I am the way, the truth, and the life… Jesus Christ claims this, alone in history. The gospel writer John affirms this in his gospel, 14:6. I believe this. John concludes the verse. No one comes to the Father except through me.
A handful of verses later at 21, John records Jesus saying something even more profound. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. More than any other passage, these words describe my relationship to the Father. By having and keeping Christ's words, I am loved of the Father of all creation, and Jesus does manifest himself. I affirm the truth of this.
The English word Christ derives from the Greek word romanized as Christos. Christos means Anointed One. Christos is the Biblically-attested translation for the Hebrew word romanized as Mashiach. The English rendering of Mashiach is Messiah. In this way, we say the same thing in many ways. Using several words to mean the same thing—stating the same thing in different words—will be a recurring theme. The intent of the literary device is to try make equivalences clear at the potential cost of seeming redundant. The Christian faith, known as Christianity, affirms that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, and describes Him and His Father.
As a group, Christianity is not entirely cohesive. One of the basic Protestant concepts is that the Bible is the ultimate authority of the depiction of the Anointed One. Catholics and Orthodox insist that their traditions have greater authority. I accept no intermediary authority between myself and God. His shepherds have been good to me. I accept that the consequence of sin is death. My only plea is to Christ, who I believe will judge all.
Everything about the Christian faith depends on Jesus. He is the Anointed. He is our only hope. He is the only hope for humanity.
To help us understand Christ, the Bible speaks of the concept of "antichrist", meaning "the opposite of Christ".
In 1 John 2:22,23, John writes. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
By rejecting Jesus, a man incurs the wrath of God. John records Jesus in John 3:36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Connection to the Father is dependent on acknowledging Christ. Anyone who denies Christ has a specific identity: antichrist. The wrath of God abides on an antichrist. If a religion denies Christ, then it is an antichrist religion that hath not the Father and indeed the wrath of God (that is, the Father) abideth on it. Such a religion must refer to someone who is not the Father of Jesus Christ when they speak of God. To restate, when they pray to "god", they do not pray to the same God that Jesus describes.
Another identity of Jesus' is "Abraham's seed". This ties into the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
Christ is the only valid identity for Abraham's seed. Later in Galatians 3:16, Paul explains. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Israel is another way to describe Abraham's seed. If you know about Abraham, you'll know of his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob is also known as Israel. Judah, mentioned earlier, was Israel's fourth son. Abraham's seed figures prominently in God's promise to Abraham. The dynamic of Paul's redefinition deprecates racialist thought from the true faith. The old prophetic meaning has been fulfilled. The messianic meaning has come to its fullness. This approach to resolving the deprecation in the New Covenant is used by Jesus according to Matthew 5:17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
John the Baptist also teaches plainly that descent from Abraham is not meaningful. Matthew records in his gospel. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. While John the Baptist is not as authoritative as Christ, in Matthew 11:11, Jesus makes it plain that noone else at the time was as great. It is worth noting that one of the most powerful traditions of antichrist descends from the Pharisees mentioned here, lambasted as a generation of vipers.
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." (Nahum 1:2,3)