Here are four principles to help you discover how you can begin a personal relationship with God and experience His love:
Principle One: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
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God created you. Not only that, He loves you so much that he wants you to spend eternity with Him. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). |
Jesus came so that each of us could know and understand God in a personal way. Jesus alone can bring meaning and purpose to life. |
Principle Two: All of us are sinful and separated from God. Therefore we cannot know and experience God's love and plan for our life. |
The fact is, we need Jesus. The Bible says, "...all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 3:23b). Though God intended for us to have a relationship with Him, we naturally want to do things our own way. We're stubborn, selfish, and frequently unable to follow through on our promises. Try as we might, we just keep stumbling.Deep down, our attitude may be one of active rebellion or passive indifference, but it's all evidence of what the Bible calls sin -- an old archery term which literally means "missing the mark." |
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The Bible says the result of sin in our lives is death--spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23). Although we may try to reach God through our own effort, we inevitably fail. We just can't ever be good enough.
This diagram shows the great gap that exists between us and God. The arrows illustrate that we are always trying to reach God and find a meaningful life through our own efforts. We may try to do good things or adopt a new guiding philosophy--but we inevitably fail. |
Principle Three: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.
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Jesus Christ is God's solution to the problem of human imperfection and evil. Because of Jesus' death on the cross, we don't have to be separated from God any longer. Jesus paid the price for our sin and in so doing, bridged the gap between us and God. |
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Instead of trying harder to reach God, we simply need to accept Jesus and his sacrifice as the one way to God. "I am the way, the truth and the life," Jesus said. "No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He also said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish" (John 11:25-26).
But not only did Jesus die for our sin, He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). When he did, he proved beyond doubt that he can rightfully promise eternal life--that he is the son of God and the only means by which we can know God. |
Yet just having knowledge about God's plans and purposes isn't enough. We need to consciously accept Jesus Christ as the payment for our sin and welcome Him into our life. |
Principle Four: We must individually accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.
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The Bible says, "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). |
We accept Jesus by faith. The Bible says, "God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (Ephesians 2:8,9). |
Accepting Jesus means first believing that Jesus is who he claimed to be, then inviting him to take the control of our lives and make us into new people (John 3:1-8). |
Jesus said, "I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20). |
How will you respond to God's invitation? What will you do with the claims of Jesus Christ? |
Consider these two circles. |
Self-Directed Life |
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 - Self is on the throne
 - Jesus is outside the life
 - Interests are directed by self, often resulting in frustration |
Christ-Directed Life
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- Jesus is in the life and on the throne
- Self is yielding to Jesus
- Interests are directed by Jesus, resulting in harmony with God |
Which circle best represents your life? |
Which circle would you like to have represent your life? |
If you would like to begin a relationship with Christ, then follow this link:Becoming a Christian |
