We believe in the Holy Bible
We believe in the virgin birth
We believe in the resurrection
That Christ one day will return to earth...
To Jesus we sing
Because we believe
Don Moen, "Because We Believe"
After several weeks of acute doubt, I'm settling into renewed conviction. As
Gregory Koukl put it,
"I began to think carefully about the claims that Jesus made about Himself, the claim He made about reality, and the claims that He made on my own life...I finally came to the conclusion...that Jesus has got it right, and that the smart money was on Jesus of Nazareth."
What makes me conclude that this ancient Person is worth not only believing in, but worth building my whole life on?
1. The large number of eyewitnesses to His resurrection.
If you do your research, it ends up requiring more faith to believe Jesus
didn't rise from the dead than that He did. The whole great power of Rome could not stamp out this troubling rumor that Jesus was alive again. Rome couldn't prove otherwise by producing a corpse. And hundreds of people, sometimes as a crowd, other times in smaller groups, over the course of many days, claimed to have seen Him, spoken with Him, even eaten with Him, after He was publicly executed. Later they watched Him ascend to the heavens..... and subsequently devoted their lives to proclaiming that He rose. Under pain of torturous death, they didn't recant. They were utterly convinced.
What do you do with that if you don't accept Him as God?
2. Christianity stands up to questioning.
So far, nobody at church, including my pastors, has reacted with horror and frantically tried to shush my questions. Generally when you tell a lie, you don't want too many questions because sooner or later the holes show through. But Christianity welcomes thoughtful questions and probing. Though acknowledging limits to human understanding of the divine, the Bible doesn't ignore whole areas of philosophy. There are no secrets to this faith. It is coherent and reasoned.
3. As far as I can tell, the Bible offers the best description of humanity and the world we live in.
The Bible describes and explains both our glory and our mess. It explains why things are the way they are and describes the way I think and feel.
The Old Testament is replete with prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His birth, His task, His character, were all foretold long before He arrived. God's people clung to those prophecies for centuries before they came to fruition, and they fit together in Jesus of Nazareth.
The Bible also foretells people's responses to God. Jesus referred to the "narrow way" and the spiritual blindness of the populace. The Bible fully acknowledges objections and makes no qualms about calling contrasting messages "lies." Thus, the fact that many--indeed, most--people disbelieve the message of Jesus is no evidence that it is untrue. On the contrary, it is precisely what the Bible expects to happen.
One of the most basic tenets of Christianity is that Jesus will one day come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. This is the very claim that has had me scanning the clouds in recent weeks and thinking, "...really?"
It sure doesn't look like it.
Until I realized that's exactly the point the Bible makes.
Mockers will come with their mocking...saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For...all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
2 Peter 3:4
Yet Jesus Himself emphasized that His return will be sudden, unexpected, and catastrophic. That all continues normally now fits exactly with the Bible's warning that the end will come suddenly--not little by little.
4. Some really smart people believe.
There are lots of world-renowned geniuses who are atheists, sure.
But there are also some really smart people who believe in Jesus. I'm thinking of
R. C. Sproul, C. S. Lewis,
Lee Strobel,
J. Warner Wallace--not to mention a few non-famous people I know personally, people who are seriously smart.
What this tells me is that Christianity is no intellectual foolishness. Belief may require wisdom from on high (see: smart atheists, above), and faith as a mere child, but it doesn't mean betraying your brain. It is a robustly
thinking faith.
5. To whom shall I go?
Every system of thought has a moral code. Every religion, every culture, every atheistic humanist has a code of right and wrong.
And not one person lives up to their own code.
I could join another religion or scrap religion altogether and try to be a really moral person and count on being good enough to get into the country club of eternity.
But I'll fail!
Unless the standard of morality is so lax that you can break it every single day and still get in...morality is hopeless. My only hope is a Savior. And the only Savior I know--not teacher, not advisor, not role model, but
One who will act for me--is Jesus.
6. When I pray, things go better.
I realize I'm moving into more subjectivity here.
I have a long habit of praying daily for my husband. Once these doubts began to assail me, my prayers fizzled (Am I talking to thin air? I wondered.), unbeknownst to Jason. After a week or so, he told me he'd been facing inexplicable temptation and struggle. Though he searched, he couldn't find a reason for it--until I admitted I hadn't been praying for him. When belief began to creep back, one of the first steps of faith I took was to pray for Jason again. Lo and behold, Jason reported that temptation had lost its fierceness.
Similarly, I experienced a noticeable difference in my own crisis of faith after I opened up about it to a friend or two and they began praying for me.
I've seen a whole lot of answers to prayer over the years. Power of positive thinking? Some things can change by simple optimism I guess. But I've seen enough to seriously doubt a placebo prayer effect.
7. Glory.
No other god comes close to Yahweh's mercy and glory.
Lots of gods let you sacrifice or do penance or something to make up for your shortcomings, whereby you purchase forgiveness by an exchange of spiritual goods. Some gods look the other way, like Grandma when your hand is in the cookie jar, and their mercy consists of letting you get by with it.
Only this God ever maintains his impeccable holiness, His perfectly high standard...
and sacrifices
Himself in our place. Other gods may condescend to walk among people, but only this God condescends to endure His people's hatred, to pour Himself out to death for His people, and to live within them as Spirit, covering them from His own holy wrath by His own holy blood.
No one can touch that kind of mercy.
The God of the Bible answers all the longings of the human heart--the yearning for forgiveness, justification, reconciliation; peace; joy; intimacy; goodness and justice; purpose and transcendent glory.
8. I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
There have been a few times in my life when I've tried to get away from God, either via skepticism or sin. A subjective measure again, I know, but when I trust God, I'm at peace and experience joy. When I don't, I'm not and I don't.
I conclude the Holy Spirit's seal on my heart is like a rubber band: no matter how far I stretch and strain to get away, I end up snapping back. I don't think I can get away from God.
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Do I know 100% that Jesus is real and when I die I'll be with Him face to face?
Not 100%, no.
But I'm pretty convinced that nothing else is more likely. You've gotta place your bets somewhere. Even if you ignore the question, you're betting in the end it'll all work out. Like Gregory Koukl above, I've decided my best bet is all in on Jesus.
