An article about faith, what I've learned through my journey with God and realizations about having faith in Jesus

1. How should we believe? How should we believe in Christ? No. Why should
I, we, believe in Christ?
This question perplexed me for some time. My parents were both
Christians and I may say that they have a strong faith in Christ; thence, I was
born a 'Christian.' Now, the internet defines a 'Christian' as someone who
believes in Jesus Christ and His teachings. As I grew in faith and although I
believed God, I questioned if I believe in Christ. If I say I am a believer of God,
the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac and the God of men, I must be a Jew.
Christianity teaches that we ought to believe in Christ as the messiah and the
son of God; that God gave His one and only begotten son that whosoever
'believes' in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). And other
verses in the bible also profess that "every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, the the glory of God the father (Philippians 2:11)."
But the problem was, I couldn't get myself to believe in Christ. But then,
what does believing actually mean? We have the internet, again, saying that to
believe is to accept (something) as true. Where does believing in someone
begin, even if it is God or man? Apparently, we believe someone because we
trust Him and we trust Him because we know Him. Having faith in God comes
first in getting to know Him; and although we cannot fathom everything about
Him but only a part of Him, we must. We don't trust someone we don't know,
do we?
Going back to believing in Christ, it should start by knowing Him. And I
suppose there are no words to suffice and articulate how it happened. But I
just knew that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died to redeem us. This idea
I deduced after was the same even before I thought of searching who He is.
But God had me to look beyond; to know Him is to see the value of His
purposes.
God, before Christ came to earth, he punished people who disobeyed Him
and sinned against Him. We've imagined this when he destroyed the world
with flood during Noah's time and when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Moses wasn't also spared by God when he did not follow God's orders; hence,
he was not able to enter the promised land. But because of Christ, we were
redeemed from our sins. God loved us and he wanted us to 'live.' (A question
that may arouse from this is that if God loved His people, why would He punish
them? They ought to be punished because they have sinned and no one can
question God's will).
Oh yeah! God wanted us to live, but I didn't want to just because I hated
life or maybe I just couldn't appreciate the life I have. Little did I know that we
were given our lives to enjoy God, to enjoy all the absolute goodness of the
world, to love our families, to work with our talents and to see how far along we
can go. So God let me came up with this, until you realize how 'beautiful' life is,
you'll never understand a part of God's sacrifice and His sacrifice. Until you
don't understand what it truly means to love, to love the life God has given to
you, to love your family and to love other people, you'll never understand the
love that God has for humanity. And man can only understand a part of God.
Nevertheless, what I seemed to have forgotten during my quest was the

2. attitude. I ought to question because I wanted to know Christ but as went
through, instead of actually believing what I was discovering along the way, I
doubted, a lot. And having questions of doubt is different from having
questions of knowing Christ. I prayed to God that He may help me know Christ
but I failed to recognize and to realize that the answer He provided was just
simply there and I was making it complicated because I am doubting to the
point of becoming a skeptic -- a person inclined to question or doubt all
accepted opinions. But I am not saying that we should all accept everything,
we ought to recognize what is correct and incorrect, right and wrong, and have
faith, not doubt.
How do you know that something is from God? You just know it, don't you?
Now, if you are skeptical, Ii tell you, there's no way that man could possibly
articulate specific ways on how God works to men, as they say, God works in
mysterious ways. It's all about you and your choice to believe that it came from
Him. Ask God and whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24).
But the thing we must remember is this -- we cannot make others believe,
there's no way your testimony or your sermon can make them believe nor God.
Believing in God and in Christ starts with us, them -- our, their choice if we,
they want to or not. If by an instance, you talked with your atheist or agnostic
friend about your faith, and minutes, hours or days after passed and he came
banging on your ears saying, "Thank God! I believe in Him!" it was because he
may or may not unknowingly 'chose' to believe in God.
I will end this quoting Thomas Aquinas. "To one who has faith, no
explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
Having faith in Christ starts with believing in him and what comes after
believing in Him and desiring Him genuinely. But the very foundation of being
with Christ is our will, our choice to let our hearts to Him. By choosing Him, we
know Him, we trust Him, we believe Him ad we desire Him.