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What Christians Believe
We believe that the Bible gives the answer to three of the most fundamental questions that we ask as human beings -
If you are interested to know the answers to these questions, then please read on ...
Where did we come from?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” - Genesis 1v1
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” - Genesis 1v27
Although Christians agree that the universe and everything in it was created by God, some Christians believe that the earth was created in six days, while others believe God used the process of evolution to create life. For more on this please visit our page on Science and Creation.
The laws at work in the universe, the complexity of life on earth, and the miracle of life on earth having developed at all, all point to a Creator of unimaginable power and wisdom. The explosion of scientific knowledge over the past 100 years has revealed to us the instructions for life written in the DNA code, instructions consisting of enormous amounts of information, that point to the Designer who wrote those instructions. Man’s increased understanding of the universe has revealed how finely tuned our universe is, and how unlikely it is that the exact conditions required for the development of life on earth could have arisen by chance*. The evidence points to a Creator.
Not only does the evidence point to a Creator, but the evidence we have from within ourselves confirms that human beings alone were created in the image of God. What is it that makes us different from all other animate life on earth? It is our self-awareness, our need for meaning, our ability to be creative, our ability to reason, our need to worship something or someone (even atheists are worshippers, either worshipping their leaders, or their possessions, or even themselves). It is also our inner sense of justice, or what C S Lewis in his book Mere Christianity identified as the moral law that each of us finds written on our hearts. This difference exists because we have eternal souls made in the image of God.
God is not surprised that many people do not recognize Him as their Creator. To read what the Bible says on this click here.
The answer to the question “where do we come from?” is that we were created by God in His image for a very special purpose. Read on to find out more ...
Why are we here?
“God blessed them [man and woman] and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” - Genesis 1v28
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” - Acts 17v24-28 (Paul speaking at the Areopagus in Athens).
When God first created man and woman - Adam and Eve - in His own image He told them that they were to work the perfect garden that He had put them in, and that they were to rule the earth and all the living creatures in it. He gave mankind the job of being the stewards of His creation. The work they were given to do was not tedious but pleasurable.
That was not, however, the only purpose for which mankind was created. God made man and woman in His own image so that human beings could seek Him and come to know Him, and enjoy a relationship with Him. Mankind was designed to enjoy this relationship with God forever.
However, there is a problem. When you look around the world today it is obvious that something is very badly wrong. Although the vast majority of mankind has a religion of some kind, there are a huge variety of different religions. Then there are a lot of people who do not believe there is a God at all. Finally, this is a world where so much evil happens that we are clearly no longer in a perfect garden, we know that we do not live forever, and it cannot possibly be the way God meant it to be when He created it.
So what went wrong?
The Bible tells us that what went wrong is that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and the result of that was that their relationship with God was destroyed, because God is holy. They could not be allowed to live forever in a state where their relationship with God had been destroyed, and so death came into the world, and with it came corruption and decay. This is why the world is so full of evil, disasters, disease and death, and the Bible tells us that all creation looks forward to the day when this will no longer be the case. To read this bit of the Bible click here.
This account brings us to the end of Genesis 3, and the rest of the Bible is about how God provided a way for mankind to be restored to a right relationship with Him, and to be able to live forever in a world no longer under the curse of sin and death. Throughout the Old Testament God prepared the way to send His only Son, the second person of the God who is three but one, into the world to provide a way for us to be forgiven. Jesus Christ, who was God in human flesh, lived the perfect life that none of us can live, and then died on the cross in the place of everyone who will confess their sins, ask Him for forgiveness, and follow Him. By doing this God has not swept our sins under the carpet, but instead He has poured out His righteous anger against our sin on Jesus on the cross. Then He raised Jesus from the dead to show that He had accepted His death as payment for the sins of all who will believe in Him and trust Him as Saviour and Lord.
There is a verse that sums this up beautifully in the Bible - “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” - John 3v16.
If you have doubts about the truth of this then please take the time to read our page The Case for the Good News about Jesus Christ. If the Biblical account of the life, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is true, then the Bible is true. If the Bible is true then you will see as you read on that it is vitally important how you respond to the Bible’s invitation to be reconciled with God through faith in Jesus Christ His Son. There is, contrary to what most people believe, an enormous amount of evidence for the life, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus, and a portion of this is explained in our web page The Case for the Good News about Jesus Christ.
The answer to the question “why are we here?” is that we were created to know God, to obey Him and to bring Him glory, and the wonderful news in the Bible is that we can be restored to this relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ His Son, who died and rose again for our salvation.
Where are we going?
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” - Revelation 20v11-15
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her Husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” - Revelation 21v1-4
We saw when we looked at the question “why are we here?” that human beings are made in God’s image, we have immortal souls. Our bodies die and then decay, we know that, but our souls do not die. When someone dies their soul leaves their body and goes to one of two places. When someone who has trusted in Jesus as their Saviour dies their soul goes into the presence of God to wait for the end of time. When someone who has not trusted in Jesus as their Saviour dies, their soul goes into a place that could be described as Hades. This is not because God is mean, but because God is holy, and unforgiven sin cannot enter His presence. As the only way for sin to be forgiven is through Jesus’s death on the cross, therefore only those who have asked for forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ can enter God’s presence.
Finally, when the end of time comes, the universe we now know will be destroyed, and every single soul will be reunited with a new, immortal body, to stand before God in judgement. Then those who have not had their sins forgiven by asking Jesus for salvation will be cast out of God’s presence forever, into what is described as a lake of fire. This, finally, is the moment when the people of God, who did ask Jesus for salvation, will join Him for all eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
The answer to the question “where are we going?” depends totally on our response to God’s invitation to come back into a right relationship with Him by asking for forgiveness of our sins through the death of Jesus Christ for us and His resurrection.
Where are you going?
* Commentary for readers of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion on the statement made in the article above that the alternative view to a God who created the world is a world that is here by random chance:
Readers of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion will be aware of his argument that “... no of course it didn’t happen by chance ... Natural selection ... is the only workable alternative to chance that has ever been suggested.” (p145 - all references are from the Black Swan paperback edition 2007).
However I would argue that Dawkins continues to make the classic error of failing to distinguish between adaptation within species (a process which I believe God implanted in the creation) and one species transforming into a completely different one (which has never been demonstrated to occur).
It is hard to imagine how, for instance, a wingless creature might acquire wings by a process of gradual change. Dawkins’ argument is - “Half a wing is indeed not as good as a whole wing, but it is certainly better than no wing at all. Half a wing could save your life by easing your fall from a tree of a certain height. And 51 per cent of a wing could save you if you fall from a slightly taller tree.” (p149) However, a creature with a 50 per cent wing would not be able to run from a predator as swiftly as previously, and with a 51 per cent wing its chances of survival would be even lower. How would this be selected on the basis of the survival of the fittest?
Not only are creatures in such intermediate stages still missing from the fossil record but we observe no living species in transformation into a different one at this present time. Dawkins unwittingly admits this when he says “... we are surrounded by perhaps ten million species, each one of which independently displays a powerful illusion of apparent design ... It is clear that here on Earth we are dealing with a generalized process for optimizing biological species ...” (p167) But is it not strange that all ten million of these species are already optimized in their present form, and that not a single one is currently in transformation to a more optimal form? Is it not proof that God created everything perfectly optimized in the first place? I therefore disbelieve that natural selection exists in the form that Dawkins claims for it.
Dawkins claims that natural selection is unique because it - “is the only process ultimately capable of generating complexity out of simplicity.” (p180) But if natural selection is all that he claims for it, then it would not only be unique in generating complexity but it would also be unique in creating information. Seeking a better explanation from Dawkins as to why this process alone should have such unique powers I was disappointed to find him drawing a priestly veil beyond which I could not proceed further - “... perhaps you need to be steeped in natural selection, immersed in it, swim about in it, before you can truly appreciate its power.” (p143)
Fortunately God’s Word draws no such priestly veil. The origins of life on earth and our purpose as created beings is clear to all who will read the Bible.
To read the article this comment relates to from the start click here.
To read the open letters written by David Robertson, pastor of St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland in Dundee, to Richard Dawkins in response to The God Delusion, click here.
Please also feel free to read what we have to say about Science and Creation.
Finally, if you are not interested in what the Bible says because you do not believe it to be true, then please consider the following challenge - if the life, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus, as recorded in the Bible, can be proved to be true, then the whole Bible is true. We have laid out some of the evidence that the Biblical account of the life, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is true in The Case for the Good News about Jesus Christ.
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