As another year winds down and we start “all over again”, I’ve felt compelled to share why I believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The reason is really very simple (although it took me many years to fully accept it!). I believe in the ideals, or the “oughts” of life. You see, violence and hatred, pain and sadness, sickness and loneliness, and death is what we see on a daily basis; it’s the real world in which we live. But love and peace, kindness and happiness, with no pain or sickness or death is the way life ought to be; it represents the ideal world. This is the life Jesus Christ has promised.
But you may ask, why do I need God or Jesus to fulfill or have hope for an ideal life or world? I’ve asked the same question myself many times; I understand your questions, concerns, and doubts. These questions are important, and asking them is a good thing. But even better and more importantly, is finding the answers. What I’ve found is that most people who pronounce faith in God and Jesus as illogical have never truly questioned or investigated their own beliefs. For many years, the word faith meant simple-minded or whimsical or folly thinking; it even says in the Bible its followers “walk by faith and not by sight.” However, when I actually began to sit and think through these questions, my reasoning led me to faith in Jesus! Faith is not blind (as the world proclaims), but is based on logic and reason.
But you may say the science of Evolution has disproven God, and that atheism is true. Even ignoring the scientific findings and evidence for Creation and Evolution, have you actually thought about the implications of atheism? In atheism, everything has evolved from nothing, and in doing so has removed real value and meaning to human life. Even Richard Dawkins has stated “…the universe (and humanity) we observe has…no design, no purpose, no evil, and no other good” (“River Out of Eden”, 1995). To really believe in atheism means nothing can be intrinsically good or evil, or right or wrong. You see, atheism not only denies the ideal, but denies even reality. There is obviously good and evil, right and wrong, and value and meaning to human life. Logic and reason disprove atheism.
But what about another religion or philosophy? Although they each have their own unique beliefs, religions/philosophies generally emphasize humanity working to change the reality into the ideal. This sounds great, but history has shown us this to be impossible. Hatred, violence, sickness, loneliness and death are just as prevalent (if not more so) now than they were centuries ago. Humanity is intrinsically broken and is unable, even with encouraging religions/philosophies, to bring into fruition the ideal. In order for us to come into the ideal, we need transformed. We need redeemed. This is where Jesus Christ answers where these religions/philosophies fall short.
You see, the ugliness and death of the real world exists because of sin. Until sin is removed, the ideal will not replace reality. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life with no sin. He then sacrificed His life for all of humanity (even you and me!). But He was raised back to life and, in doing so, broke the grasp of sin and death. This is what was needed to transform the real into the ideal, and it will be completed upon His return.
Death is the finale of this life. Death hurts; it hurts because deep down in our soul we know life is not supposed to be this way. We know the truth of eternal life, just as we know the “oughts” in life are not only meant for the ideal, but for reality. This is why Jesus came, for He said “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the only way to account for the reality of life and the hope for the ideal.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).
