ His Son. The apostle John in 1 John 2:23 wrote, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” The Word of God is explicitly clear that whoever does not accept Jesus Christ as Lord of his or her life does not have God the Father. Those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord of his or her life will have God the Father also. In 2 Cor. 5:18-19, the apostle Paul says, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
Peter spoke to the rulers and elders of the people concerning Jesus Christ of Nazareth in the Book of Acts 4:12 saying, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” The Scriptures make it clear that there is no salvation in any other name. There is no other way to come to know God the Father and there is no other name by which we must be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ. My desire for you is to realize your sinful condition before God and repent of your sins, which means to turn away from all sin. You must accept by faith the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, the shedding of His blood for your sins in order to receive His forgiveness and eternal salvation. There are many false religions in the world today that lead people astray, the Scriptures clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father. Jesus also said in the book of John 6:44-45, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” The Word of God makes it clear that all who have truly heard and learned from God the Father will come to Jesus Christ for salvation. We must come to Him in faith in order to receive salvation because He is the only way to receive salvation and there is no other name given by which we must be saved.
We must respond to the call of the Lord Jesus Christ by coming to Him in faith and accepting His sacrifice for our sins to receive eternal salvation. We must come to God according to the way He purposed before time began which is through His Son Jesus Christ the only way to know God (2 Tim.1:8-10; 1 John 2:20-23). We must learn to worship the Lord the way He desires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). We must learn to surrender our self centred ways and learn to yield ourselves as His disciples in obedience to His will and follow Him as He directs us to follow Him. We must give up our self willed ways of thinking that we know best, or how we ought, or should worship Him apart from the Word of God. Many do not understand what, who, or why they worship the way they do. According to the Word of God in the book of John 4:4 Jesus says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The truth the word of God is speaking of is not according to what we think may be the truth, but is what the Word of God reveals to be truth.
The Plan of Salvation
Our Creator, God the Father, purposed in His Son Jesus Christ the plan of salvation to redeem mankind from their fallen state. This plan of salvation was already in place before time began to reconcile us back to Himself and to restore our relationship with Him. God’s plan to redeem fallen man and restore our relationship with Him begins in the Book of Genesis 3:15. It is here we see a glimpse of His plan for the future of mankind which offers hope in the midst of judgment. God offers us hope through the first prophecy concerning the promise of a Messiah who was to come through the seed of women (Gen. 3:15). The first prophecy reveals the beginning of God’s plan of salvation as we see God Himself taking the initiative to reveal His plan to restore those in sin back to Himself. God in His great love for Adam and Eve took the initiative to cover their sins by shedding the blood of innocent animals and to provide them with animal skins to cover themselves. Under the first covenant or the old covenant the sacrifice of animals was a temporary covering for sin, but could not remove the sins of mankind. God gives us a clear picture or a fore shadow of the initiative God would take in providing the appropriate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die and shed His blood for the sins of mankind because the blood of animals could not take away our sins or remove our sins from us. The word of God in the book of Hebrews 10:4, tells us, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
The plan of salvation through Jesus Christ was His plan even before time began, before anything that was made was made. In the book of Titus we learn of the plan of salvation before the beginning of time, as it is stated in Titus 1:1-2, “accord to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;” And again in the book of 2 Timothy 1:8-10, the apostle Paul says to Timothy, “ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” The plan of salvation in Christ alone was before the foundation of the world before time began (Eph.1:4; 1 Pet.1:20). In the book of Genesis we see the first prophesy concerning the Messiah who would eventual reveal the plan of salvation. It is here in the Book of Genesis that we see clear imagery, symbolic of our redemption in Christ, in which we would see eventually take place in Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is the good news for mankind that God sent is Son Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit of God to redeem fallen man. Jesus Christ the Son of God came to earth in the likeness of mankind and lived among us taking the form of a bondservant (Phil. 2:7). He grew up and lived a perfect and sinless life to die on a cross for us, shedding His blood for our sins of mankind (Heb 4:15). He became our substitute sacrifice on the cross taking our place to redeem us and provide the atonement to restore and reconcile us to God. In Hebrews 9:12, “Not with the blood of goats and calve, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” And again in Hebrews 9:15, “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” We must be listening to hear His call to come to Him to receive His forgiveness for our sins and eternal salvation. We must choose to accept His sacrificial death on the cross and the shedding of His blood for our sins to receive His forgiveness and eternal life. Having accepted God’s provision in Jesus Christ our Savior we receive the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. When we accept His sacrifice as our Savior, we make Him not only our Savior, but also Lord of our lives. We must continue our relationship with Him as the Lord of our lives and walk in obedience to His word. We must live a life of continual surrender yielded to His Lordship out of an intimate relationship with Him. Do you here Him calling you? Will you accept what He done for you, or will you reject Him and His offer of forgiveness and salvation?
The Need for Discipleship Today
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. Making disciples should be the number one priority of the body of Christ. Jesus also said in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Many leaders have disobeyed the command of Jesus Christ and have resorted to preaching a watered down, candy coated message in order to gain a larger congregation. In the book “Reveal: Where Are You?” by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson published by the Willow Creek Association in 2007, Bill Hybels readily admits that “if you simply want a crowed, the ‘seeker sensitive’ model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust”. However, any method or program we use that is not aimed at producing authentic disciples is in direct contradiction to our Lord Jesus Christ’s commands, and does a disservice to the Lord and to His people. Jesus was more interested in making quality disciples than the quantity in attendance. Jesus wanted believers who were truly sold out, who were whole heartedly committed to Him, and who were loyal and faithful to Him alone. He wanted it then and still wants it today!
The present state and condition of the Church, the body of Christ, is in decline and according to statistics it will continue to do so. There are over 133,000 denominations in the world and many of them, along with many independent churches, make the Word of God of no effect by their traditions, just as the scribes and the Pharisees as stated by Jesus in Matthew 15:6b. They have opted for a seeker sensitive, candy coated, easy grace Christianity, giving people an institutionalized program based, “status quo” Christianity that fails to make disciples who truly know Jesus Christ intimately and have learned to be led by the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:14; Phil.3:8-11). This “status quo” Christianity allows a believer to continue to live a life with no change from the world; and it does not call or steer them into the intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which is needed to become an authentic disciple of Christ. It teaches them why they should believe and may strengthen their “belief”, but it does not grow them in the Christian walk, surrendered and “sold out” to Christ. Those who promote this type of “status quo” Christianity are being wilfully disobedient to the Lord and are doing a huge disservice to believers who listen.
Proof of the decline of the body of Christ is confirmed in a recent report by Barna Research Group as well as other reports by other organizations. The Barna Group report reveals that only 9% of Christian teenagers believe in moral absolutes (“Truth” with a capital “T”). The Assembly of God denomination estimates somewhere between 65% and 70% of their teenagers will depart from the faith by the time they leave high school. Even worse, the Southern Baptist Council on Family estimates 88% will depart from the faith by the time they leave high school. Jeremiah films reports that 80% of believers send their kids to public schools and that 75% of teenage Christian believers will depart from the faith their first year in college. We are losing our children, the next generation, because we are not teaching them how to be disciples.
True discipleship is about loving God and our neighbour or others as we learn to walk in obedience to the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.” Jesus also said in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Discipleship is not about the number in attendance during “services,” it is about teaching believers to live a surrendered life by developing an intimate relationship with the Lord that results in obedience to Him. 1 John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” It is about dying to our self interests and our self-centred ways and choosing to live our life out of love and obedience to Him. Discipleship is all about learning to love God and others through our obedience to Him and His Word. As we do we begin to reflect His character in our lives as we are being transformed and conformed into His image.
Jesus said in the book of John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Jesus tells us that those who truly love the Lord are those who keep His commandments and that those who keep His commandments will be loved by the Father. Jesus said that He would also love the one who keeps his commandments and will manifest Himself to him, but the promise is to those who obey Him by keeping His commandments. Authentic disciples who have forsaken all to follow Jesus Christ to love and obey Him will experience the abundant life full of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (John 10:10; Romans 14:17).
Ronald Reagan once said, “Status quo, you know, that is Latin for the mess we’re in.” Should we be leaving believers in their mess, or teaching them to live a life of surrender in obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Isn’t it time the Church, the body of Christ, got back to making disciples!
Will you join the revolution of making disciples?
Who We Are
Our Story
On August 14, 1997 the Lord divinely commissioned Jeff into the ministry when He audibly spoke telling him to “build the Church”. A short time later, the Lord gave Jeff the vision for New Vision Church, a vision to make disciples and plant churches. Since that time, the Lord has continued to define the vision, giving it more clarity and depth with each passing year.
Although the Lord gave the vision for New Vision Church in 1997, it was not until 2003 that Jeff and Jennifer stepped out of the Foursquare denomination to pursue the vision God had given them, the vision of an every member functioning church, and start New Vision Church.
New Vision Ministries was formed in 2009 when the Lord gave the word to begin “lighting houses around the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ”. It was at this time the vision for New Vision Church expanded from a house church reaching a community into a network of every member functioning house churches reaching across the world.
Our Founders
New Vision Church is overseen by Jeff and Jennifer Dixon. Jeff has more than 26-years of experience in the ministry, eighteen of those years have been served with Jennifer at his side. Prior to starting New Vision Church, they served in many ministry roles, including as Children’s Pastors, Youth Pastors, Church Planters, and Senior Pastors within the Foursquare denomination.
Throughout their years in ministry, Jeff and Jennifer have attended various schools of ministry training, leadership training, and church planting training. Jeff has a Bachelors of Ministry degree and is currently pursuing his Masters in Ministry. He also has a passion for healthy living and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer with 7 specializations.
Jeff and Jennifer met in 1994 and were married in 1995. They currently live in Northcentral Washington with their two teenage boys, where they enjoy hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities.
Jeff and Jennifer’s hearts’ desire is to raise up sold-out, radical disciples who are committed to authentic biblical Christianity and see churches planted around the world which hold to the original pattern laid down by the apostles in which every member was allowed to participate and function according to their gifting (1 Cor. 14:23-33; 15:58; Heb. 6:10; 10:19-25; 1 Pet.2:5, 9-10; 4:10-11).