THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent.”

John 6: 28, 29

The thing I appreciate about the Christian religion is its context and continuity.  There is a beginning, there is an end, and in between there is a connecting tissue that holds it all together; a thread that runs through it all.

If one has eyes to see and ears to hear, that thread can be followed from beginning to end.  I haven’t been finding that in all of the other religions.

Some have a good foundation to start with but they stop midway, not proceeding on until the end.  They have a firm foundation but an incomplete building on it, as of now.  Some have no foundation but are mere loose sparks off of a fire.  These are started by men with noble virtues and grew into great movements; but there is no firm foundation to build on and no prophetic vision of where they will be lead to except what there founding fathers dictated.

The Christian faith has a firm foundation and a prophetic vision to build on.

The foundation is built by God and the vision is revealed by God.

          “Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain.

           Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake

           in vain” (Psalm 127:1)

To me that doesn’t mean that that these religions are good or bad; they simply won’t endure forever.  In the end what will be will be. That alone is God’s judgment; but it makes sense to me that if God is the judge, it will be done God’s way, according to His plan.  For Christians God’s way is revealed in the Scriptures from beginning to end.  God doesn’t want His people unaware or blindly walking through this life on earth.  He loves those who love Him and enter into a relationship with Him.  That goes beyond religion to a relationship, but religion matters only if it assists in developing that relationship.

The door to eternal life is shut in the end.  The only thing given as an explanation to those on the outside is, “I don’t know you”.  God will eventually judge all people according to the work they have done.  When the disciples asked Jesus “What must we do, to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:28, 29).