Why Christianity
What is Christianity?
That's a good question. I'm so glad
you asked. The term Christian is defined, as much by what it actually means as
by what it does not mean. There are many misconceptions in the
world perpetrated by non-Christians and Christians themselves. To make matters
more complicated there are many religions and denominations using the same
instruction manual, (the Bible) but coming up with different rules for life. It
can all be very mind-boggling.
My Christianity defined: A person
who is a follower of Christ. Christians believe that Jesus lived, died and rose
again. He, was born from a virgin, is the ONLY son of God, yet still God, God in man form, God in the Flesh. We believe: He lived a
perfect sinless life, healed many people of their sicknesses, raised a couple
of folks from the dead, was crucified on the cross for our sins, rose from the
dead, was loved because of what He did but despised for who He is. He
declared Himself as God among men and spoke of God in heaven.
Some of the misconceptions come
from trying to pick. Pick. Pick. Pick. “I'm gonna pick this part, but not that
part.” “This sounds reasonable, but the rest is just fiction.” Only with
humanity's religious books do we do this. Pick what we like. We don't pick a
house and only live in the parts of it “we agree with.” The Bible is not a menu
and neither is Christianity. If you're picking, and using the “it's written by
women hating control freaks,” excuse, than you are giving yourself away as
never having investigated the Bible on your own. There are college professors
that teach the Christian religion causes wars and genocide. But all of those historical things can be
attributed to people calling themselves Christians who were actually PICKERS.
That's right. They picked one part but not the other.
Don't be a Picker!
Why the Bible? Why Jesus?
I know there are people who find it
easier to believe in unicorns and vampires than to believe in Jesus. They can except He once walked
the rocky roads of Israel, but not that He was the Messiah foretold, Son of God
and God in the Flesh.
It's a faith thing, partly, but it
is also a discovery thing.
Lot's of people can say He was a
man who lived and had a few good teachings, but the rest doesn't fit into their
choice of explanations. Many of these same
people have never read the Bible (God's instruction manual) never researched
it, (and/or) never tired to find
explanations beyond what someone else has told them. I encourage you to do
that. Please do that. Read both the "for
and against". Read books by those who
were once against Christianity, Jesus, and all conceivable organized religions,
and are now for Jesus.
Most importantly, READ the Bible
itself. Cause it's all in there. All of it. Go about your discoveries with a
scientific mind. Ask questions. Find answers. Challenge your own preconceived
notions and those of others around you. These actions are what the Bible calls
“a firm foundation.” By doing this you create a knowledge base that not even an
earthquake can move.
Sadly, some Christians never built
their own foundation. They try to make a shack on someone else's hard work
expecting to inherit a nice, pre-made foundation...only to find that it
dissolves in the first heavy rain storm. That is to say, pickers
don't usually last very long.
A foundation is built with
“chapter” and “verse.” It consists
of bricks and mortar tested and tried by millions of other regular people
before you. A foundation is more than personal experience or flashy feeling although those things are actually important too, because Christ is a Living God, and active God, a God we can experience and feel. Combine the experience of the Lord, with the word of the Lord and one builds a foundation that can not by shaken or shattered by any storm.
So. First test the Bible. Find out
why Christians have trusted their souls to it for two thousand years. Find out
why the Jews, and even Muslims trusted in it's beginnings. (The Old Testament)
Find out how it all works together. See where
history agrees. See where history is uncertain.
It's not an easy journey. Hey, were
talking to the answers to the question “Why am I here?” life and death, hope
and peace. It shouldn't be easy.
Why Jesus? Because He is whom He said
He was. He is the Son of God. He came to earth to tell mankind how to love and
how to live, to seek and save the lost. He lived a sinless life, but not an easy life, an example to us
all. Because being God, He loves us. He loves us so much.
God's love was the start of my own
journey. I felt my imperfection young. My sin, if you will. I hated it and
myself. Dirty. Corrupted. Nothing I ever did or ever could do would make me
clean until the Love of God touched my heart. Until God said, “I have chosen
you.” He said that. It's in the Bible, in the Book of John. He said it in print
and in my heart. “I have chosen YOU. I will never leave you or forsake you. I
know you." Yep...all in His written word and all in my heart. He said it.
Knowing that I was a liar and a little thief. Knowing that I had done bad
things and would continue to do bad things. Knowing how my life would look in
the years to come. He said “I have chosen YOU. I will clean you and you will be
as white as snow. I will wash you. Come, obey My word and walk with Me.”
If you begin your journey, if you
don't pick, you will hear Jesus say the same to YOU. Because He didn't stay nailed to a cross. Roman soldiers
took his corpse down, and put Him in a tomb. Three days later His body went
missing, after that, over 500 people saw Him walking around, talking, and
eating. Living. Christianity is the ONLY religion with a risen savior. An alive
Savior.
Go. Read
about it. Start with the Book of John in the New Testament. Matthew, Luke, and
Mark are the same events from different writers. Read those too. Then read the
Book of Acts, about what happened after. After Acts, there is so much
more. The letter's from men who knew Jesus. The Old Testament, which tells
about Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses and King David...the History of God's
people. The Law God gave his people so they could lead happy lives,
but which they couldn't seem to fully obey. The Law, which Jesus fulfilled. The
answers to, “will I go to Heaven or will I be condemned to Hell?” and “Why do
bad things happen?” are all there. And that's "why Christianity".
That's why the Bible and why Jesus, because He has all the answers. Sometimes
we don't like the answers. Sometimes they are not easy, but it's all there, in
Jesus.