God loves you and created you to know Him personally. He has a wonderful plan for your life.
God’s Love
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
God’s Plan
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. – John 17:3
What prevents us from knowing God personally?
People are sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
People Are Sinful
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
People were created to have fellowship with God; but, because of our stubborn self-will, we chose to go our own independent way and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.
People Are Separated
For the wages of sin is death… [spiritual separation from God] – Romans 6:23
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him alone can we know God personally and experience His love and plan.
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
He Rose From The Dead
…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-6
He Is The Only Way To God
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:6
We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love and plan for us.
We Must Receive Christ
Yet to all who did receive 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— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
When We Receive Christ, We Experience A New Birth
We Receive Christ By Personal Invitation
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 that person, and they with me. – Revelations 3:20
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive us of our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. 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. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will.
You Can Receive Christ Right Now By Faith Through Prayer
God knows your heart and is not as concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.
