What is True and What is Faith

There is a popular understanding of the Christian faith in today's culture which goes something like this: God is a kind old gentleman who never bothers anyone and who accepts everyone warts and all, just as they are, and does not expect them to change. Jesus said we should not judge one another, and since all of us are God's children, we should be tolerant of one another's different lifestyles. If you think this is what Christianity is all about, if you think this is what Jesus taught, then please read on. I want to share something important with you.

What I described in the first paragraph is not Christianity. It is not what Jesus taught.

The theology described above does have a name. It is a religion and it has been around for a long time. It is called humanism.

Humanism teaches that humans are the focal point of the universe. Humanism puts people in the place of God. People determine their own truth, their own moral system, their own lifestyle, their own destiny. Even God is subject to human control, since humanism says God is a creation of man. Humanism is universal in its acceptance of people as they are; it makes no demands on them to change unless, of course, they are evangelical Christians who put God first instead of mankind. Then change is demanded, and those who cling to their faith are held up to ridicule and abuse.

Christianity is as different from humanism as day is from night. Christianity is God-centered, not man-centered. Christianity says God created man, not the other way around. Christianity says God determines fate, destiny, morals and truth. And Christianity not only presents a God Who demands change, but Who also provides everything that is needed for change to occur.

Here is what is true and what is faith according to Biblical Christianity. God created everything, the universe, the sun and stars, the earth, and man and woman. He gave them a perfect world to live in. And He imposed His will on them when He gave them a simple command and warned them that disobedience would bring destruction. Of course, they chose to test God to see if He meant business. He did.

The world God created was placed under a curse by God because of the disobedience of the man and the woman. Sickness, sorrow and death entered the otherwise perfect world of God. Just surviving became a major struggle and source of disappointment and discouragement. Nothing was easy anymore. And death was the common end of every human life.

But God was not content just to punish human beings. His righteousness demanded payment for sin, and He certainly has the power and the right to inflict the ultimate punishment of Hell on every human being who sinned, which would be all human beings. He is, after all, a God of wrath because He is a God of righteousness and must judge disobedience. But He is also a God of love. He truly loved these humans He created with the freedom of choice, and He wanted them to choose Him of their own free will.

So, in His love, He decided He would suffer, too, along with His beloved but erring humans. He would suffer for them and take the curse of their sin upon Himself.

He was born of a virgin in the obscure town of Bethlehem, in a cave where animals were kept. On the night of His birth, God became a human being. His purpose was to live a perfect life in obedience to God, something the first man, Adam, failed to do. And then He would suffer and die.

And that is what He did. His arch enemies, the Pharisees, constantly tried to find fault in Him but were unable to do so because there was no fault in Him. But they were able to convince the officials of the Roman Empire that He was guilty and as a result He was sentenced to die in the most cruel of Roman executions.

Body twisted with pain. Sweat poring profusely. Every breath a struggle. Muscles shaking with pain and exhaustion. Iron nails driven through the wrists and the feet and into the wood of the cross. Perhaps the most excruciating characteristic about crucifixion was the slowness with which death came.

They crucified Jesus, the Son of God, the only perfect human being Who ever lived. They thought they had defeated God. They thought they had put human beings in charge once again.

They were wrong.

On the third day, they found His tomb empty. They thought His followers had stolen the body. But they had not. The truth was that Jesus had conquered sin and death and had risen from the death of that tomb and was alive, really and fully alive.

Christianity teaches that God then offered forgiveness and restoration to each human being who would bow in faith to His Son, Jesus Christ. The eternal curse would be lifted for such, and when they were finally through with life on this earth, they would go to live with Jesus in a place not unlike the original garden in which the first man and woman failed. But there would never be sin, nor sickness, nor sorrow, nor death again. Ever.

Because Christianity teaches that God is a God of Righteousness and of Love, I, a sinner condemned by my own stubborn rebellion and sin, can be pure now and live forever in Heaven.

That certainly beats what humanism has to offer me, which is a life of struggle followed by death and nothingness. I am so glad I know what is true and what is faith because God chose to tell me about it in His Word, the Bible.