Faith Essay Research Paper Knowing GodIn the

Faith Essay, Research Paper

Knowing God

In the scriptures we read of relationships that people like the apostles had with Jesus. The friendships that they had were deep and personal. They were also challenging. Jesus challenged the disciples regualarly as well as encouraged them. He warned them of the evil they were to oppose. He also healed them and disciplined them accordingly.

A personal relationship with Jesus has first to do with meeting him. For some who personally walked in the time of Christ, He simply called out their names and said, come follow me. For those of us who can’t see him, we have to find God on a different level. We have to hear of Him and His teachings. We have to think about the beliefs that surround the idea and theology of Christ. We have to determine if we are going to accept that as truth, and ultimately follow in the footsteps of the apostles. The Bible informs us that God is always there knocking on the door of our hearts, and all we have to do is turn to him and let him in, and choose to follow Him with our whole heart. Thinking that God exists is much different than knowing in your heart that God exists.

Let’s begin with my belief that there is a God. In my mind God exists because I believe he exists. Even if I didn’t exist, I believe that God would still exist. There is too much “evidence” with the earth and the historical facts that point toward a creator. I think it would be foolishness not to believe. Lee Strobel says in his book “The Case For Christ” – For me it would have been more foolish to continue on in my atheism than to accept Christ. (paraphrased) I agree with that statement. I don’t know all there is to know about the evidences of Jesus Christ, but I have experienced something in my life. Something personal, and loving, and merciful, and I would call him Lord. If evidence at some point is strong enough to prove to me that God doesn’t exist, I will still believe in Him.

I believe that God wants all people to come to a saving knowledge of Him. I don’t think God wants anyone to die and go to hell. I believe this because I have come to think of God as loving and merciful. Loving because I know I am saved from death. Loving because I have a roof over my head, and food to eat, and a wife who loves me, and a church family who cares about me, and this beautiful earth to enjoy, and a solid Christian education, and the list could go on forever. If God were not loving he would be a contradiction of himself, and that is not possible – that is if God exists – which I believe he does. Therefor, to me, God is loving. He is also merciful. Merciful because my sins have been forgiven, and they continue to be forgiven, even today. He is merciful because he allows me to live when I deserve death. He gives me a life serving him when I should be cast out from him. My God is loving and merciful. I have experienced it! I have seen it!

The only other core belief that I will talk about is Jesus’ death and resurrection. I believe Jesus came to this earth to live a perfect life as a testimony to the awesome power of God, and to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. I believe Jesus was crucified on a cross. I believe he died. I believe that 3 days later he rose from the dead and accended to heaven. I believe he will come back for me. I also believe that the only way for a person to be forgiven of their sins and accepted into heaven, is for them to believe this and to ask forgiveness from Christ, and change their actions.

Why do I believe these things. I believe God exists because historical evidence and findings point toward an ordered universe, not the evolutionary, happen stance world that darwinists believe in. I believe God exists because some things in life are too perfect to have been chance. For example: of all the planets, the earth’s atmosphere is the only one that is ideal for sustaining human life. Next let’s take the human life as an example. Our bodies are designed much too precisely to have just appeared. The inner workings of our bodies are so perfectly designed to keep us functioning properly. How the skin repairs itself when damaged. How the eyes see. The ability of our brains to reason. No animal has the reasoning capabilities that we do. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evidence for God’s existence.

Reasons why I believe that God is loving a merciful, include most of the reasons I listed above. I have a roof over my head, and food to eat etc. But it goes deeper than that. I think of it as a direct reference to the character of Christ. What is God like. He is not unlike us as humans except that he is perfect. He feels emotional pain like we do. He reasons and thinks like we do. I believe he cries tears exactly the way we do. Psalm 91:14 says ” Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.” Based on this verse, which is only one of hundreds, the Lord loves us and will take care of us when we call upon his name. Again, there are far too many reasons or evidences for why I believe these things to list at this time. Just know that they exist and each of them is powerful.

Worship

Worship is what humans do whenever they want God to know that He is appreciated. Worship can take on many forms. Some people pray, some sing songs, some read scripture, and some do all of those. No