Universal Love Found Only In Christ Jesus

An excerpt from The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck

What is quite unique about Christ, and this idea is explicit in what is attributed to Him, is that the message is truly universal AND exclusive.

Paradox?

Contradiction?

Let us consider ourselves as an individual example.

Let's say an individual desires to love, to be loved, and find someone that reflects this sentiment and will be to us what we desire to be to them.

What we are searching for and desiring is a universal passion.

When we find our mirror, the universality of our search becomes exclusive, for we would not want to cheapen or share openly the bond that is created when two become one.

When that bond is formed, it isn't that we as individuals reject another person desiring to also be bonded, but that we've already been bonded with another and have become one.

The same could be said about God's desire to have every one of us in relationship with Him.

His arms are open, and once He holds us, He desires no one else to have us.

This is what is realized in Christ and is quite explicit in the Gospel and letters.