Christians believe in God who created everything out of nothing – ex nihilo.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:26, ESV)
God created everything, seen and unseen, by and for his Son, Jesus Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15–17, ESV)
Christians understand this because God revealed it to them through Scripture, nature and his Holy Spirit.
…knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20–21, ESV)
Christians are happy, content and joyful in the Lord of the universe, because only after forgiveness of sin and restoration through the death of Jesus Christ and Him being raised to life, life makes sense, is meaningful, and leads to the goal God set for it.
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:16–19, ESV)
Christians understand that God ordained that they should be witnesses of God’s grace.
Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:46–48, ESV)
The reason for this is that this universe as we know it will come to an end when God will call all men to judgement, after which He will replace the old with the new.
And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, (Acts 17: 26–28, 30, ESV)
Christians believe in the existence of evil. The Bible is clear about the existence Satan, also called the evil one, or the devil.
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9, ESV)
For this reason some Christians, over the ages, died for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are not more than their Master, and should expect to be treated the same He was treated by this world.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:16, ESV)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV)
Christians build on the promise of our Lord that nothing can stand against Him and his church. To die in the process of witnessing to the truth of the Gospel does not mean that those who oppose it has had any victory. Against all odds and in spite of gruesome persecution through the ages the Bible, the truth of the Gospel and the message of the Church is surviving.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18, ESV)
It is regrettable and deplorable that many who call themselves “Christian” do not hold to the teachings of the Bible as the infallible and inspired word of God. They disgrace the message of the Church and compromise its truth. Their life is no example to the world, and their message holds out no life, nor purpose for those who might benefit from Gospel.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:2–5, ESV)
Christians understand that not all who hear the Gospel will respond to it positively. Only God can open the eye of the unbeliever.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:8–10, ESV)
Christians believe it is their duty to scientifically search to understand God’s creation. Many great scientist are Christians.
You [God] have given him [man] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:6–8, ESV)
Christian, for this reason (only) could wholeheartedly agree with Richard Dawkins:
Isn’t it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? Who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be part of it?
But Dawkins seems to be inconsistent in this regard. Atheists (like Richard Dawkins) don’t believe in the existence of neither God nor the devil; there is no good or bad; we come from nowhere, and we are headed nowhere; there is no purpose in life.
“In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” (Richard Dawkins― River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life)
This quote of Dawkins is a blatant acknowledgement of the philosophy and theology of the biological assertion of Darwinism. After all, Darwinism – or Darwinistic evolution – cannot escape the reality that it has produced a worldview based on certain theological assumptions. For this reason there is truth in what Dawkins says:
A universe with a God would look quite different from a universe without one. A physics, a biology where there is a God is bound to look different. So the most basic claims of religion are scientific. Religion is a scientific theory.
Atheists therefore, like Christians find it necessary to hold conferences to promote their views – and attack Christians on the basis of what they believe. They decorate buses with signage to tell they world their is no God; they erect billboards to spread their theology.
They also write many books and pamphlets, they fund TV programs to promote their view. They fund chairs at universities and see that professors are appointed to tell their story.
One wonders: Why? Why spend all the money and effort to convince people that they come from nowhere, live for no reason and are going nowhere? If you did nothing, most people would believe it anyhow!
If God does not exist, if evil does not exist, if good has no absolute definition, and if morality has no basis, why attack which does not exist? Why wage a war when there is no enemy? You only do this if you really believe in something! It is just inconceivable that you would go through all this trouble to tell people that the “universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
Or do they somewhere deep perhaps believe that God does indeed exist, and therefore need to wage war against Him, his Son and his people?
Ultimate Standards 