1. The Story of God’s Explosive Grace

2. The Role of Hope in the Christian Life Romans 8.24-25

3. There exists in the heart of man an immense feeling that the world is not the way it is suppose to be. Death, natural disasters, war, disease, despair, evil, and hopelessness may be explained in logical terms. But deep down in man’s soul, at the very deepest emotional level, we cry out, “Oh God, if You do exist when will you fix all that is broken, wrong, and which destroys our happiness? Please Lord, when?

4. God’s threefold reversal of the effects of sin Romans 8.18-25

6. To understand hope, one must begin with faith. Because both faith and hope are connected at the hip.

10. So in this study, faith will be examined as the foundation to hope. Then our next study will be all about Christian hope.

11. So what is the basis of Christian faith?

12. There is no religion or world view that can be absolutely proven. In that sense, all people are in the same boat. From the evidence, every person decides for themselves if God exists, and which if any is the true religion.

13. For the atheist to draw enough evidence to reject Him And enough evidence for the true seeker to know Him and enjoy Him forever

14. Did God then just make a mistake? Could God not have provided absolute proof for Mr. McAfee to know for certain that Christianity and its claims were true?

15. First of all, God did not make a mistake. But yes, He could have provided absolute proof, but it would have gone against His plan for your life! So why did the Lord do this when He could have made it so much easier for His children? Answer: It is because of the integral nature of faith to the Christian life. Faith and trust are the antithesis of what Satan did when He declared himself free of God’s sovereign right over his life.

16. Being in right relationship with God and knowing Him is not primarily fact based, rather it is trust, submission, and obedience driven. Satan before and after he fell may not have lacked any correct data about God. Hence, it is not merely just truth about God that brings you into right relationship with God.

17. Humans tend to rationalize their behavior by manipulating a philosophy or religion to justify their behavior. Alan Amavisca tells the story of a young man in his twenties coming to see him when he was in South America. The young man had said he now rejects his Christian faith and has become an atheist. To which Alan asked, “Did you become an atheist around the time that you had become sexually active?” To which the man said, “Yes.” The connection is obvious.

18. This truth has application even to believers. When a Christian has slipped into a period of disobedience and sin in his or her life, something starts happening spiritually to them. Sin begins to erode their faith They may begin to doubt more and Christianity doesn’t seem to make as much sense. Their relationship with God begins to take a back seat.

19. Most people do not understand the true nature of Biblical faith and its three components. The acronym B-O-S unfolds its true meaning

20. The Greek word for faith is pístis (πίστις) and means to be persuaded that something is true, and then to trust its accuracy to the point of acting upon it accordingly.

21. If you were in an airport, and overheard a middle eastern man say to another middle eastern man that the bomb is in his briefcase and is set to go off in ten minutes. And then both men left behind the brief case and quickly existed the airport. What would you do if you believed that there was adequate facts that it was truly a bomb? Answer: You would act swiftly and warn others and protect as many lives as you could. That is the Biblical understanding of faith. Not only to believe but also to act upon your belief.

22. Belief starts with accepting as true the major claims of Christianity. You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. James 2.19 James applauds Christians who start their faith journey with mental agreement to the claims of Christ. But this first step is something that we hold in common with the demonic world, and if stopped here without action it is useless.

25. So is there a key to getting this faith that opens heaven’s gates? Yes there is and Jesus gives us the starting point in the Gospel of John.

28. Assuming that you could prove to me that Christianity is absolutely false, I would do the logical action and give up my Christian faith on the spot. But this is not true of atheists. If I could prove Christianity to be true, atheists would not be willing to do the logical action and fall to their knees and surrender control of their lives to the Creator, worship Him, and love Him. Why is that?

29. Biblical faith is not blind faith, nor a leap of faith, nor a high level of optimism. In fact, Christian faith has the greatest preponderance of evidence of all the competing religions and all world views.

30. The evidence for the case of Christianity Both objective and subjective evidence are provided

31. The objective evidence for Christianity is not based on a mathematical equation but rather a compilation of evidence like a court case. Here is some evidence. 1. The exclusion by deduction of all competing religions and worldviews as being non-verifiable or irrational. 2. The trustworthiness of the Bible 3. Fulfilled prophecies 4. Miracles 5. The resurrection of Christ 6. Archeological evidence for the Bible 7. Eyewitness accounts 8. Not built on one religious founder but an interplay of a multitude who confirms the truth of Christianity.

32.  Romans 8.16. The Spirit of God affirms in our spirit that we are His children.  Answered prayer  We experience on a personal level the claims of the Bible. If we obey God joy happens.  Intimacy with God  How the truths of the Bible fits most perfectly with the human condition.  The story of my life with God affirms my belief.