Christianity, world religions, and philosophies - Is there really any difference?

Our search for the origin of the universe and the beginning and development of life on earth has led us directly to the Creator. But which god is the true God? In order to find the truth we must be willing to open ourselves to possibilities, to alternatives. We must be willing to look wherever the truth may be found. We must not be willing to settle for tradition, or public opinion, or partial truth. We must be willing to ask who is God? What is the truth?

According to Bertrand Russell, in The art of philosophizing (New York, NY: Philosophical Library, 1968). The first thing to realize … "is that most people go through life with a whole world of beliefs that have no sort of rational justification, and that one man’s world of beliefs is apt to be incompatible with another man’s, so that they cannot both be right. People’s opinions are mainly designed to make them comfortable; truth, for most people is a secondary consideration." This is a hard statement, but it opens the door for a plea for reason; for a search for truth and an abandoning of lies accepted in the form of tradition.

People generally form their belief system from what they observe around them. As infants and toddlers this means we accept the beliefs of those who raise us, whether good or bad, as truth. For growing children, the home is still the primary center for determining our point of view, but outside educators begin to fill an inner need to satisfy our curiosity about ourselves, our world, and our place in it. As teenagers we struggle with a great need for acceptance, our friends become the new center for determining what is important to us. Once we reach adulthood all these sources merge into a tapestry of our conscious and unconscious beliefs and values.

This is why loving parents are so important in developing a child who will become a responsible caring adult. This is why it is important whom we select as our friends. We tend to assimilate their beliefs as our own. This is also why choosing our educators carefully is important. Our educators help shape whether we view the world through natural eyes or spiritual eyes. Whether our educators are the public school system alone, the church alone, or a combination of the two will determine to a large extent our belief system.

Studies show that a child raised by an abusive parent is statistically more likely to become an abusive parent than a child raised in a caring environment. It has also been shown that a child of non-religious parents is statistically less likely to become religious than a child raised in a religious environment. The reverse is also true, as a child raised to see the spiritual side of life is more likely to become an adult who believes that there is more to life than what the eye can perceive. We are to a large degree a product of our environment in that our environment shapes our perception of the truth. The truth, however, remains the truth.

No matter what our upbringing, or education, one fact remains; ultimately each of us is responsible for our own decisions and beliefs. We may be greatly influenced by parents, educators, and friends, but we are all still responsible for listening to that still small voice deep down inside each of us that tells us when something is right and true. Unfortunately, many people don’t want to hear this voice, so they ignore it, or worse, they silence it. Sometimes it is silenced with a bottle, a bag of dope, or an illicit affair. Sometimes it is silenced with education. Sometimes it is silenced with overachievement and goals. Sometimes it is silenced with religion.

Alcohol, drugs, and sex destroy the lives of those who become addicted to them. It takes great courage and strength to face the truth of addiction. Those who accept the truth, and find the courage can escape. For those who don’t, their lives end up empty, shattered, and wasted. Even those who do try to break free of this bondage, often spend the rest of their lives struggling for control. The voice of freedom calls, but they cannot let go of the physical.

Education is a truly wonderful thing, but it can become the god of life. This is when the learner seeks ever more knowledge, hoping in vain that it will satisfy the need of the heart. But, accumulating facts cannot grant peace, and the hunger remains. Eventually, the heart can become so hardened that partial facts take the place of ultimate truth. The voice of wisdom calls, but they cannot let go of the their facts.

Hard work can reap many benefits, recognition, power, money, physical comfort. But it is never enough for the overachiever. There is always more you could do, more you could have, and so the work continues. Any satisfaction is temporary. Even when work is done unselfishly for someone else, there is more you could have done. The voice of rest calls, but they are too busy to let go of their works.

When the voice is silenced by religion, people are seldom willing to face the truth. Yes, my subject matter is still the truth of Christianity, but I must first take this detour to get to an essential point - seek truth and not religion. (Gasp, did he really say that?!) False religion does not satisfy, and the individual must constantly decide whether to abandon the religion or bury themselves deeper into its beliefs. The fear of death and the unknown are so great that accepting a lie seems more comforting. The voice of faith calls them, but they cannot let go of their man-made religion.

None of these things can truly satisfy for long. Time after time the voice returns. Only when you listen to the voice and find the truth, can you truly be set free.

There are many reasons why we silence the voice within, but the most powerful reason is that it is drowned out by another voice - the one in our head. This is the voice of our learned belief system. It is usually accompanied by low self-esteem and fear. The other voice too often sounds like this; "your worthless, you'll never amount to anything". How we respond determines our life's course.

We can give up, surrender to this belief, and settle for less than our best. Defeated before we begin, we will be easy prey for the addictions of alcohol, sex, and drugs. Or we can fight back. Unfortunately, if we are not aware of what our belief system is saying to us, we will spend the rest of our lives trying to out run a poor self image and never even know it. We are often simply running in fear, if we are constantly dissatisfied, and always desiring more; more degrees, more money, more projects, more friends, more stuff.

Most of us come to the point where we recognize there are no lasting answers in defeat or running, so we search for a deeper meaning to life. If we listen to the voice within, we will realize what we need is a relationship with God. What we too often settle for is a religion, though we don't always call it by that name. Sometimes we call it our philosophy of life, but it serves the same purpose. It gives meaning to our life by explaining why we are here, why life is so hard, and what happens to us when we die. Religion takes on many forms in our world, including:

Since all of these belief systems conflict with one another they cannot all be right. But, one must also recognize they all do contain some, maybe even a lot of, truth. Since we build our belief system on a lifetime of experience and learning it is very difficult to accept that our beliefs might be wrong. We are comfortable in our beliefs, and we find assurance in the truth they contain. The problem is we often carry a lot of untrue baggage with us that we accept without really questioning why.

Natural cause is the belief that all things can be explained without invoking a god. Those who accept natural cause as their base point of reality claim to have little use for religion. They believe we have only the present. Like a flower we are here only a little while and then we are gone. One thing we can all agree on, in the end all our studying and hard work are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Another thing we can all agree on, physical death is waiting for all of us. Science may prolong life, but it cannot stop death from coming.

Natural cause is usually associated with the beliefs of scientists. In all fairness, the scientists seldom consider science their religion and many do recognize that eternity is calling. This is good since complete truth is not found in the pages of any science book. There are holes in the explanations of creation and life given by science that I believe can only be understood as the working of God in the universe. Education and science cannot save your eternal soul.

This of course assumes that you have an eternal soul in need of saving. The eternal soul, or more properly the spirit, cannot be seen or measured. Thus, it cannot be detected by direct observation, even with the best scientific equipment. So couldn't the spirit be just an idea in our head? Couldn't the spirit be just wishful thinking? We cannot see or measure love directly, but we all agree it is real, and not wishful thinking. There is a mystery to the way we react when we hold a newborn baby, even when it is not our own. Just as there is a mystery we feel when confronted with a beautiful sunrise.

Christian recording artist Carolyn Arends, in a recent song explained the mystery this way, "it's all in code and we can't decode it, or maybe we won't". We know. We may not admit it, but the voice deep inside each of us confirms the truth. Just as when we see something evil happening around us, deep inside, we know - we know it is wrong. We know. We know God is real.

Admitting they cannot disprove the existence of God or the eternality of the spirit, many naturalism followers choose to remain willfully unconvinced. Since, they reason, they have never seen God and they can never recall Him speaking directly to them, if He does exist, then he must not require much of them. Besides they are certain they are pretty OK as far as people go. They aren't serial killers. They aren't rapists. They have never been convicted of a felony.

Isn't it amazing how we can always find someone we can compare ourselves to that convinces us we are not too bad. We never seem to compare ourselves to the old lady down the street, who has nothing, yet would give her last dime to help some "poor" person. We do our little community service volunteer thing, which satisfies our feelings about our goodness, while remaining totally unaware of the needs of our next-door neighbors. When it comes right down to it, we are not that good. We will occasionally lie to protect our pride (or our hide). We often steal time from our employers (we may even steal company property - after all we reason, they owe it to us). We are selfish, self centered, and rude. We may never act on our lustful thoughts, but we have all had them. We are capable of letting anger at someone's misdeeds fester in our hearts for years, where we mentally kill them daily. We may be able to name others who are seemingly more wicked and depraved than we are, but we are not all that good.

God is real - we know it. Our spirit has become separated from the eternal by our own failings - we can sense it. We have a God given spirit that needs to worship, and it needs to worship in truth. We need to admit what we are, and seek a healing solution. The solution is God. Those who hold the naturalistic world view, usually are quick to say, "Fine, let's say I am willing to believe in a god - which one is the real God?" I'm glad you asked!

Buddhism stresses the need for enlightenment as ignorance is blamed for mankind's plight. Certainly, we can agree, ignorance has caused an awful lot of the heartache and pain we see in the world. Buddhism also stresses peaceful coexistence with all men, and with nature. There is a respect for life that is truly amazing, to the extent that it is considered wrong by many to kill even an insect. A great emphasis is also placed on discipline in the denying of self. Sounds real good, but there is a problem.

Some sects of Buddhism have deified Buddha, but he never made such a claim about himself. As we have seen in this series of articles, the universe itself declares God’s glory and existence. Buddhism misses this obvious truth just as naturalism does, in believing there is no Creator God. The universe is seen as operating by the laws of cause and effect. A Man's current suffering is believed to be the result of misdeeds in a former life. Unless he can obtain perfection of thought and deed it is believed he is destined to the further suffering of being reborn. The only way to break free of a cycle of death / rebirth, according to Buddhism, is to end the desires of the flesh, which are caused by ignorance, and result in more suffering. This is attempted through discipline and teachings on enlightenment.

The belief of Buddhism is that you can achieve eternal peace on your own through discipline. This is unrealistic according to Biblical teaching, since none can achieve this level of perfection, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The followers of this philosophy generally agree only the Buddhist priests have obtained anywhere near the level of enlightenment needed to break the cycle. So for the average Buddhist, the belief they will attain priestly status in the next life is their only hope for eternal peace. Christians receive priestly status in this life.

What the Buddhist people think they need is someone to teach them right thought. But no matter how many lives you might live, it will never be enough to enter perfect peace through your own efforts. What the Buddhist really needs is someone who is truly enlightened to exchange places with them in this life. A High Priest who will carry the weight of their suffering. One who has the right thoughts and right deeds that can take the place of their own impure thoughts and deeds. What the people need is someone who has the authority to break the chains of the natural laws, thus allowing the people to escape suffering the penalty of the natural laws. The only one who can control the natural laws is the one who created them in the first place. That one is Jesus.

Yes, life is often hard, and sometimes there is a lot of pain, but I find there is far more joy in living than misery. The good far outweighs the bad. If you disagree then maybe Buddhism should be your religion of choice, but first, may I suggest you take this day and rejoice in it, giving thanks and praise. Forget the past with its troubles, look forward to tomorrow. Seize the day! Apply all your disciplined effort into the attainment of this goal: Seek the one who can take your place. Jesus!

Buddha was originally named Siddhartha Gautama. He was raised in the Hindu culture. His father was a king. He was raised in great luxury, sheltered from the outside world. He found his life of luxury meaningless and abandoned it along with its' comforts to seek enlightenment. Except, he didn't abandon all of his former life. The reincarnation beliefs of Buddhism were directly borrowed from Siddhartha Gautama's childhood religion of Hinduism.

Hindu worshipers believe in many gods. Followers pick the gods they will worship. Many choose the gods they have created with their own hands. The history of the Hindu religion is chaotic but appears to indicate that they once believed in the one true God, and their many statues were but representations of one of His attributes. Over time, the statues came to represent little gods under the one God, until finally the statues were believed to be indwelled by a god or actually became a god.

In this belief system it is thought everything in the universe is God. Hindus reject the Christian concept that God exists outside and independent of the universe. But the universe had a beginning. Science clearly confirms this point. At the moment of the big bang, time and space also began. The cause, the Creator, - God - must exist outside of the universe. This is a basic doctrine of Judeo-Christian belief and the evidence supports it. The universe is clearly not God.

Hindu culture is also heavily based on the caste system. This is highly contrary to western thought. In the caste system, the social position that you are born into determines what your life will be like. You cannot climb above the class that you are born into, this is because your birth position was determined by your past life. So if you are poor, you deserved it. If you are the son of a rich ruler, you earned it by your past deeds. The only hope for the masses in the Hindu culture is to acquire a better rebirth by good works, devotion to a god made with their own hands, or through knowledge in a manner similar to Buddhism's enlightenment.

Viewed from a Biblical perspective, Hindu believers worship the creation (originally seen as attributes of God) and not the Creator. By creating their own gods in the form of wood and stone statues, Hinduism, violates the first and second of the ten commandments; Thou shalt have none other gods before me and Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. I admit Hindu beliefs are not proven wrong just because they are in direct opposition to Muslim, Jewish, and Christian teaching. However it has already been shown that the universe is not God. It is also just as obvious, to all but the Hindu believer, that the wood and stone god statues cannot help anyone attain Nirvana. The Hindus, under their system, must try to work their way to eternal bliss on their own. Since no one can be perfect enough to earn eternal peace, the Hindus have developed a system that offers them multiple lives to reach this goal. A noble but meaningless effort.

What the Hindu people think they need is to be reborn into a higher class so they can be served, giving them more time to work on their need for perfection. But isn't it the rich, the powerful, and the religious leaders who have held them in bondage to the caste system? What the people need is to be born again as a servant. There is no more noble a class in life than that of one who gives his life to serve another. Even more, the people need a perfect servant who will allow his works, devotion, and knowledge to be counted in place of their own imperfect deeds and actions. One who even while they still reject him, will give his very life to gain their eternal life. What the people need is Jesus.

A modern offshoot of Hinduism is the New Age movement. Remember that scene in the movie "Out on a limb" where Shirley MacLaine stands on the beach before the ocean and declares, "I am God!" That is the very essence of the New Age religion. Picture it in your mind. You can almost hear the ocean in defiance pounding the shoreline demanding that the waves, and not this little person, are God. Meanwhile, the sun beats down on the waves causing the water to evaporate, so the sun might claim it is God. Still, the air holds the water, collecting it into huge clouds, and then blows the clouds about with its mighty winds. So the air might be God, except that the earth's gravity eventually overcomes the air and pulls the waters back down in a mighty storm. The earth then could be God, for out of it life springs forth in abundance, the flowers, the birds, and Shirley. The earth however, would remain lifeless if not for the air, the waves, and the sun.

Any of these things might be claimed as God, but they are not. All of them together might be thought of as composing the whole of God, but they do not. It should easily be seen that all these things have limits, even when combined. God is not limited. Beyond the limits of space and time the eternal one looks at the creation of His hands and quietly declares through it, "I am that I am". Can't you hear Him?

Many people in the world fall into the error of New Age thought, by worshipping things that are not God. The earth is not God; it is His creation. Crystals are lovely but they cannot hear your prayers. The stars are glowing nuclear furnaces. They are not gods who guide our lives. Mediums cannot get in touch with the dead. The telephone psychics so popular today cannot tell the future. At best they have vivid imaginations, or are con artists. At worst satanic angels are guiding them. Either way, all these things are tools of death, because they cannot save your soul. Material possessions, money, power and authority are other gods that are common to man. These things are of no value when faced with death.

The Muslims know there is a God, and only one God. He is not made of wood or stone by man’s hand. He is eternal, the Creator of the universe, and the giver of life. The Muslims also rightly reject multiple lives as a way of gaining eternal life.

The Muslims share some common heritage with Jews and Christians, although they believe Jews and Christians have perverted the Scriptures. The common link is that Muslims claim Abraham as their ancestral father. The Muslims are believed to be descended from Ishmael, the son of Hagar. Hagar was the servant girl of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. The Muslims accept Moses as a prophet, but reject the Bible’s claim that God’s blessing is through Isaac. The Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet, but deny He is the promised Messiah.

The Muslims also reject the Christian concept of the Trinity, one God in three persons. The Muslims believe Christians worship three God’s instead of the one true God. Frankly, is it any wonder the Muslims believe this? How many Christians do you know that can explain the Trinity well enough that you can say they really understand what they claim to believe. The Trinity, like the cliché says, is like electricity, we can see the result of its working but most of us find it difficult trying to explain it.

The question one must ask is, can the Muslim religion be reasoned true or false? First, we must examine the practices of Muslims: Every Muslim has 5 duties:

The problem with the Muslim religion upon closer examination is that it is a religion of works. God is seen as impersonal and unknowable, salvation is never assured. What happens if you never make it to Mecca? Well it does say if possible. O.K. but just how good do you have to be to make it to paradise? What if you only pray four times a day once in a while, or what if you sometimes merely recite prayers without really meaning them? What if occasionally you fail to give the fully required amount to charity? What if you question Muhammad’s teaching on one point or another? Your obligation as a Muslim is to fulfill all of the duties. As has been stated over and over, no one can do it perfectly.

What the Muslim people think they need is more devotion and more obedience. What they really need is rest from their work. What they need is grace. They need someone to stand before God on their behalf; someone loved by God like a father loves a son. A Son who can request, and will receive, a pardon for their failure to obey fully. A Son who would willingly die for them to gain this pardon. Jesus.

Through Moses, God gave the Jews the law. At the center of the law are the ten commandments. The purpose of the law was to allow the Jewish nation to see their sinfulness. God always knew no one could fully live up to His law that is why He established the system of animal sacrifices to atone for, or cover, the sins of His people. The sacrifices gave the Jews a visual reminder of the consequences of their disobedience. The penalty for sin is death.

The Jews of old should have fallen on their faces before God and cried out for mercy because of their inability to obey the law. Instead they made up rules of their own to add on top of God’s laws, and they worked very hard at looking holy. They did a good job by man's standards. But though they may have looked clean on the outside, inside they remained as filthy rags before God (Isa 64:6). This is not an attack against the Jewish nation, as a Christian I believe they will always remain a special people before God. Instead this is a statement against all who attempt to be holy by their own works. It just doesn't work. The Jewish people under their religious system suffer much the same problem as the other religions. How can anyone be good enough? No one can, and that is the point.

Today, the Jews like the rest of mankind, cannot obey the laws of God, or even their own laws, and they are no longer able to sacrifice to atone for their sin. God still loves them and God did not fail them, rather their religion has failed.

If God gave the commandments to the Jews, then how can it be that God did not fail them by giving them an impossible religion? Why do the Jewish people themselves have to take the blame for not living up to God's impossibly perfect standard? It is because attainment of the goal in God's plan is within their reach. The Jewish Scriptures from beginning to end point to the Messiah, the anointed one of God who will lead the people into God's presence. Acceptance of the Christ is fulfillment of the law of Moses.

What the Jewish nation of old longed for was the coming of the Savior. What the Jewish people of today need to understand is that He has already come in full agreement with the prophets. When He comes again it will be as judge. Hasn't there already been enough judgment in your life? Now is the time to receive mercy. Now is the time to fulfill the law. Now is the time to invite Jesus into your life.

Throughout this article we have presented the basic beliefs of the various world religions. Then we have attempted to address where they fall short in their claims to satisfy the needs of their followers. Jesus has been professed as the true answer to these needs. Keep that in mind as we ask, what about Christianity?

Since the world religions all fall short, surely the Christian religion must be perfect in every way then, right? Wrong. A terrible tragedy has occurred over the last two thousand years. Christianity today is often just another of the world religions, and not a relationship as it was intended. Many will have trouble accepting this, but it is true. Rest assured we did not invent this error it has been here since the beginning.

The Biblical book of Galatians warns of the dangers of adding religious works to the freedom of Christ. The books of first and second Corinthians instruct big babies in the faith to grow up and stop hurting each other with their super spirituality. The book of Ephesians is a book written to the mature in the faith, so it is especially sad that a few years later in the book of Revelations we read the warning from Jesus that the church in Ephesus had left their first love. The Ephesians were doing great, mighty things by human standards but they were doing them for the wrong reasons.

The Ephesians' works were done out of religious duty and not out of the love of one forgiven and loved by God. Similarly, today we have made the organization of "Church" so important that we nearly worship it. When the organization fails an individual they are destroyed. When the injured limp away the organization sees them as unspiritual. Pastors and Priests are raised almost to the level of idols. When the clergy fall, the follower’s faith is shaken, which is as it should be, since their faith is misplaced. Please don't misunderstand; I still believe the Church is God’s chosen tool to reach the weary and troubled world. Many are being saved daily, but in its puffed up pride and arrogance the Church is leaving many damaged victims behind. The Church is stumbling; it is slowly turning away from the path of righteousness. But the Church will never completely fall away for in Matthew 16:18 we read ...and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Church does and will continue to serve God's purpose.

As we turn away from God, we turn towards religion. Religion causes division not unity. We have turned God’s free gift into a religion of works. God’s plan is so simple, but we erect hurdles in the path. When the hurdles get too easy to jump we raise them, and add a few new ones. The Christian religion has become virtually no different from the world religions. The wording is different but the method is the same.

If I confess Jesus as my LORD, and personal savior, why would I say such things?

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5 NIV)

I have heard the rhetoric of the world with its religions as they bash one another in the name of God. I have heard it, and I am not interested. I am only interested in the truth; I believe you are as well. The truth is Jesus. The truth shall set you free.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Mat 22:36-39 NIV)

I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." (John 13:20 NIV)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:6-7 NIV)

To get to our destination, we have traveled through some dark and rough territory. The truth is now all that remains. The truth stands bright and shining before us.

Christianity in its pure form is not a religion or a philosophy. It is a relationship. To enter this relationship one must first be able to recognize the hand of God at work through His creation. Since God has clearly shown Himself to us, through creation, this is the easy part. As we have seen most of the major world religions recognize the existence and attributes of God.

The next step is where man invariably gets bogged down. Because man recognizes he is separated from God (eternal peace to the Buddhist - knowledge in the eyes of naturalism) he attempts to get to God. Man usually attempts this by the works of his own hands and the reasoning of his own mind. This is the very essence of religion, which is man’s attempt to reach God. The truth one must recognize is that all of mankind's attempts to reach God are fruitless. We cannot be good enough, noble enough, or work hard enough to earn God’s acceptance. We already have it.

Christianity is not an attempt to reach God, rather it is an acknowledgment that God has reached us. This was accomplished when the Creator of the universe became a baby lying in a manager. Jesus lived a life in perfect agreement with what the Father had instructed Him to do. This angered the religious and political powers of the day, because His authority took away their man-made authority. Jesus was beaten, spit on, tried and executed. The really cool thing is that His death on the cross was planned by God to be the payment for our disobedience. Accepting His sacrifice as payment for your personal disobedience, and choosing to follow Him is all that is necessary to become a Christian.

Living as a Christian is not about performing religious duties and rituals. It is being filled with the desire to serve God in whatever we do because we are consumed with love for Him. This is what makes Jesus unique; we do not love Him because we must or He will turn us away, no in fact it is quite the opposite. We love Him because at one time, while we still hated Him and refused Him entrance into our lives, He continued to shower many blessings upon us. He continued to love us with patience and mercy. All the while He was waiting in gentle quiet humility for us to recognize our need for Him.

Even now, as a believer, God does not force His will on me. He only wants what I am freely willing to give. Because I know this truth, I want to give Him everything. I want to surrender every thought, every action, and every work, to Him. God is love, and He will fill you with that love IF you let Him. All He asks in return is that you share His love with others.

I have heard it argued, "how can God be love if he sends people to hell?" You see God sends no one to hell, they choose to go there, by their own words they will be judged. God made hell for Satan and his demons, along with all who do not want to be in the presence of the LORD. They chose to go there. Now you may say, "what about those who never hear about Jesus?" You don't know what opportunities God has placed in their path giving them the chance to know the truth. But you do know this; you cannot use this as an excuse any longer because you have been clearly told the truth. Your welcome.

In the classic work "The Practice of the Presence of God" we read it is necessary that "we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence, by continually conversing with Him". We continue to be flesh, believing does not change that for now. In this flesh we will fail, often. The failings can cause us to try and hide from God, just as Adam did in the garden. When you hide from God's presence you stop talking to Him. You try not to think about Him. You step out of the light and into the darkness. When you walk around in the dark you can get hurt. It is necessary that we place our failings between us and God instead of hiding them, for this is where we can be released from them. There is great power and great freedom in the presence of the LORD. The most painful suffering in the light of the LORD is far more satisfying than the greatest joy in the darkness of His absence.

God has a plan for the universe and for you. God is willing to forgive you for not cooperating with his plan. You cannot earn this forgiveness. God will grant His forgiveness freely if you will admit you have not recognized God’s plan for your life and if you accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as penalty for your sin.

The God of Genesis is the God of creation. The facts of nature and the theories of science do not deny this truth. In fact they support it. The Jesus of the Bible is the God of creation as the New Testament claims and as the facts of history confirm. This is not religious talk. There is more proof of the life death and resurrection of Jesus than there is that Alexander the Great even existed. Bet you never read that in any history book. The truth is so wonderful, why has it just been pushed aside and hidden? The reason is the same as it was for the Pharisees and the Roman officials. Acknowledging the truth requires one to abandon the preconceived but wrong belief system already in place in your life and relinquish any power or control you may have, however small or temporary, as a result of the false belief system. Are you willing to give up your limited control and your false beliefs?

You have now been confronted with the truth. For those who believe, it is the good news of the gospel of peace. For those who reject it, it is foolishness. But it is still the truth. Take a moment to meditate on the truth before moving on.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 KJV)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

God, Genesis and the big bang

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