.....My views on Christianity, the world and other general musings and meditations.



Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Jesus - The Only Way To Salvation

What is the core message of the Bible, of Christianity, it's the need and way of salvation through Jesus. Why do I or anyone need salvation? Because all of us have moved away from our Creator, from God, basically we are His enemies and His wrath is upon us. The 'created' have rebelled against the Holy and Righteous Creator.

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life - Romans 5:10

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him - John 3:36

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23

Some people will say 'I have sinned only a little, I'm sure God will overlook that, as I'm really a good person and do a lot of good deeds'.
To God sin is sin, all have sinned and when God looks at you, he sees no difference between you and say, Adolf Hitler. Why is that? Lets say you have a favourite white shirt or top, does it make any difference if at a restaurant a waiter accidentally drops a whole bottle of red wine over your shirt or if you just put a pen in your shirt's top pocket after signing for your meal and your pen leaks a small blob of ink? Either way your white shirt is ruined! God sees a stain on you, doesn't matter if it's huge or small! Only when you allow Jesus to put His clean white shirt over your's, does God see you as acceptable.
Do you really expect God to just overlook your sins, because you do good deeds? Would you expect a respectable judge to let you off a crime that you are guilty of, just because you are a son or daughter or relative? Could you really be released from any type of major crime, by telling the judge or police that you do a lot of good deeds? If it doesn't work like that here on earth, why do you think it would work like that with God? Don't get it wrong, any sin is a major crime against God. All have sinned!

God loves us and wants to remove evil without having to remove all of us. He is a Righteous Judge and King, and does not change, but he created a way of fulfilling all his requirements. He came to earth himself as Jesus the Son, to live the life you should have lived, and suffer the punishment and die the death you deserve. He made it as simple as He could, all you have to do is believe and repent.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 6:23

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

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him - 3:36

Salvation is gained by confessing Jesus, the Son of God, what he has done for you and asking God to come into your heart and your life, a life you now choose to live for the glory of God. It is not by any good works that you are saved, it is a gift of God.

It is up to you how you want to face God, accepted or as an enemy, but know this, we will all face our Creator one day!



Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Did God Create Evil?

A question or statement that many people put forward to deny that God exists, often to also try to deny that he's a good God, is the existence of evil. God made evil, if he made all things! If God is good, how can evil exist and why does he allow it?

This article, 'A Good Reason For Evil', is one of the best explanations I've come across. It also enlightens Christians, about the attitudes they should have, when bad things happen to them.

Stand to Reason: A Good Reason for Evil


Sunday, September 9, 2012

God Is The Owner Of All

Some people basically shake their fists and say,' Why should I listen and follow God? Even many Christians have forgotten a very important and basic principle about God. It is that He is the owner of all.

If you have any belief or faith that there is a creator God, then due to Him, all, everthing came into existence and therefore all belongs to Him. He planned and designed this planet, this galaxy, this universe and His abode in heaven as well. This actually means you don't really own anything. He designed and made all protons, neutrons and electrons (and all smaller particles), He has the patent on all. Besides the rocks, water, air, 'your' car, house and furniture, He also owns every atom that makes up 'your' body, including the bodies of 'your' partner and children.

This has a great implication, that 'your' life is not your own and never was! Everything you have is not 'yours' and has been given to you and can also be taken away at any time. This does really mean everything, including family. God as designer, creator and sovereign King of all, has this right.

This is the reason why we should listen and follow God, why we say grace before meals, why we should always be thankful to God for everything. God's ownership of everything has much to do with how all of us should behave and act in life, towards others and possessions. This applies even more so to Christians who have believed in Jesus, especially as 1 Corinthians 6:20 states, 'you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body'. Even before you became a Christian, God owned your body. People with their bodies and possessions should always glorify God, the creator and true owner of all.


Monday, September 3, 2012

What Do You Want To Believe?

We all believe in something about life, in other words we all have some type of faith, because we can't really totally prove our beliefs, one way or the other. Even if you're an atheist, you still have a faith, basically that there is no God.

Many in the world just seem to float along with out ever looking into their 'faith' and why they have it. Again I say, that this is probably the biggest and most important question of your life, but have you spent any time looking into it? You still have some belief at the moment, even if you think, it's just too hard to find out the truth! The question to ask is, what do you believe and why?

Another thing you probably need to ask yourself is, do you really want to know the truth and what would you do if the answer wasn't the one you expected or maybe wanted? If you found out and believed there was a God, would you follow what he said? Do you just want to live your own life by your own rules, no matter what? What holds you back?

Hebrews 11:6 says, 'And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him'.

Some things to note about this statement. 'Without faith', the word faith meaning believing without really totally being able to prove anything. Something we all have at the moment, but not necessarily towards God. John 4:24 says, 'God is spirit'. 1 Timothy 6:16, states this about God , 'who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see'. Many verses in the Bible show us that God is unseen and can't be seen, including John 1:18 and John 6:46. God knows he can't be seen, that's what faith is all about, but he wants you to know he's there and wants us to see his workings and results.

The above verse of Hebrews 11:6 shows that God is pleased when we believe in Him and wants to reward us. The key words are 'earnestly seek him'. If you want to know the truth, you must put some greater effort into it! The question is, do you really want to know the truth? How much effort have you put in to find God? Have you asked him to reveal himself to you? Show you the truth? He will if you seriously ask him!

Give the answer some time, don't just expect something there and then. We want a 'God in a box', but he doesn't work like that! He is a sovereign King and Creator. Keep asking, 'earnestly seek'. Only when you have honestly and earnestly 'seeked' with no answer, can anyone even begin to say, 'there is no God'.

For some further information, go to:
http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Why Believe In God

I'm sure you can find a large number of books and websites stating why God exists and other sites stating he doesn't, many from intelligent, highly educated people, but all I will do here is say why I think he exists, besides the personal feelings and events of my life where God was involved.

As I work with other Zoologists, scientific and university people, we are use to working with a hypothesis of some type, so using one to 'prove' God, is I think possible. I know some people will immediately disagree and yes we can't make a formula or put God in a test tube, but we can look at it logically. The hypothesis - God exists.

At this very moment you, an extremely complex being are standing on a small, but extremely complex planet, full of extremely complex ecosystems, moving (at 400km/sec) through an extremely complex universe with extremely complex laws. Chances of this occurring purely by accident diminishes with every use of the words 'extremely complex'. Some people will say that there are billions, upon billions, upon billions of stars, so such a complex planet, complex ecosystems and our complex bodies could have 'just' occurred. Possibly true, but this still does not account for our complex universe and it's complex laws of science. Laws don't just happen or evolve by accident. Mathematics on which the whole universe is built on, is to me a beautiful example of a Master Mathematician! I have no problem with Evolution on our planet occurring, but I believe that a Master Evolutionist is involved.

We often want God and religion 'in a box' to fit our current ideas about life, but we still know so little about this universe or anywhere else. 'Where is God?', people often say. I've heard when the first Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went into orbit around our little planet, he (or the Communist Party) said, 'I don't see God up here'. Do we really expect heaven to be up in the sky? Theoretical physicists have only fairly recently concluded that there are 10, 11, or 13 (or more) dimensions, instead of just the four. No one really knows how many there may be intersecting the very space you are in right now! Why couldn't one or more of these be the 'spiritual' world? I know it's a little out there, but remember we understand so little of this vast physical universe. As the Bible reads in Acts 17:28, 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'

You can chose to not believe in any creator God, but that will have it's own problems! You have to then have the courage to admit that you (and others) are purely an accident with no meaning, and your life doesn't count. Your just a freak of nature with no goal or destination. It make no difference what you do in life. Love, virtues or morals don't really exist. Any love you feel or anyone had for you, including your parents, is only evolution doing it's work. You can't tell anyone how to behave, because there are no lasting rules. Only what society dictates at the moment and what you think, your opinion. Opinions in human society change by the generation, so if Nazis had won the war, our laws and opinions on human rights (eg Jews) would be totally different! None are absolute or lasting. You honestly then cannot condemn a rapist, murderer or even paedophile for what they do. There are no absolute morals or any justice! A very sad universe, with no hope.

We humans as bad as we often are, do have morals (even the worst have some) and want justice. We may not be able to carry them all out, but we do treasure morals and justice. Even in our books and movies, we love a happy ending when the good guys win! As the Bible in Genesis 1:27 says, 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them'. I do have hope, because I believe our universe has a creator God who is righteous and just.

I know this post on 'Why Believe In God', is very basic, it could go on for days, as there are so many other reasons. I think these are a few of the core ones and hopefully I'll be able to expand some others during future posts, including why Christianity (and what it really is) makes sense.