It is Possible For You To
Know GodYou can know God personally. He loves you, He has made a way for you to know Him, and He wants you to live your life to the fullest.
Understanding Who God Is…
God Created Everything and Everyone
In the beginning, God created everything – not just our world, but billions of galaxies throughout the universe. However, the pinnacle of God’s creation was humankind.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:26-27
In the beginning, everything God created was perfect.
God Loves You
God loves us and created us to have fellowship with Him – a true relationship, to walk with Him and talk with Him – not only now, but also for eternity.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” – John 17:3
God’s Plan
In addition to fellowship with Him, God offers a personal plan for your life that has purpose and meaning. He wants you to enjoy life. His design is that you live a life that counts and leaves a mark for the good of others.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10
There is a problem. People are sinful…
Sin separates us from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
God’s design of a perfect world is broken by sin. We see it all around us, and even in our own life. We realize life is not working and we try to look for a way out, try different things, and even fix it on our own.
People are sinful
“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
People are separated
“For the wages of sin is death.” [spiritual separation from God] – Romans 6:23
People were created to have fellowship with God. However, we chose to ignore God and go our own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. Our selfish will is characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference and is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. Sin causes brokenness with God and with others.
This illustration depicts that God is holy and people are sinful. A great chasm separates the two. People are continually trying to reach God to establish a good relationship with Him through their own efforts, such as philosophy, religion, doing good works, and hoping their good will outweigh their bad. The arrows show that we fail and fall short.
There is a solution. God made a way…
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin. Through Him alone, we can know God personally and experience His love and plan. Jesus can put us back together.
The good news is God knew we needed a remedy. God did not leave us in our brokenness. He chose to love us and send Jesus who lived a perfect life following God’s design. Jesus came to rescue us and do for us what we could not do for ourselves.
He died in our place
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
Jesus rose from the dead
“…Christ died for our sins…was buried…He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures…He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…”
– 1 Corinthians 15:3-6
This illustration portrays that God has bridged the chasm that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.
“Jesus said to him,
‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me.'”
– John14:6
It is your choice to make…
We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love and plan for us.
Simply hearing this good news is not enough. We must admit our sinful brokenness and ask God to forgive us. It is acknowledging we don’t have the power to rescue ourselves.
We must receive Christ
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12
We receive Christ through faith
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
We receive Christ by personal invitation
[Christ speaking] “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into your life to forgive you of your sins and to make you what He wants you to be (a new person). Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of your will.
As you read through the following description of two kinds of lives, see which best represents your life right now.
Ask yourself, “Which of these would I like my life to represent?”
Two circles — Two kinds of lives
The Self-Directed Life represents a life without Jesus Christ. The command center of this life is controlled by self.
Christ is outside this life. He has never been invited in.
The dots represent interests, relationships, habits, etc. They are directed by self which often results in discord, frustration, and a lack of personal balance.
The Christ-Centered Life represents a life with Jesus Christ. Christ is at the center of this life and self has bowed and turned to Christ for direction in life.
Christ is inside this life. He has come in to give them greater purpose and meaning. Life still has problems and things can still go wrong, but now they have Christ and walk through life’s problems together. Life makes more sense.
The dots represent interests, relationships, habits, etc. Now they are directed by Christ and are lining up around a greater purpose and result in blessings for them and others.
You can trust God
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.
Prayer is simply talking with God. God knows your heart and is not as concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.
Here is a suggested prayer
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. My life is broken because of my sin and I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Forgive me. I am turning from my selfishness and put my trust in You. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.
Does this prayer reflect the desire of your heart?
If it does, pray this prayer right now. Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
God promises eternal life to all who receive Christ
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:11-13