The history of Jesus Christ and his early followers is the greatest story ever told. It is a powerful proclamation of the working of God in the human experience. It reveals the life of God being manifested in men who were taken to the end of themselves for the needs of others. It is the story of the fundamental essence of the life principle.

The history of the early followers, however, also contains the weakness and the shamefulness of man. It records the dismal destruction of Judas, one of the original apostles. This grimmest story ever told reveals what happens when man attempts to experience life apart from the divine influence. Losing sight of the divine light of life, Judas was to experience the pain and the agony of standing in himself for himself.

The saga of Judas, sadly, is a tale that is too often told in the Scripture. It is the story of Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:11-19), Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-19), and the Children of Israel (Deuteronomy 1:19-46). Paul warned the believers in Rome (Romans 1:18-32), in Corinth (1 Corinthians 10:1-10), and in Ephesus (Ephesians 4:17-19) of the deadly destruction that can befall all men as it did Judas. James, also, wrote of the certain death that comes when one fails to live by the divine influence of his creation (James 1:13-16), when one attempts to live apart from how he was created to experience life.

Judas, as with all who have ever failed, did not understand the mystery of experiencing life--spring comes out of winter, day comes out of night, the harvest comes out of the seed-time, and life comes out of death. Failing to experience the life of dying, he experienced the death of living-- attempting to experience "the bloom of the flower without the planting of the seed." In attempting to produce life in himself by using Jesus, Judas opened himself to death by his own attempt to live.

Failing to understand the mystery of the connecting links of life, he soon experienced the reality of loneliness, the reality of hell. The destruction of Judas, as predicted by David, was "For it is written in the book of Psalms [Psalm 69:25], Let his habitation be desolate , and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take" (Acts 1:20).

Attempting to use others for his own enhancement, he soon had no place to call home in which he might live, no friends in which he might share his life, and no work in which he might experience his life. Once numbered among those whom "the Lord Jesus went in and out" (Acts 1:20) experiencing life in the connections--the realm of the heavenly, Judas ended his life homeless, friendless, and without purpose--the reality of hell.

The question for this class, Fundamental Truths of Christian Living, the question for all who find themselves struggling with home, with friends, and with purpose in life is, "how do we attempt to solve the problems of a life that we know should be more than it is?" Do we use a lollipop, a band-aid, or the final solution?

When a young child is frustrated or is struggling with some childish issue of life, the parents will often hand them a lollipop. The tasty sweet will bring relief from the stress of the problem by allowing the mind to escape temporarily to something pleasurable. The struggle of the child is replace with the sweetness of candy.

Lollipops create a world of illusions where the participants seek to override the sufferings of life by continual enjoyable experiences. The problem with going through life seeking lollipops should be obvious. It never addresses the real issues of the mystery of life. It also continually requires bigger and better lollipops.

Whereas lollipops attempt to ignore the problems, band-aids do actually address the issues. Their tendency however is to treat the symptoms of the disease rather than the actual problem. For example, most marriage and family experts state that one of the leading problems concerning meaningful relationships is lack of communications. The band-aid approach to solving the problem is to teach the participants communication skills.

While band-aids do treat the symptoms, increase flow of communication, they often ignore the real cause of the problem. In our example, the final solution will have to address why communication between people is so difficult. In treating the symptoms, band-aids can also create a world of illusions, giving what looks to be quick success but long-term failure.

In the reality of the human experience, there are certain times in the lives of most people where a lollipop, and nothing but a lollipop, is desired. Or, the use of band-aids are the over-riding means of therapy. It seems that only on rare occasions is the final solution sought by man.

In the course of these 15 sessions on basic principles of Christian living, it is the final solution that will be emphasized. Although there may be a few lollipops and band-aids sprinkled into the mix, the foundations of life itself will be the focus. Whether we understand it or not, all of the struggles we encounter in our relationships--marriage, family, and friends--are the foundational struggles of life itself.

Fundamental to our struggle to understand the final solution is what the Scripture calls "repentance unto life." It is an appropriate place to begin our discussion of fundamental truths of Christian living.