Christianity 101: Understanding Belief in God | Mike Mazzalongo

Understanding the basics of Christianity and belief in God

Examining the sources of information for Christian beliefs about God

Exploring the concept of God based on human reasoning and the Bible

Discovering the personality of God through the Bible

All right. This is Christianity for Beginners. The series titles, Christianity for Beginners. This is lesson number one. And the title of this lesson is Belief in God. This is a seven lesson course designed for those who are new to the Christian religion and for those also who want a kind of a refresher course on the basic ideas upon which the Christian religion is based. There are seven lessons in the series. And very quickly, I want to just kind of review these with you. The first one, which we'll do now, belief in God, the basic reasons why we believe in God or believe in a supreme being. Lesson number two, the Christian religion. This will be a study of the major religions in the world and how Christianity compares to these religions. Lesson number three, the Bible. This will be a brief look at how the Bible was written and how it came to us in its present form and why we believe that it is revelation or inspiration from God. So in this lesson, why do we believe that the Bible is inspired? We'll be talking about that lesson three lesson for Jesus Christ. This lesson will focus in on the central figure of Christianity. Jesus Christ, who is this person? Who does the Bible say he is? Number five, salvation. In this lesson, we'll review the main idea of the Christian religion, which is its solution to mankind's greatest problem. And the greatest problem of mankind is sin and the death that it causes. Number six, the church. We'll examine what Jesus and the Apostles say about the church and how the Bible describes the church. And lesson number seven, Christian living. Our final lesson will describe what is the style and purpose of the Christian life. Of course, Jesus Christ and the Bible and the church, as well as all these other subjects, can take many years of study to fully understand and appreciate. We realize that. However, these lessons are given us are given as a brief introduction, a first preview of the Christian religion and its beliefs in order to help students begin their journey of faith and receive the blessings that come from this kind of study. OK, so let's begin at the beginning. When it comes to any religion, including Christianity, the beginning point is always belief in God. Most people in the world believe what their parents and grandparents believe about God. Most people are like that. If you ask them, they usually believe what their parents and grandparents believed. When we examine the question a little more objectively, however, we find out that there are many ideas about God out there. For example, some people believe that there is no God, that this life is all there is, nothing else. You're here for a time. You died and that's it. Some people believe that. Some people believe that there are many gods that exist in nature and beyond nature. That's their belief system. And then still others believe that there is only one God and that he is supreme over all things and over all people. Now most religions in the world are based on the belief that there is one or many gods. And we're going to examine these religions more closely in our next session. In our lesson today, we want to examine what Christianity believes about God and why. What Christianity believes about God. Well, Christians arrive at their conclusions about God based on three sources. We have three sources where we get information that makes up what we believe about God. The first source is human reasoning. Human beings have asked themselves about the existence of God throughout history. The various thoughts and theories about the existence of God have produced several key arguments that support from human reason and observation the idea that there is a God. So here are a few of these arguments. First argument from human reason is called the first cause argument. It says if every effect has a cause, then what or who caused the world to come into existence? Scientists can only say that they believe that the universe and all life in the universe are the result of a big bang. That's the latest theory. Or some kind of cosmic explosion millions even billions of years ago. They say that. They cannot however explain what or who caused this explosion. And so the first cause argument says that a being greater and more complex than the universe what we call God, caused this big bang and set the creation of the world into motion. So that's the first cause argument. What was the first cause that caused the world to come into being? Christians say God is the first cause. Another argument from human reasoning is called the complexity argument. This reasoning says that only a complex mind could have conceived and created a complex world. Pretty reasonable, don't you think? Since complex, living, animate beings cannot naturally come from simple, non-living, inanimate matter. In other words, a bird cannot evolve from a stone, then the world of matter and animated beings must have been conceived and created by a being more complex than his creation And that being who is more complex than his creation we call that being God For example, a person creates or builds a computer. A computer doesn't build a person. That's the thinking. Another argument from human reasoning. The moral or the spiritual argument. This argument says that the desire to do what is right, the desire, the innate desire in us to be good, does not exist in simple matter. Even in higher life forms like monkeys, for example, the need to search for God or to reach up and worship a higher being is not present. where does this moral or spiritual element come from then it doesn't evolve from matter or lower animals and so we reason that it comes from above above humanity and that being above humanity that has put into human beings the desire to seek him or it. We call that being God. OK, so these are some but not all of the arguments of purely human thought and conclusions about the existence of God. Christianity's belief in God includes this human reasoning, but it has two other sources of information to base its belief in a supreme being. And so the second source of information about God for Christians, aside from human reasoning, is the Bible. You know, someone says, why do you believe in God? Well, I have just some logical reasons why I believe in God. And, you know, we've talked about those. I also have other ways to know about God. Another source to find out about God. And that source is called the Bible. Now we're going to study about the history and the content of the Bible in our third lesson. But for now, let's just say that the Bible contains information about who God is and not just that he exists. Christianity's concept of the personality of God is based on the revealing or the revelation of his character and actions that we find in the Bible. Now someone could say well how do we know that the Bible you know the information in the Bible is reliable. And again I'll answer that question in our third lesson when I talk more specifically about the Bible. But for now let's just look at some of the things that the Bible actually says about God. First of all, it says in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, it says that he created the world and human life. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1 verse 1. In Genesis 1 verse 27, it says God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female. He created them. And so the Bible doesn't explain how God did this. Although scientists throughout the ages continue to discover piece by piece the world the way that the world is put together. The point I'm making is that the Bible simply tells us that an all powerful intelligent moral being which we refer to as God created the physical universe by an act of his will. The Bible also reveals other aspects of God. For example, in John 3.16, the Bible reveals that God loves his creation, especially human beings, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. We find out other things about God in the Bible. It says, if you address as father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work. We find out that God is going to judge each one of us. So here's the point that I want to make here. The point is that by human reasoning we can come to know that there is a supreme being. We can come to know that there is a God who is greater than we are and greater than the world. Just through human reasoning we can come to that conclusion. However, human reason cannot reveal to us God's character. Human reason can't discern what God's will or purpose is or communication with us as human beings. Human reason can't tell you how God is, only what he is. So Christians believe that this personal and particular information about God is only revealed in the Bible. And again, in lesson three, I'm going to explain why we believe that this information is reliable. So we have human reasoning where we can logically figure out that there is a God. And we have the Bible as sources of information about God's existence and character and will. There is one other source of information about God, however, that is surer and clearer than these two. And this source is not based on thought or a book, but it comes from a person. And that's Jesus Christ. Now there have been countless books written about Jesus Christ, but the basic information about him comes from the Bible. Other writers throughout history have written about him, about his life and his teachings, about the meaning and the practice of what he said. However, only the Bible contains eyewitness accounts of his life and death and resurrection from the dead. So if we want to know about God, Jesus Christ presents the clearest picture of God character and his will for our lives Now the reason for this is that Jesus Christ is God That's what Christians believe. You know, in our fourth lesson, we're going to look more closely at this claim that Jesus is God and why Christians believe this to be true. But for now, let's just assume that it's true. The Bible teaches that God, the supreme being, the creator of the universe, took on a human form and entered into the physical world in order to reveal himself clearly and in a way that human beings could understand and relate to. That human being's name was Jesus, son of Joseph of Nazareth, historically speaking. We refer to him as Jesus Christ because the word Christ is a title that means anointed one. So it's Jesus the anointed one. And so Jesus's life and teachings and examples give us the clearest view yet of who God is and what God is like. Now if we examine Jesus's life we're able to find things out about God that no words in a book or human reasoning can reveal. For example, from Jesus Christ we find out that God has compassion for those who are weak. Through human reasoning we could never figure this out about God. Those who follow Jesus and recorded their eyewitness accounts of his life and work repeatedly mentioned his kindness and compassion to those who were sick or handicapped, who had emotional problems, who were failures in areas of morality and self-control. He encouraged those who were poor or socially outcast or were different culturally than the mainstream. Jesus demonstrated a part of God's character that could not be shown simply by creative power alone. That Jesus loves little children is not evident if you simply look at the creation. You can't deduce that. You can only find that out because Jesus, who is God, loved little children. And so without Jesus I could know that God had the power to create the son. But through Jesus I also learned that God loves little children. You see the importance of that revelation. And so Jesus' life and teachings are filled with these revelations about who God really is and how he is like. Perhaps the most important insight that we can gain through Jesus is what God wants. Not just how he is, but what he wants. Well, God wants people to have eternal life with him. If I were to ask that question, what does God want? We would. I'm pretty sure we'd get the answer. Well, he wants us to be good and he wants us to be kind and he wants us to do right and he wants us to serve. And, you know, we're always looking at the things from a moral perspective. But ultimately, what God wants, he wants for us to live eternally. That's what he wants. These other things about our behavior fold themselves into what he wants. Here are Jesus's own words concerning this subject in the Gospel of John, one of Jesus's apostles in chapter 6, verse 40. He said, for this is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds the son and believes in him will have eternal life and I myself will raise him up on the last day. I mean, I can't find a clearer scripture that explains the idea that Jesus is there in order to reveal what God wants or how God is. He says it right here. So in this passage, Jesus reveals several very important things about God that we could not know in any other way except that it be shown to us by him. Just take a couple at a time. He says, for example, for this is the will of my father. That God, Jesus calls him my father because Jesus and God have the same divine nature, that God has a particular purpose or plan for each of us. Life is not just a bunch of random events that ends in physical death, as atheists believe. We don't believe that. We believe that God has a purpose for each of us. Why do we believe that? Because Jesus who is God and who knows God has told us. Something else he says that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him. So what do we learn from this? Well we learn that God has a requirement of us. God wants people to believe in him and the way to do that is to believe or accept as true that he has revealed himself as Jesus. So we learn that as far as God is concerned, it is important what you believe. He says that belief in him and belief in Jesus are the same thing. He also says we'll have eternal life. And so what do we find out from this verse? Well God's plan is that we have eternal life. Life's greatest questions revolve around death and what if anything happens after death. God takes on a human form. He proves that he is God by doing miracles. You know extraordinary acts that only God could do. And then he says that his plan for mankind is for human beings to live eternally Sounds pretty good to me There a certain portion of the Bible called the good news or the gospel It's that section in the Bible that describes Jesus and his life and his ministry. Well, the reason that it's called the good news is because God has come in human form to announce to the world that there is life after death. and there is no need to be afraid anymore. That's pretty good news. And then what else does Jesus say? For this is the will of my father that everyone who beholds the son and believes in him will have eternal life and I myself will raise him up on the last day. Here we have two more pieces of information given to us by Jesus which we could not know in any other way. First thing he says, Jesus is the one that gives the eternal life. It's Jesus that will give eternal life and not anyone else. This helps us to focus our attention on one religious leader, Jesus, the only one who promises and demonstrates that he has the power over life and death. There are a lot of religious leaders. There are a lot of deities. But there's only one who promises eternal life to each one of his followers. We also read in the Bible that Jesus is killed and then he resurrects from the dead and his resurrection is witnessed by hundreds of people. The point of course is that if he has the power over his own death and resurrection as God then he naturally has power over everybody else's life and death as God. We find that out from the Bible not through human reasoning. And then finally this passage shows that there will be an end to time as we know it. Just as the Bible shows at the very start that God created the world and there was a beginning of time. In the beginning it says God created. Well Jesus also says that there will be an end to the world, an end to time. And this is when he will raise to eternal life all those who believed in him. Now we've only looked at two things that Jesus reveals about God that we could not know in any other way. One, his compassion for those who are weak and two, his plan and his purpose for mankind. A careful study of Jesus's life here in the Bible would yield many more revelations about God. But I've given you just these two as examples of how Christians come to know and believe in God. OK. So let's summarize what we've talked about in this first lesson in our series Christianity for Beginners. This lesson was entitled belief in God. Here are some of the points that we covered. Number one, we can come to know and believe in God through various methods. Christians rely on three main ways to come to know God. First, human reasoning. Human reasoning suggests that it is quite logical to accept that there is a God. Secondly the Bible records the Bible records God's dealings with man from the creation of the world to the formation of the Christian church. It describes God's character and his purpose in his interactions with mankind. And then thirdly Jesus Christ as a source of knowledge of God. Jesus is the human embodiment of God and through him the most intimate and revealing aspects of God's nature and his will can be known. Now another point we covered in our lesson. Christianity provides the clearest revelation of God. There are many opinions and beliefs about spirits and gods and divine powers. But Christians believe that the Bible and the witness of Jesus Christ provide the most accurate and reliable information about God and his will. You know, there are truths and there are understandings that other religions have come to. We're not saying that there's absolutely nothing worthwhile in other religions. Not at all. As I say, we're not saying that there are not elements of truth about God found in various philosophies and religions that exist. There are many valuable spiritual insights contained in each of the major religions throughout history. However, what I am saying is that Christians believe that the clearest clearest and the most complete revelation of God, his purpose and his plan for man's life now and in the future has been revealed once and for all time by the Bible and especially through Jesus Christ. Hopefully, as we complete the next six lessons in this series, you'll also be more convinced of this fact, that if you want to know God more perfectly, no other religion presents him more clearly and more definitely than the Christian religion and the Bible upon which the Christian religion is based. OK, so our next lesson in the series will be the Christian religion. And what we're going to do is we're going to compare Christianity to the other major religions and demonstrate Christianity's superiority. in comparison to other major religions that exist in the world today. OK, that's it for lesson number one. I hope you come back for lesson number two. Thank you very much for your attention.

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