The Fundamental Blog

“And who knows but that you have come to royal position
for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Before going into the apologetic proofs in favor of the Christian worldview I think it worthwhile to take a look at the 4 fundamental questions that any theology must answer as outlined by Ravi Zacharias. These 4 are; origin, meaning, morality and destiny; then we can look at the reasoning that should give us a basis for proclaiming our faith to the world, or at the very least, to our families. Once we can see the target that we are trying to hit, then the proofs will make a greater impact. We can not possibly consider every possible viewpoint so we will only visit a few along the way, this should be enough because once we know the truth, everything else that is not truth will become obvious.

Origin - The humanist view would have us believe that we are the product of billions of random accidents that transformed a primordial ooze into the complex creatures we are today. Our universe is the result of a cosmological event dubbed, “The Big Bang.” The problem is that this view does not account for the original matter that made up the ooze or was the object that, “Banged.” Some hold the view that we are, as some being of energy, co eternal with the universe having no beginning but merely being recycled through countless iterations of life. But logic dictates that all things that are not essential, and we are not essential to anything, had to have an origin.

The Bible tells us the answer in the first 4 words; “In the beginning God.” Our origin stems from God, who is the essential being, and He tells us how everything came to be, He spoke the universe into existence. All that is required to accept the biblical account of creation is to believe that it is so. Once that is done, all the rest begins to make sense. Yes, it is a supernatural miracle which defies mortal understanding, but no more so than accepting that the physical things in the universe self-existed and mutated to it’s current state by the onset of a, “Big Bang,” which had no cause. Now before anyone cries foul because I am using the Bible, which has not been substantiated let me assure you that it will be, in a bit.

Meaning - Some worldviews hold that the purpose of this life is to atone for the previous life and that we will continue to re-live our lives until we get it right. If this is so, what would have been the purpose of our first life? Still, there has to be a reason that we’re here. The Bible explains that we were created for God’s great good pleasure. Our purpose is to glorify our creator on earth until the day when we can glorify Him forever in Heaven. We are to sing His praises for all He has done and strive to be obedient in our walks before Him. Our purpose is to believe and trust Him.

Morality - The prevalent view today is that morality is relative and always in flux. A person may be heard to say that abortion is wrong for me but I have no right to impose that standard on anyone else. Why not? If a thing is wrong, isn’t it wrong for everyone? How can it be immoral for one person to murder a pre-born baby but alright for someone else? There are absolutes in this world and they can only come from God. No one else is perfect, and it is God’s morality that we hold to as the plumb line for our lives. What we call morality is only the comparison of our feeble attempts to mimic God’s standard. We are more or less moral than anyone else depending upon whose morality most closely aligns with the absolute set by God.

Destiny - Christianity teaches that we only have 2 options, Heaven or Hell. This doesn’t sit well with a lot of folks because it leaves no wiggle room, and everybody could use a little of that. The reincarnation-ist is trying to get it right but the problems with the infinite regression of prior lives only gets more confused in the eternity future. They are trying to DO something to make up for the bad in prior lives and thereby reach utopia, but there must still be a judge, a God, to decide if they did a good enough job, but it isn’t the God of the Bible. The New-Ager looks forward to oneness with something, everything, but even they can not explain what that means. Besides, if it’s all about becoming one, then if only one person holds out, doesn’t that mean it’s hopeless? The Bible tells us that it is destined to man, once to die and then the judgment.

The worst case has to be the Atheist. Atheism requires more faith than anything else, in my opinion, because they have to believe that they are random lumps of mud with no hope of anything. Without God they have no purpose but to try to sate their most base desires and fulfill their fleshly lusts, (that never turns out well). Morality becomes whatever they want to make it and it doesn’t really matter anyway because there is nothing after this life anyway. It’s a case of whoever dies with the most toys, wins! If life is pointless, then how much more death?

I know that I have used the Bible as my rule of truth and many would say that not only is it just a book, but it’s a book that’s been distorted and manipulated to the point that even if it were true once, it’s completely unreliable by now. I have long contended that if the case can be made for the Bible being reliable, then everything else can be explained using the Bible as the interpreter. I am aware that there are some cults that have added a word or dropped a word here and there to make the Bible read in accordance with their own perverse ideologies, but those aside, there is good evidence to trust the Bible.

When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the caves at Qumran, it was amazing to see how close the text of today followed those ancient writings. In, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell goes into great detail to show why the Bible can be trusted. Whether the King James, American Standard, New International Version or many others; the Holy Spirit can use the Word of God to convict, instruct and make an inroad for Christ to meet the lost at the cross of Calvary. When I am asked why I think that the Bible is God’s truth I usually answer, “Because it says so.” That’s the short answer of course, and while it may seem like circular logic, I can defend my position, and will in the next installment. In the meanwhile, consider a few facts about the Bible.

The Bible was written by more than 40 authors from all walks of life; shepherds, kings, poets, fishermen, tax collectors, doctors and more. It was written on 3 different continents over a period of more than 1400 years. The Bible is written in a wide variety of literary styles from poetry to song to narrative to prophesy and more. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, the text conveys 1 story. God’s redemptive plan through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It tells us what our true nature is, why things are the way they are and how it’s all going to end. AND, when properly understood, there is not a single contradiction throughout. The Old Testament predicts the New Testament and the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament

The Bible IS the Word of God, and once we can become comfortable with this fact, we can use the Bible to answer all of the questions that need to be answered. I spent a lot of years on the outside, denying the truth and living as a pagan and I was never able to make sense of the condition of the world, it just wasn‘t fair. Once God found me, (though He was never very far away), I was able to reorder my life and see that it all makes sense when seen through God’s eyes. If we start with the truth, everything fits; if we start with error, no matter what we do, it will never make sense. I used to be miserable living without God in my life, but now I am filled with understanding and hope because I am living …


All for the Glory of Christ

“And who knows but that you have come to royal position
for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Many people think that the Old Testament is irrelevant today but I read this passage as being directed to all of God’s chosen children. We, who wear the banner of Christian, have been given a royal position as much as if we were Queen Esther herself. In 1 Peter 1:9 we read, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…” (emphasis mine). Peter is writing this to Christians and because we have been adopted into the family of God by grace through Christ Jesus, we are those who belong to God, we are His royal priesthood. So the questions remain, what is, “such a time as this,” and what are we called to?

These are questions that are best addressed by laying a foundation and then building on that foundation until the complete concepts flourish. As such, this is the first part of a multi-part discussion intended to bring some degree of clarity to the call of Scripture, the timing involved and the importance of being ready to act. Just as every single thing that we have experienced in life up to this point has been critical in our becoming who we are today, every action, (or inaction), from this point on will influence the world we find ourselves in tomorrow, the world that we will sentence our children to living in tomorrow!

The times need to be interpreted. If we take a look around it is easy to see that the things of God are all but disappearing in every sector. We are in a headlong freefall toward the end times. Now, I am not going to get into the doomsday correlations between the New York Times and the prophesies of the Bible that have yet to be fulfilled, there are plenty out there who would be happy to go into that and perhaps even sell you some survival gear and a fireproof condo. No, it is enough to see that we are in a society that calls evil, good and good evil, and that it is getting worse every day. What God calls an abomination is a lifestyle choice; the murder of pre-born babies is the right of a woman; the truth of the One Holy God is fine for us but we dare not even speak about it in the public square and if we find ourselves at odds with the status-quo, we are intolerant bigots.

In his book, When a Nation Forgets God, Dr. Erwin Lutzer says of Hitler, “… he did not mind if others continued to attend church as long as it did not affect the way they lived or the values they held.” Hitler knew that in order for the state to reign supreme, every last bastion of genuine faith had to be scrubbed away until all that remained was the CINO, (Christian in name only). This is not so very far away from where we find ourselves today. Government is obsessed with the idea that faith and Godly truth have no place in the policies that are supposed to govern, not even in the leading country in the free world!

The Great Commission tells us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” Either we have to follow what Jesus told us or bow to the post modern ideals of relativistic tolerance. We are supposed to make a difference and while we may not all feel comfortable in the role of evangelist, there is much we can do for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. We are supposed to be identifiable by the lives we live. Our lives should reflect a peace and goodness that makes others want to find out what makes us tick, but we can’t even manage to get the family together in the evening for a meal. Search Scripture and nowhere will you find anything that tells us to be firm in our faith but make sure that we tone it down so no one knows, or is offended by it.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sins, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his wicked ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.” Ezekiel 33:7-9. This is the passage from the Old Testament that has cost me more than a few close relationships, but God has given us the warning and we are responsible for getting the Word of God out to the world, but if the world seems too lofty a goal, let’s at least consider our families.

Have we spoken the message of salvation through Faith in Jesus to those who are the closest to us? I don’t know that any of us are able to save the world by our testimony but I do know that I do not want to be in the group being divided as sheep and goats, (Matthew 25:31-46), only to see a close family member being sent to the left, looking back asking, “Why didn’t you try to tell me?” I think that the reason that so many of us are willing to keep our faith to ourselves is because we don’t know how to explain the basics of what we believe, the “Why,” we believe what we believe.

The apologetic duty is not to tell the world that we are sorry for being the way we are, it’s to be able to say that we have good reason for the hope we hold, for the faith we have that a fiery end is coming to everyone who rejects the offer of grace in Christ, AND be able to understand the supernatural giftedness we have received. We have to be able to explain the reason for our faith and the fact that ours is the only faith that can adequately answer life’s big questions.

The Christian Apologist, Ravi Zacharias, at an address at a United Nation’s prayer breakfast, explained that every world religion, or philosophical thought line, seeks to adequately answer 4 fundamental life questions, the questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny. If the theology, or philosophy, fails at any point, then it invalidates itself. In the next few articles I will try to show how Christianity, not only answers all 4 of these questions, but that Christianity is the only one which does so adequately. With this, along with reasoning that shows that Jesus is the only means of salvation, that the Bible is reliable and that Christianity is not a blind leap into whimsy; I hope to embolden us to speak our faith as faithful watchmen. We owe this much to our families and loved ones, to try to make sure that they at least know there is a reason to pursue Christ.

No one likes doing something that they are uncomfortable doing, (the reason I don’t dance), but with just a little prep work, we can all be household evangelists. I am NOT advocating that we beat our relatives with chapter and verse citations from the Bible, far from it. No one gets argued into the kingdom and people are not saved by losing fights. We are seed sowers. If we can be comfortable knowing about the seed we sow, we can be more effective in our witness. Don’t worry that you may be asked a question that you don’t know the answer to; we know someone who does! The Spirit will guide us into the truth of righteousness and don’t be surprised if we find ourselves being driven into the Bible to search out answers, (a good thing). It is OK to say, “I don’t have that answer right now, let me work on that and get back to you.” THEN DO IT!

Every day the last day gets a little closer and there is nothing remaining that must occur before the rapture of Christ’s church, so lets not be caught sleeping when He comes. Lets prepare ourselves so that we can speak intelligently about the single most important thing in life, the next one, and what it takes to get there. If you know and/or love anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, make it a pledge to speak truth into that life, remember that we are a royal priesthood! RIGHT NOW is, “such a time as this,” and there has never been a more important time to be standing…


All for the Glory of Christ