Knowing God Personally

Point One: God loves you and created you to know Him personally.

God loves you. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him - 1 John 4:9

God wants you to know Him. And this is the way to have eternal life - to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth - John 17:3

Why do you think most people don't know God personally? Continue to the next tab to find out...

Point Two: We are seperated from God by our sin, so we cannot know Him or experience His love.

What is sin? We were created to have a relationship with God but we rejected Him and the relationship was broken. This rejection of God and the building of our lives around anything else is what the Bible calls sin. We show this by having selfish actions and attitudes, by disobeying God or displaying indifference toward Him.

Everyone is sinful. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. - Romans 3:23

Sin has consequences. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23

God is pefect and just and will hold us accountable for our sin. There is a penalty for rejecting God.

God is perfect and we are sinful. There is a great gap between us because of our sin.

We may try to bridge this gap through good deeds or following a religion. However, all our efforts will fail because they can't solve the problem of sin that keeps us from God.

The third point gives us the only solution to this problem. Continue to the next tab to find out what it is...

Point Three: Jesus is God's only solution for our sin. Only through Him can we know God and receive His love and forgiveness.

Jesus is God. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. - Colossians 1:15

Jesus died in our place. Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you home safely to God. - 1 Peter 3:18a

Jesus came back to life. During the forty days after His crucifixion, He appeared to the apostles... and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. - Acts 1:3a

His resurrection proved that He was God and that He had suffered the punishment we deserved in our place.

Jesus is the only way to know God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one can come to the Father except through me." - John 14:6

God proves His love for us through the cross. For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Although we deserve to be cut off from God forever, in His love God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross.

Through Jesus, God has bridged the gap that seperates us from Him, and provided a way for us to be forgiven and restored to relationship with Him.

It's not enough just to know these points. Contine to the next tab to find out why...

Point Four: We must each respond to Jesus by placing our trust in Him as our Saviour and Lord. Only then can we know God personally.

The response involves:

• Agreeing with God that we are sinful and deciding to turn from our sin.
• Trusting God to forgive us completely because Jesus died for our sin.
• Choosing to follow Jesus; putting Him first in our lives.

The relationship is personal

But to all who believed in him and accepted him, he have the right to become children of God. - John 1:12

Knowing God personally is a gift from God andbegins when we put our trust in Jesus

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it's a gift from God... so none of us can boast about it. - Ephesians 2:8-9

He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life. - Titus 3:5

It's not enough just know or feel that this is true. We have a choice to make. These circles describe two types of people.

Self-directed people have never received Jesus into their lives. They remain guilty and cut off from God by their sin.

Jesus-directed people have received Jesus into their lives. They have been forgiven and experience God's love.

Which circle best describes you?
Which circle would you like to descrive you?

Continue to the next tab to find out how you can begin a relationship with God...

To begin a relationship with God, you must give Jesus everything. God is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart

Here is a suggested prayer (prayer is simply talking to God):

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. I'm sorry for going my own way. Please forgive me for all my sin. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay for my sin. I agree to turn from my old ways and follow you as my Saviour and Lord. Please come and take first place in my life.

Could you say this God and mean it?

Is there anything stopping you from saying this right now?

Jesus will come into your life as He promised.

Continue to the next tab to find out what happens when you put your trust in Jesus...

What happens when you put your trust in Jesus?

If you asked Jesus into your life as Saviour and Lord many things have happened including:

• Jesus has come into your life by the Holy Spirit and He will never leav you. (Hebrews 13:5)
• All your sins have been forgiven. (Colossians 1:13,14)
• You have become a child of God. He is your heavenly Father. (Galatians 3:26)
• God has given you new power to live a transformed life. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 3:12-21)
• You have started a friendship with God that will last forever. (John 17:3)

How can you be sure that all this really happened?

You can know that Jesus is in your life because God has promised and He can be trusted.

An this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God's Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. - 1 John 5:11-13

Thank God often that Jesus is in your life, and that He will never leave you. (Romans 8:38-39)

You can know that the Spirit of Christ lives in you and that you have eternal life from the moment you invited Jesus into your life, because this is what He has promised.

What if I don't feel any different?

Do not depend on how you feel

We rely on God and His promises in the Bible, not our feelings. Although feelings are valid and important, they don't determine what is true. A follower of Jesus lives by trusting in the reliability of God himself and what He has said.

To be transported by and aeroplane, we must put our trust in the construction of the aircraft. Our feelings do not influence the fact that the plane will carry us.

In the same way we can rely on God and trust what He has promised in the Bible, and not depend on the way we feel.

Continue to the next tab to find out how you can grow as a follower of Jesus...

How to grow as a follower of Jesus

Our relationship with Jesus grows as we trust Him with every detail of our lives. This trust is developed through:

Find a church where Jesus is worshipped and the Bible is taught..