Top 10 Reasons for My Christian Faith

For a number of years I felt compelled to list and explain the reasons why I believe in Jesus my Lord and Savior. I don't have much of a speaking ability but I want to leave this testimony for those who might pass this way. Each of the reasons listed below links to a separate post.

#10: The Futility of Naturalism
The philosophy of Naturalism teaches that everything that happens in the physical world can be explained by the "laws of Nature", i.e. there is no Supernatural agent, and thus no existential purpose in life...You can't fully comprehend the futility of Naturalism until you grasp the meaning of Eternity...(more)

#9: The Undeniable Presence of Evil

The Bible presents heaven and earth as the creation of an all-powerful God, who himself declared it to be good. It also presents the conflict that arises when man pursues independence from God and becomes subject to the power of evil...This human evil - that was introduced by "the original sin" - is unique in creation...(more)

#8: The Declaration of Creation
The more I learn about the universe, the more I appreciate the miraculous Power that crafted it, and the more thankful I am for this little blue speck we call Earth...(more)

#7: Messianic Prophecy
Jewish Rabbis and Church Fathers both recognized these prophecies as Messianic, but the fulfillment of these prophecies in the life of Jesus reveal the astonishing surprise ending...(more)

#6: The New Covenant
Number 6 on my top 10 reasons for faith in Jesus is the New Covenant - the covenant of Grace, sealed by the blood of Jesus, which provides the promise of redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life...(more)

#5: The Resurrection
The defining reason why Christians over the millennia have professed faith in Jesus is the resurrection. Without the resurrection there would be no Christian faith...(more)

#4: The Preposterous Gospel of Christ
The gospel message itself is called "foolishness" to the nations of this world, and a "stumbling block" to the Jews whom Christ came to reach first. Of all the improbable ways to start, this kingdom began with the King himself being whipped and hung naked on a cross to suffer and die with criminals...(more)

#3: The Last Days
We are living in the last days. Today Christ the Messiah reigns at the right hand of God in the midst of His enemies. There is a coming day of wrath when Christ will return with the host of heaven to remove His enemies from creation and give eternal peace and joy to the people of God...(more)

#2: The Faith of Our Fathers
Hebrews chapter 11 lists many fathers of our faith, in chronological order, which the author calls a "cloud of witnesses". Their testimony of the faithfulness of God, and the testimony of our Christian heritage provides me with my Number 2 reason for faith in Jesus...(more)

#1: The Holy Spirit in Me
The conviction of the Holy Spirit and the word of faith was breaking down the walls of skepticism and leading me to repentance. I had to accept a lot of things I didn't understand, but felt that I had found the source of life and hope. The truth of this matter is that He found me!...(more)

Faith #10: The Futility of Naturalism

To start my list of reasons for faith in Jesus the Messiah, I chose The Futility of Naturalism.

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

John 6:67-68

Some time before I began my new life of faith, I was aware of the futility of life without God. I began to doubt the existence of God as a young teenager.  Even though my parents were models of Christian behavior and raised me in a Presbyterian church, I could not accept the Christian faith in the face of what I was learning in school.

School taught me that I was a product of millions of years of evolutionary change that began in a swamp of protein activated by lightning or some random phenomenon. Society taught me that God was an invisible concept that had little bearing on people's everyday lives. It didn't require much for my inquisitive mind to conclude that there is no God, and around eighth grade I became a skeptic. 

Being an adolescent skeptic caused me to spend hours contemplating the meaning and purpose of life. Some people use the term "God-shaped hole in your heart" to describe the emptiness you feel when you have no purpose. You see, the philosophy of Naturalism teaches that everything that happens in the physical world can be explained by the "laws of Nature", i.e. there is no Supernatural agent, and thus no existential purpose in life.

That "God-shaped hole" tends to get filled with something which ends up determining the destiny of your life. Like many adolescents I tried to fill it with alcohol and other hedonistic pursuits, but God had a different plan for my life. A friend on my high school golf team finally reached me with the gospel of Christ and helped me understand the "words of eternal life".

You can't fully comprehend the futility of Naturalism until you grasp the meaning of Eternity. In the words of a song the Lord inspired in me as a young man...

Is there a purpose for me if I am just an accident of elements in time?

My conclusion is that there IS an eternal purpose, there MUST be, and if you want to find it you must believe that God has revealed it to His creation. Search the religions of this world and you will not find a revelation of God anything like that found in the Bible. The Bible reveals a loving, merciful God that saves lost souls from futility and death to live a life of eternal meaning and purpose.

Post script

The book of Ecclesiastes is all about the meaning of life and the futility of life without God. Solomon, the "Preacher" who wrote this book, was a wise man and a naturalist according to the first book of Kings...

Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. 

1 Kings 4:30,33-34

Many verses like this express the futility of Naturalism:

For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man? For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 6:11-12

The Preacher concludes his wise counsel with this:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;... 

 

Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!” 

Ecclesiastes 12:1,6-8 

The scribe of this book, writing later about Solomon's words and life, ends with this:

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 

You can live life without God and accept or ignore its futility, or you can live your life for God and experience joy and hope for eternity. God leaves us each with this choice.