My Creed
This is what I wrote:
I believe in God. I believe there is a Divine Being greater
than the natural world who contains within himself all the properties of love
and power.
All that exists was created by him and for him.
Human beings were created by God. We were created with the
freedom to follow or reject him.
Following God means believing what he has revealed about
himself, and then acting on that data.
Rejecting God means using our own lives and thoughts as the
datum by which we live.
I believe that the “evidence” of God comes to us in three
ways.
Creation itself leads me to believe in a Creator. When I look
at the complexity, the intricacy and the sheer vastness of the created order –
I simply cannot accept the idea that time+chance+matter somehow simply
spat out everything from spinning
planets to carpenter bees.
It’s too unbelievable to believe that it all … just
happened.
It is more probable to believe there was a Creator behind it
all.
Secondly, the Bible as a book is a source of revelation of
the reality of God. I do believe it was inspired by God, like no other literary
document has been. Reading and studying the Bible, I see a progression of
revelation:
The Bible gives me a clear description of the state of
humanity and the nature of God – and how the 2 can be reconciled.
Finally, the person of Jesus Christ. When I was in
high-school – this is what finally brought me back to my faith, after I went
through a period of trying to figure out what I was going to believe about
life.
No other worldview has Jesus. Jesus to me is the pinnacle of
what a fully evolved human being should be (Read Matthew 5-7 in the Bible – and
see the life that is described there).
I also believe in the historicity of Jesus, his crucifixion
and his resurrection. I don’t really have time to give you all the arguments
for it, but can suggest some good resources if you are interested.
I guess there would be one final proof – that is my own
life. I have seen the reality of the power and presence of God in my own life.
God has changed me from being a selfish, angry person to someone who is
becoming more and more concerned for the well being of others. I know I still
have a long way to go – but I my character has been changed radically over the
last few years – and I can only attribute that to the activity of the Spirit of
God in my life.
I believe that as humans we have rejected God. That
rejection has a price – our sin carries with it a punishment.
But, God instead of inflicting that punishment on us, he
sent his son Jesus Christ to die in our place. On the cross Jesus absorbed all
the punishment we deserved.
When we come to terms with that – when we accept that
reality, when we ask God to forgive us of our sins – he forgives us, and he
empowers us to live the type of life, we know in our hearts we are to live.
Christianity is a life where we move out of our own self
centerdness and out into serving and loving others. Any expression of
Christianity that is not marked by humility, love and service has moved away
from what Jesus intended. (And sadly, much of the modern expressions of
Christianity have become more interested in power and coercion than in love and
service – but don’t let those facades turn you off of the real thing).
I have found that the reality that God is with me, guiding
me, saving me, picking me up when I fall and forgiving me, to be the only way
to live life with any kind of hope for the future.
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