For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mk 10:45

In the last weeks before his crucifixion, Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples what will happen and why.

He tells them that he did not come to liberate people from the Imperial Roman occupiers. He did not come to be an earthly king to replace Caesar. Nor did he come primarily to tell people how to live, or to set a good example.

Rather, he will die in the place of his people, that he will take on the the punishment due for their sins thereby setting them truly free. He tells them he is giving up his life, voluntarily, of his own accord. Elsewhere, he says that no one has forced him to do it. He does this because of his great love, he is willing to do it. He tells them is paying the ransom for his people. All of us, by sinning, have built up a huge debt, a ransom, before God, which we are unable to pay off. Only God himself, the person of Jesus Christ, is able to pay that debt.

Do we understand the mission of Jesus Christ?

As followers of Christ in the world, we need to approach the world as it really is. As such, we need to understand what the bible says about the world, that we might view the world with a biblical worldview.

Whilst we may not always realise it, everyone has a worldview of some description, which will colour their thinking, their motivation, everything about them. Whether they are scientists, engineers, philosophers, writers, whatever – the worldview they have will have an effect.

In effect there are basically two worldviews, a biblical worldview and a man reasoned worldview. This is not to say the biblical worldview is without reason, nor that a man reasoned worldview is entirely reasonable. God tells us everything we need to know in what we should believe and guidelines on how to conduct our lives, but he has also given us reason to enable us to apply his guidelines to everyday living. If our reasoning were perfect, God would not have given us his word, but our reasoning is affected by our sinful nature, so cannot always be trusted and needs to be regulated by God’s word.

As such, this biblical worldview will affect the questions we ask about the world around us, the why’s, the what’s and the how’s, the evidence we gather, our train of thought, our reasoning, as well as affect our conclusions on the world around us. We need to be able to recognise the worldview of those around us, that we might be able to interpret their questions and conclusions correctly.

Ultimately a non-biblical worldview is not reasonable, as God himself is reasonable, and so his word is reasonable. We are called to reason, in the light of his word, that we might be able to give a reason for our faith. This is not to say we will have all the answers, but that we are able to present a reasonable argument, both to ourselves and to the world around us. If our arguments are not reasonable, we will be misrepresenting God who is the author of reason.