By Dave Breese

As we approach the first anniversary of September 11th, the world holds its collective breath in anticipation of further unconscionable acts of terrorism. People everywhere are wondering, “How can they top that?”

And so, amidst the pervasive atmosphere of fear and suspense, we thought we would do well to remind ourselves that God is still in control, that everything works to the fulfillment of God’s marvelous plan, and that we, as emissaries of Christ, are on an important mission—a mission to preach the Gospel.

To that end, we have gathered together two of Dave’s most inspiring articles about faith and how to live in a world like this. We pray that you will find hope and encouragement through his timeless teaching, that it will motivate you to great accomplishment for the Savior, and that it will help you live each day in the bright expectation that Jesus could come today!

—Dave Weeden, Editor

In many ways, every day, we are reminded that the substance of life, the realities by which we live, are not the beguiling visibilities around us. Attractive clothes, money in the pocket, human applause, a car with a loud stereo, expensive trips here and there, these are not the things that truly matter. Christ was saying at least this when He pronounced that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

We can thereby be sure that millions of people sit daily at sumptuous tables in our world, but they are in fact starving to death. Daily their minds slip further from reality because they have no invisible means of support. No one has told them that life and mental competence are sustained by a set of facts. We live by eternal truth, not by cute slogans.

It is therefore true that every one of us should regularly review the things that we know to be true, the eternal truths by which our temporal lives are sustained. This is why the Scripture says, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Heb. 2:1).

What then are “the things which we have heard” that need regular review? In answer, we suggest ten of the important facts by which we should live. To forget these is to slip away into the shadows of epistemological nihilism, a condition from which many do not recover.

1.) There is a God. More correctly, we should say that, “There is God.” The existence of the eternal God is the first principle of anything. Apart from that first fact of life, reality disappears and all is nothing. Therefore the Scripture insists, “he that comes to God must believe that He is” (Heb. 11:6).

To disbelieve in God is not a philosophy, it is a form of insanity. So the Scripture says, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14:1). Conversely, every intelligent person says, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! who has set Your glory above the heavens” (Psa. 8:1).

2.) God created the universe. One of the most instructive pronouncements of the Word of God says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Elaborating on this, speaking about Jesus Christ, the Scripture says, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16).

Again, speaking about Jesus Christ, the Scripture says, “You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Your hands” (Heb. 1:10). The universe, the world of nature, bears great evidence of its origin. The Apostle Paul declares, “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

3.) God made man in His own image. We learn a thrilling fact about ourselves when we read “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:27,28).

We therefore know that we are not the accidental result of a biological or chemical process. (It could not have been otherwise!) The fact that man yet bears the Divine image, if believed, could yet change the world.

4.) Man has sinned—the race has fallen. The Bible records this move against prohibition saying, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen. 3:6).

The dreadful results of this are announced in the New Testament: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Sin is a debilitating disease of the will; it therefore produces progressive decadance in individual lives and in the race as well. Everything in the world has been in a measure corrupted by this dreadful disease.

5.) Jesus Christ is the Son of God. As if initiating a dramatic story, which he is doing, John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).

Upon the occasion of the death of Christ, even the centurion testified, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54).

6.) Christ has come to this world, interrupting history. How grateful we can be that God did not stay detached in a far away heaven. Rather, He said, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:23). The Apostle John also insists that God Himself has come into our midst saying, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The marvel of the incarnation of Christ is that He came not simply to pay us a visit but He became a human being and that forever.

7.) All of mankind rejected Christ. Christ invited Israel to believe in Him, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not” (Matt. 23:37). Christ invited a world of individuals to Him saying, “Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). By rejecting these invitations, humanity chose death rather than life.

8.) Christ died for our sins. Here we have one of the most astonishing facts of all time. Nevertheless, the Scripture clearly says that the Good News of salvation consists in the message of “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:3,4).

Our astonishment continues as we read, “For he has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21). Hence we know that full and complete payment has been made for every one of our sins. Christ has met our moral requirement by His sacrifice on the cross. We sing with Fanny Crosby, “Stay, let me weep while you whisper, Love paid the ransom for me.”

9.) Man can be saved from sin by faith in Christ. Therefore the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” is simply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31). When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that His death on the cross is sufficient payment for sin, we are given everlasting life. So the Scripture says, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

10.) Christians become people of eternal destiny. About every Christian, Jesus says, “And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28). So it is that a Christian becomes eternally saved and also the possessor of everything. Speaking of the Christian the Bible says, “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours” (I Cor. 3:22).

We ponder the promise of Scripture which says, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (II Tim. 2:11,12).

These basic facts by which we live should be the object of the contemplation of the Christian more than often. There is an unfortunate amount of spiritual slippage in the Church of our time. Such dangerous defection need happen to no Christian individual. It can be prevented by regular contemplation on the Word of God and these facts by which we live.

What really is Christianity? The foregoing list would be a good start in answering that question!