I really don't know how to begin. So let me begin like this.
Life is a terribly complex thing. Even the simplest single-celled organism requires a number of functions to sustain itself
and ensure that life continues after its death, each of which is facilitated by systems that are extremely complex in their own rights.
To be considered alive, a thing must have a body. That body needs to grow and repair itself in order to keep the creature alive, and the creature needs to reproduce in order
to generate new life so that life can continue after its death. In order to do these things, the creature needs methods to generate/process energy and to gather new mass.
In order to do that, the creature needs some way to manipulate and react to its environment. Finally, to facilitate all of these functions, it needs a control system.
This control system is based on information stored in DNA and processed through complex processes.
There are three possible answers to the question of how life originated. First, it could always have existed. This answer requires that the universe be locked in an eternal
cycle or status quo of some kind. The laws of thermodynamics seem to refute this, since galaxies are spinning apart, stars are burning out, and the universe in general is moving toward
a state of dull uniform equilibrium by the law of entropy. Some people believe that the universe was generated in the Big Bang from a previous universe much like our own.
I fail to see how life could have survived such a violent rebirth. Second, life could have occurred by chance. The spontaneous generation of life
was scientifically disproven centuries ago, but with an evolutionary framework, it need have occurred only once in all of history. Such a phenomenon is so astronomically unlikely that
it could not be observed to occur in the wild, even given millions of years. Scientists have failed to recreate their ideas of how this spontaneous generation could have happened in an experimental setting.
Even given a billion years of ideal conditions, I have a hard time believing that random chance could do what humanity could not deliberately do with supposed millions of years of technological
advancement. We haven't even been able to create self-perpetuating machines, much less create life again from scratch.
How could blind chance have generated such a complex system as even the simplest organism, with all the genetic information perfectly arranged in order to control
all of its internal systems? Even if you could get one somewhat functional organism, if only a few tiny details were off (I'm a programmer; I know how particular information-based systems can be about errors),
it would surely die almost immediately, be unable to reproduce, or fail within a generation or two.
A primitive form of life must have been generated billions upon billions of times before even one could appear that would actually be able to function fully and eventually lead to life as we know it.
Frankly, I find the idea absurd.
That leaves the third option: life was created by a being that transcends our concept of mortal life and exists distinctly from our universe (God, if you will).
Thus I am a theist. But enough of the reason. Now to faith. I have put my faith in Christ because its message of humanity's fall from grace and
the redemptive power of faith in Christ is one of extreme hope and power.
It is unheard-of outside of Christianity that a supreme deity has humbled himself and sacrificed himself for the salvation of his people.
The only thing he asks for in return is faith, and eternal salvation and repentance of sin will follow (though it's often not easy).
I cannot recount the number of people I have seen transformed by the power of Christ. The most joyful and fulfilled people I know
are Christians. God has a power to change people for the better, and it is this faith which provides true salvation which is
evident even in the actions of people in this world. Of course, it is not a complete transformation.
Everyone is human, after all, but there is a trajectory of genuine betterment (known as sanctification in Christian theology).
The basic story of Christianity is thus:
In the beginning God created everything. Not being a tyrant, he created humanity with the capacity for free choice and set a single rule.
However, the first humans, in their folly, disobeyed this one rule and created the first sin.
God, being the supreme authority, could not tolerate disobedience and cast them out of the garden of Eden where they had dwelt in peace.
As futher punishment, the world was cursed and death entered it.
All humans have sinned at some point or another. This fact is made self-evident by the conscience and is unavoidable.
Therefore, in order to redeem humans so that they could be reunited with him in eternity, God created a plan.
He became human as Jesus and preached his message of salvation before being crucified.
As he died, he took upon himself the sins of humanity.
Rising from the dead on the morning of the third day from his death, Jesus overcame the power of sin and fulfilled the potential for human salvation.
Anyone can place faith in him and his sacrifice and receive eternal life and everlasting happiness.