Do you make sure you have reliable, accurate information on which to base your decisions? Knowing the truth in any situation is very important—possibly even a matter of life and death!
For example, a doctor’s visit to diagnose an ailment is often accompanied by a range of tests that provide information to both the doctor and the patient. We need true, accurate test results to identify the correct course of treatment for our future well-being. But how important is truth in today’s culture?
Our phones now give us on-demand access to unlimited information at any time, plus expert commentary on any subject. With instant availability of all of this information and advice, together with the accumulated historical experiences of several millennia, it might reasonably be expected that people today would be better informed, better prepared, and closer to understanding real Truth than any generation that came before them.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The technology that provides access to information does not also provide discernment to help us choose that which is true. It seems that increased choice does not lead to a better understanding of the Truth but to an entitlement to choose whatever you feel serves you well. But, as with the doctor and the test results, Truth is the only quality that actually does serve you well.
This is also what is happening in the world of faith. Rather than seeking the truth of our existence and looking to build a relationship with the Creator of mankind and the universe, many people want to choose a type of faith that fits their lifestyle. Even Christians frequently opt for a “cafeteria” relationship with God, where they can pick and choose the parts of the Bible they wish to follow and reject the rest.
When you visit your doctor, your future physical health depends upon the accuracy and truthfulness of your test results. Identifying the Truth within claims of faith is even more important; your choice will lead either to a blissful eternity in Heaven with Jesus, your loving Lord and Savior, or to an eternity of dark separation from Him.
And eternity is a much, much longer period of time than our brief lives on Earth.
The Bible provides answers to the most essential and fundamental questions in life:
“Why am I here?”
“What is the purpose of life?”
“What comes after?”
However, combing through all 66 books of the Bible to piece together accurate responses to these challenges can be daunting. So, an understanding of God’s overall plan for mankind helps provide context and a cognitive framework to support information gleaned from Scripture. In general, Christians read the Bible after becoming Christians, not before, so a summary and overview can also be an effective stepping stone for those who are seeking to understand the nature and import of Christian Truth.
God’s Plan for Mankind
The most important part of any plan is its outcome. The end result of a plan to build a house is the house itself, which can be occupied and enjoyed for many years after the building plan is completed. It is similar with God’s plan for mankind. The “building” part is our time on planet Earth, where each and every person has to make the choice that will subsequently shape their eternal existence. As Franklin Graham said, of his own life and for everyone, “There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to make a choice whether they are going to accept or reject God’s love and provision.” [1]
The outcome is that those who do choose to love Him will become His adopted children and will reign with Him in Heaven for eternity, as in 2 Timothy 2:12, “if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;” God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and lives outside of time. There is nothing He cannot do that can be done. At the conclusion of His plan, His will is the only one that will prevail. He will achieve all that He intended, and those who chose Him will participate in His glorious majesty.
God Speaks
How do we know about God’s plan for us? Well, He speaks to us in two ways – through nature (His general revelation) and through His Word, the Bible (special revelation), which records His direct interaction with us, including the use of prophets and sending His Son Jesus Christ to live among us on Earth.
Our increasing knowledge of the natural world is fueling a commentary that now speaks louder and louder. We know that the four fundamental laws that govern the physical behavior of everything in the universe are each finely tuned to support the creation of an environment that will itself support intelligent life. Similarly-precise tuning applies to well over a hundred other characteristics of our home planet, all of which renders the possibility of everything coming together by evolutionary chance to be vanishingly small. Our recently developed ability to observe molecular-level activity enables insight into the incredibly complex machinery at work within each living cell: complexity that requires design rather than an unguided process such as random mutation.
Characteristics of God
Mankind’s God-given ability to see and appreciate a beautiful range of colors and to hear complex musical sounds demonstrates that God, as a loving Father, wants us to experience pleasure, as in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Why would anyone want to worship a god who has remained aloof and separated from his creation when they could choose to have a loving relationship with a God who came to live among us? Through His general and special revelation, we are comprehensively informed about the nature and qualities of our living God; our own failings and inadequacies are laid bare. We are also clearly told about what is expected from us as His creation and how the physical aspect of mankind’s existence will be brought to a close.
Choice, Free Will and Justice
Created in God’s image, we have the freedom and ability to choose how we live our lives. Most importantly, we can choose whether to accept God as the Lord of our lives or to reject Him. The world in which we live contains both good and evil, which ensures that the choice is available to all.
Jesus Christ was, and still is, the fulcrum on which God’s plan turns. He came from the heavenly realm into the physical realm to demonstrate the truth of God’s plan and to model the characteristics of the citizens of God’s future kingdom. He also provided the sacrifice that paved the way for sinful man to enjoy fellowship with a perfect God in accordance with God’s perfect justice.
An Engineer Finds Faith 