This is what makes Christianity so much more real and better than anything else.
Excerpt from How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer:
"It is important to realize what a difference a people's worldview makes in their strength as they are exposed to the pressure of life. That it was the Christians who were able to resist religious mixtures, syncretism, and the effects of the weaknesses of Roman culture speaks of the strength of the Christian worldview. This strength rested on God's being an infinite-personal God and his speaking in the Old Testament, in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, and in the gradually growing New Testament. He had spoken in ways people could understand. Thus the Christians not only had the knowledge about the universe and mankind that people themselves cannot find out by themselves, but they had absolute, universal values by which to live and by which to judge the society and the political state in which they lived. And they had the grounds for the basic dignity and value of the individual as unique in being made in the image of God."
(Schaeffer, Francis A. How Should We Then Live? Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1976.)
It's true how Christians are able to battle through life much stronger than other people are. And why is that? Jesus.
There's something about this religion that sets it apart from any other religion or theory out there today. From the outside, it looks crazy to believe that some guy fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, that he made blind people see by rubbing mud in their eyes, and that he was raised from the dead after dying on a cross; but we understand that there is an all-powerful, loving God with a deeper plan working behind all of life. He gives us this hope that Paul talks about; hope in something unseen, something we are still waiting for. What other people do not have that Christians have is that hope for a future with God, in a place where there is no more evil.
How is all of this possible?
Well, here's the run through:
Jesus is God. He came to earth as a man, born to a virgin woman. As he grew up, he lived as a Jew, learning the Old Testament, and living a perfect life for God. He became a teacher and choose everyday Jews to be the ones to learn all about God and his plan for them. He healed people who showed faith in him, taught them about heaven using everyday language, and fulfilled all of the prophesies made about him in the ancient scriptures. Then, Jesus-although he was perfect-let guards arrest him for claiming to be the Son of God, King of the Jews, was beaten and then crucified on a cross with robbers on either side of him. He died in the same day, was buried in a tomb before the Sabbath started, but then when Sabbath was over, was missing from the grave. The large stone that had been rolled by men to seal his tomb shut was rolled away, and his linen cloth was left inside-Jesus was ALIVE. He was witnessed by thousands of people after his death, and then was watched as he ascended into heaven, leaving the task of spreading the word to his twelve apostles, whom he had taught everything he knew.
The important part that Jesus explained about this is that when Jesus died, since he was perfect as a man and as God, he himself became a "guilt offering" for everyone. You could think of it as he was the newly-bought, perfectly-clean dishrag that wiped off every single dirty plate so that they shone spotless and could be used again. Just like that, Jesus took all of our dirty nasty wrong-doings away forever, so that we could be used by God for good. If you're a dirty plate, you're not going to get used again unless you're clean, right? And if you're a plate, you can't exactly clean yourself; nor, once you're clean, should you just sit on a shelf, not being used?
So what does this have to do with strength? Well, Paul seems to have explained it better than I could, so here's what he has to say. Hebrews 12:1-3 (after a long passage about men who had Faith):
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
To pull it altogether, Jesus lived and died for you, to give you strength, so that God could use you, all because God loves you. Our strength is in Jesus; take heart, my friend.
♥
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