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Elsewhere on this site I have outlined the steps that you need to take to become a Christian - to commit your life to Jesus Christ and begin to live as His disciple. I will not repeat that here. I believe, however, that I do need to answer a question that is often posed by sceptics and opponents of religion in general and Christianity in particular. That question is as follows:

If there is only one god, why are there so many different religions?
And if Christianity is the true faith, why are there so many different branches, streams, denominations, sects, and divisions?
To answer this, let us go back into the book of Genesis, to the story of the Tower of Babel:
The whole earth had one language, and they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly". They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth".

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built, and the Lord said, "Indeed, the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech".

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is Babel (confusion).
Genesis 11:1-9
At first glance this would seem like a fit of pique on God's part - the big spoil-sport weighing in against men as they pool their resources, consolidate the team, and at last begin to achieve something worthwhile.

A closer examination, however, brings to light that these men are working to an agenda that is contrary to the agenda that God has set out, in that they are attempting to establish their own authority, power, and control over their world without reference to their Creator. Now, consider these points:
  • If God is the author of life, what is the inevitable outcome of any endeavour that excludes Him?
  • If God is the source of love, what is it that motivates anyone who excludes Him?
  • If God is the architect of man's salvation, what will become of those who exclude Him?
  • If God is the custodian of truth and wisdom, what is the foundation of the works of those who exclude Him?
  • If God is the creator and sustainer of all things, what is going to be the result if He permits to continue those activities that exclude Him?
Throughout his history, man has expended extraordinary effort in building his Towers of Babel. Whether it be a business empire, or an entertainment empire, or a political empire, or a criminal empire, or a religious empire, man has been building with the objective of being in control. But God will always veto man's endeavours at empire-building, because God will not allow man to destroy himself. In His compassion, God chooses to destroy man's works rather than stand back and watch as man self-destructs. Every time a man rises up to build himself a tower, even, or perhaps especially, if he does it in the name of God, God decrees failure and frustration. That tower will fall. It may take a thousand years, but that tower will eventually crumble. In 1990, the Berlin Wall came down. Who would have believed, just 12 months previously, that such a thing could happen. And yet it happened. It was inevitable. It was just a matter of time.

If all men had it in their hearts to live and work according to God's agenda and God's purposes, then there would indeed be unity. However, every man has his own agenda; every leader has his own vision; every revolutionary has his own dream. The communists want to rule the world; Islam wants to rule the world; the Vatican wants to rule the world; Microsoft wants to rule the world. But where is the man who, in his heart of hearts, genuinely wants to be ruled by God? There are such men, but they are few and far between. Is it any wonder that the world is in such a sorry state?

There is one more element in the equation which must be brought to light before we close, and that is that there is a third force at work in the affairs of men, namely the Prince of Darkness, whose purpose it is to deceive, to mislead, to enslave, and to destroy (John 10:10, Ephesians 2:1-2). When man first rebelled against the wise and compassionate authority of God, this evil prince usurped man's place of dominion over the world and brought man under his own dark influence (Genesis 3 passim). Here we have remained ever since, blithely ignorant of our plight until we face the ravages of his reign in the form of exploitation, addiction, depression, disease, untimely death, abuse, persecution, bullying, mental illness, and on and on and on. This deceiver's greatest weapon is the lie, and one of his favourite lies is that he does not exist. After all, how can you be deceived by someone who doesn't exist?

When men walk in darkness, they do not know where they are going. Only when the light begins to shine do they begin to recognise their true condition. My prayer is that the eyes of everyone who reads these pages will be opened to see "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 4:6). The only way to guarantee that we remain in the truth is to remain in Christ Jesus. Whatever your religious or philosophical preferences may be, only one thing is going to matter in eternity, and that is what sort of relationship you had with Jesus, the Son of God.

Where do we go from here? Wherever Jesus leads us.

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