Personal Relationship With God

WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD?

GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

God loves us even if we haven’t loved him. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” (1 John 4:10)

God wants us to know him. The Bible says God is at work in everyone’s life. “So that they  should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and  find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAS BEEN BROKEN BY SIN

We have all made choices showing we are inclined to be: Passively indifferent to God “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his  own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Or actively opposed to God “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world,  and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the  light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)

The result of our choices to resist or ignore God results in spiritual death (separation from God). “We are dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

“And thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

WHAT DID GOD DO FOR US?

GOD HAD PROVIDED A SOLUTION FOR OUR LOST RELATIONSHIP

Jesus Christ came to do what we could not do for ourselves. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that  whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

He came into the world to bring us to his Father. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the             Father except through Me.’ ” (John 14:6)

He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sin. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that  He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive  by the                 Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)

He rose from the dead to show that his claims were true. “For         I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that  Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was              buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the            Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.           After  that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the  greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?

WE MUST EACH PERSONALLY TRUST JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR

Our own efforts to earn God’s acceptance are inadequate. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His  mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of  the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

We must admit our need for forgiveness. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as lift  his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me  a sinner!’ ” (Luke 18:13)

We must receive Christ and his offer of salvation as a gift. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of  yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should  boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BEGINS TODAY

You can begin your personal relationship with God by putting your  faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. You may find it helpful  to express your new faith in words similar to these:

Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from You. Thank You for  sending Your Son to die in my place. I now trust Jesus to forgive my  sins. I invite Him into my life as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for  receiving me into Your eternal family. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

WHAT’S NEXT?

YOUR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST BEGINS AN EVERLASTING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

God’s commitment to you: God assures you that if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, He has  given you eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe  in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal  life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of  God.” (1 John 5:13)

God promises to never leave you. ” I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

God has forgiven all of your sins, past, present, and future. “And  you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,  He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all  trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was  against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the  way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)

God has given you His Spirit to enable you to live in a way that  pleases Him. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  (Galatians 5:25)