We don’t hold onto loose hope as Christians, nor is our faith merely a subjective feeling. The gospel is deeply rooted in the history of the world; it holds robust power to explain the world; and it provides a footing for trust unmatched by anything else in the world. Unlike other religious (or even anti-religious) philosophies, Christianity rests entirely on God’s work and not at all not on man’s performance. “Faith” for a Christian is confident assurance that “He has done it!”

Our reason for confidence begins in the mere fact of his word to us. God has caused his activity in the world to be recorded. As we read the Scriptures, we witness to the many ways God has worked. God presents all the evidence to us in plain sight. He has done it.

Of course, confidence requires more than just facts. On their own, facts are rarely enough to persuade a person. Our confidence as Christians builds as we consider how those facts are presented. What God does is only what he has said he’ll do. As we read the Bible, we see a clear pattern of God speaking before acting.  From beginning to end, the Bible—as a theological history—is propelled forward on the wave of promise and prophecy. Over and again, God shows himself to be true to his word. He has done it.

This injects the evidence presented with meaning and significance. As we watch the story unfold, we learn of God’s perfect character—his righteousness, holiness, love. We begin to understand his hatred and intolerance for sin and evil. At the same time, we also learn of mankind’s faithlessness and fickleness—our perpetual propensity to push God away and take matters of life into our own hands, our worship of the world instead of him, our drift and desire to be independent from him.

While we may not always like what we read, God’s word provides an insight that resonates with human life and experience. It explains why there is so much division and devastation in the world, it gives insight into why we become so incensed with injustice, and it provides a profound explanation of why love is powerful and why death, when it descends, seems so unnatural.

But here again, we can say “He has done it”.  Because in the person of Jesus Christ, our God entered the world he created, and experienced the world as we know it. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. He was tempted in every way and yet was without sin.  He suffered at the hands of evil men.  He died as a ransom for many. He gave his life to free us from the otherwise inescapable forces of sin and death.  He was raised to new life that we might have life in him. He has done it.

And so the linchpin of Christian confidence is found in Jesus Christ, as God makes him known to us through his word.  There is no firmer foundation for faith, no greater source for confidence, and no better motivation for love than to know him and to know the grace, mercy, forgiveness and life that flows from him. All because “he has done it”.