What does it mean to have faith? Like it or not, all of us exercise faith every day of our lives. When we drive down a two-lane road we rely in faith that cars in the oncoming lane will stay on their side of the road. When we walk across a bridge we show our faith that the bridge will hold us up and allow us to safely cross. Faith is what allows us to function in the midst of an uncertain world. Which is why it is strange to hear people speak as though faith is a kind of "crutch" for the weak. To them I ask, "What is the reward for being strong?" If I am drowning and someone throws out a line to save me, is there any glory in refusing to take it? Would I be "stronger" to die instead because I could then claim with Frank Sinatra that "I did it my way?"

It doesn't take any faith to believe what the Bible says about sin. I don't need to be convinced that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). I can sense that in my own life. I regularly fail to reach my own standard, much less the standard of a perfect and holy God. The Bible teaches that the "wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). In reading this, I sense the reality that I am drowning in a flood of my own sin--I need to be saved. That familiar passage of scripture points the way to salvation:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18)

How do I know that I have been saved? Through faith. This is not some kind of mystical belief in something I don't understand. It is simple and straightforward--I believe that Jesus Christ was telling the truth when He said, "he who believes has everlasting life" (John 6:47). My faith rests in Him, not in me.

This is not a "blind" faith by any means. I am grateful that God has not called humanity to such faith, but rather, has chosen to reveal Himself throughout the centuries. Which is why I cannot help but accept and embrace the reality of His existence. It all boils down to faith. For me, I find that I simply don't have enough faith to be an atheist. I find it far easier to believe that the universe was brought into being by an intelligent creator than to believe that it occurred by pure chance and coincidence. Take this very document you are reading now. Which is easier, to believe that an individual wrote it or to believe that it occurred as a result of some random event such as a tree falling on my keyboard. Can you know that I did in fact write this document? No! Is it possible that some random event brought this document into being? Yes! You the reader cannot prove that I wrote this. But you can (and do) assume that I wrote this, because the assumption is both logical and rational. You see the evidence of a created work. Given the choice between a likely explanation (which cannot be proved) and an unlikely explanation (which theoretically possible, but also cannot be proved), the more likely explanation wins. Why do I believe in God? I find the proof all around me--as the Bible says, "the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands" (Psalm 19:1).

For many years, the most common response to this has been the view that "infinity is the savior of the unlikely." In other words, while it is highly unlikely that the universe could come to exist in such a way as to uniquely support life, it is made possible (or even probable) given an infinite amount of time. The classic example of monkeys at a typewriter is often used as an analogy. While it is highly unlikely that a monkey placed in front of a typewriter will write anything coherent, if the monkey is given an infinite amount of time, sooner or later it is inevitable that he or she will succeed.

Unfortunately, science has undermined the foundation of this argument. Today, there exists conclusive evidence that the universe is somewhere between 10-15 billion years old. Accepting this reality makes it incredibly difficult for me to believe that the universe could have developed the complex life forms that we see today as a result of random chance. The "window" of time is woefully inadequate to convince me that what I see could have occurred by pure happenstance, apart from some intelligent designer guiding the process.

The Bible is alone in its teaching of a God who exists in dimensions of time and space outside those of our own. Science has demonstrated clearly that such extra-dimensions exist. I choose to believe in the Bible because it alone offers an explanation of reality that is consistent with what can be understood and experienced. Is my belief in God grounded in science? No, it is grounded in faith. I believe that (a) the universe as we know it was created by an intelligent being, and (b) that creator is the God of the Bible. Furthermore, I find it rational and logical to conclude that Jesus Christ was telling the truth when He said that, "he who believes has everlasting life" (John 6:47). Jesus told His disciples that faith "as small as a mustard seed" was sufficient to move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). The point is this--it takes very little faith to believe and be "saved" (Acts 16:31). I believe in Christ because to do otherwise would require that I ignore the overwhelming evidence around me. I believe because I must--to do otherwise would be irrational. God has offered a lifeline, and I have chosen to reach out and take hold of it. God has offered a gift, and I have chosen to receive it.

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." (John 1:12)