³ “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”

Atheists assert there cannot possibly be a God. How could that be when there are so many evils in the world: wars, genocides, murder, extortion and sickness? That was the “argument” of one mocking, young unbeliever in his smug defiance of all things Christian. Yet when confronted with and finally embracing the personal message of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness on the cross, the answer to his seemingly self-convincing questions became quite clear. The reason for all the bad stuff that happens in the world, he came to realize, was not because there is no God, but that people rejected the God who created them. Suffering is not God’s “fault,” but rather the fault of humans. If people really knew God as He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, there would be none of the bad stuff going on. Their lives would be changed.

Theologians attempt to sort out the sovereignty of God and the free will of man, and how those two things figure into salvation, a discussion which can easily sound like the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Millennialists and Amillennialists argue whether the world is becoming a better place or is declining toward Armageddon. Jesus said His disciples will be persecuted, things will worsen—and not always because of Christians’ failure to influence the world. It will come even to the most faithful. The world is fallen.

Christians tend to berate themselves for the state of the world, as though we are at fault for not being more faithful in our witness and living the character of Christ. We have failed to be salt and light, and that accounts in large part for the moral Tsunami taking place. In fact, our society actually celebrates sinful lifestyles, and heralds those who “come out” with their alternative sexualities—this moral upheaval is over-whelming our western world at a break-neck speed.

But is the fault laid at the feet of Christians? When Jesus was physically present in this world, He was the salt and light of the earth, par excellence. No one could be like Christ better than Jesus Himself. Yet, the world crucified Him. And it is He who said His followers would be persecuted. The cause of persecution is not Christian political activism which has fallen under withering criticism. Nor is it Christians’ failure to love their “enemies” or those who are “different.” The root reason for persecution is ignorance. If they only knew Christ, the way the disciples came to know Him, they would not persecute Christians or live immoral lifestyles – they would be fully-committed followers of Jesus Christ as well.

Lord, I want to be faithful in my witness to people about Your Son.