Reasons for Faith

Since Antiquity (before Christianity), man has been searching for meaning to life. What is life all about? How should we conduct ourselves? How should we live our lives?

Man has thought, reasoned and rationalized. “There must be some supernatural force beyond our mortal realm!” they concluded.

Indeed, this is what drove man to worship the many gods of Antiquity. Mythical gods spawned by the natural inclination of man to worship, to find a sense of security, to grasp onto something onto which they can tether their hopes.

But while they worship the many gods that they have created, why is it so hard for man to worship the one true God? Why is it so difficult for man to realize that He alone is their source of strength? Why is man so reluctant to place their hopes on Him, even though He loves him so much?

Probably man would say, “Oh, He hasn’t shown Himself to me” or “I can’t see Him nor feel Him, so there cannot be such a god.”

When man fell, the spirit part of man died due to sin. Hence, man lost his communication with God. He can no longer sense God. But even if man does not sense him, is it true that he cannot know if God is there?

I believe that man still can know that there is a God. This is because man has a soul, which incorporates his personality, mind, thoughts and emotions. Man’s logic has led him to the conclusion that there IS a God.

Each person has an innate ability to discern between right and wrong. Even without verbal commands or written laws, man is able to tell that crimes such as stealing and killing are wrong. In other words, there exist absolute moral values. If there were no God, where would these absolute moral values come from? Surely not from man, for who’s to say one’s values are superior to another’s if there were no God. Hence, logically there has to be a God who is above the rules of man and who has set absolute moral values in the hearts of man.

What purpose would man have on earth indeed if there were no God? What does man hope to achieve here on this earth? Riches? Fame? All these can be lost in an instant. None of these physical things last forever. Imagine now, if God did not exist, where would you expect your life to be headed? What is the purpose of life? Why are we even here in the first place? Life makes more sense if God is added to the equation.

More importantly, where would we be after death? Without God, do we really have an assurance of where we will be after death? Will we just be reduced to ashes and be forgotten? Will we just go with the wind? That would no doubt be meaningless.

Much of ancient philosophy has been devoted to searching for meaning to life after death.

Plato, one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived, believed that apart from this physical world we see, there is an eternal world of ideas. He believed that every being on earth is merely a “shadow” of its perfect or ideal form in the world of ideas. What this implies is that there is, somewhere beyond this physical realm, an eternity where everything is perfect in its form. And can we not compare this to the mind of the Creator? Plato also says that the human soul longs to return to this perfect world of ideas.

In fact, many world religions have god or gods as their centre of worship. In Islam, believers who are devoted to Allah will be rewarded in heaven. In Hinduism, believers who are free from the cycle of rebirth will merge with the Cosmic Being called Brahman. What this illustrates is that man has been in a constant search for the meaning of life after death, and it can only be found in God.

So, man’s logic has led him to the conclusion that there is a God. But which one is the real one?

If Christianity were true, then the true centre of worship should be the Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All other gods would effectively be false. This is because truth is exclusive. No two contradictory things can be true at the same time. For example, Christianity asserts that there is only One God who is above heaven and earth (monotheism) while Hinduism asserts that the Cosmic Being is in all creation (pantheism). The two cannot be true at the same time. There can only be ONE truth.

Is there any basis for Christ being the way, the truth and the life?

Yes, there certainly is. God has spoken to man through His Word, where He has revealed Himself as a loving God, full of grace and mercy. He has revealed His plans for mankind’s redemption and gave His reassurance of salvation to those who believe in Him.

Though many have tried to refute the Word of God by claiming technical and doctrinal errors or contradictions, they have failed in their bitter endeavour to discount it as mere fables or manmade stories. In fact, so many attacks have been made by scholars from other religions, atheists and agnostics on Christianity in recent years, yet it has withstood them all, prevailing against scrutiny and standing up to close examination.

Hence, dear brothers and sisters, there is no doubt that the Lord is the only true God, our Maker and our Judge. He deserves our wholehearted worship and our deepest reverence and fear. But most of all, He deserves our unconditional love because He first loved us.

Therefore, hold on to the faith that you have. Persevere and you shall be given the crown of life! Amen.

In His service,

Brian Chee