Knowing God

The Bible Says…

That sin entered the world through one man’s disobedience.

Adam, and mankind has been experiencing the effects of that decision ever since. War, hunger, poverty and tragedy are symptoms of a world gone terribly wrong. Many of these things we do not have the ability to influence or significantly affect but there is one thing that we will each have to decide at some point that profoundly affects the way we interpret all these events:

What we have to decide is whether we will believe in God, trust Him and let Him change us or whether we will live a life apart from Him, wrestling alone with our circumstances and ultimately being separated from Him for all eternity.

Wow, what a decision to have to make!

Many people think of God as a vindictive, cruel ruler, waiting for us to make a mistake so that He can bring tragedy into our lives. Often this view comes from the most defining experiences we have had with authority figures, those of our earthly fathers as well as some of the teachings of the church. Since our earthly fathers are imperfect people and the church is an organization made up of imperfect people, they make mistakes and those errors shape us and strongly define our view of our heavenly Father.

Others see God as a big Santa Claus figure who laughs all the time and wants us to do whatever we want as long as we are happy. This view of God has come from a culture that, over the last 40 years has promoted permissiveness and a “do your own thing” mentality.

We have taken the time to study His letter to us, the Bible, asking Him to open our eyes to truth and experiencing the love and genuine care of others who have come to know Him. What we have found along this path is that the God of the Bible is a compassionate and merciful but Holy God. He gives us a choice: we will either accept that we are fallen people in a fallen world and need Him for salvation or we will reject Him and accept the consequences of that decision. When Adam chose to disobey, knowing full well the consequences of his choice, God followed through on His warnings to Adam and banished he and Eve from paradise, thus ushering sin and death into a once-perfect world.

Some people say that a merciful God would never be so cruel as to judge us with a sentence of sin and eternal death. But ask yourself what kind of a world it would be if there were no rules and no consequences for breaking the rules. In every society, good or bad, there are rules; rules that govern behavior, rules that maintain order, and in America, rules that allow us to live in peace and safety. Those same rules enable us to strive to become whatever we choose to be while enjoying the freedom to speak freely without fear of going to prison for our opinions.

However, the rules are not enough. The purpose of the rules is to remind us that we always tend towards evil. They keep us in line, but the rules alone can become burdensome and tiring if we don’t really want to obey them. The key is that when people want to obey the rules because they see them as good and wise, then everything changes. The desire to obey the rules can only come through a change of heart that originates within a renewed spirit.

Ultimately, the rules (the law) brought condemnation to mankind because in order to meet the requirements of the law everyone had to keep all the laws perfectly, not just some of them. This was, and is, impossible.

Have you ever tried to do something, or figure out a problem and no matter how you attacked it, you couldn’t figure it out and then someone came along and just solved the problem with hardly any effort at all? It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?

That’s just what God did. He took the problem of sin and solved it, but the solution didn’t come without a great cost to Him.

The solution cost Him the life of His only son, Jesus.

God saw that his children were intrinsically rebellious and could never hope to meet the requirements of the law, but He longed for reconciliation and relationship with us. His solution was to send His son, who lived on the earth for 33 years without a single sin to hang on a lonely cross on a hill called Golgotha. Jesus’ death on that cross was the payment – the satisfaction of all sin, for all people and for all time. The law was no longer something that could separate us from God. Jesus took care of that.

However, you still have to make a decision:

You must accept the fact that you are a sinner. There is no way around this. The world says we are basically good, but why do we hate and gossip and murder if this is true? One lie makes you a sinner, stealing one little thing, even a paper clip makes you a thief. I think we all qualify, don’t you? The Bible says that sinners have only one future: death and eternal separation from God and eternity is a long, long time.

Once you’ve accepted that this is true, then you have to decide that you truly need a Savior, one who has paid the price and taken care of the law issue. This is so simple and so readily available to you- what do you have to lose?

You have everything to gain.

  • Sincerely Pray This Prayer,

    Believing that God hears you and invite Him to become the Lord of your life...

Dear God,

Today I’ve come to the realization that I need you. For so long I’ve lived my life mostly for myself. I now realize that your plan for my life is bigger than just me. I acknowledge that I’ve broken your commandments and that makes me a sinner. As a sinner I know that I can’t have relationship with you and ultimately I am condemned to eternal death. I thank you today that you sent your only Son Jesus to rescue me. I believe that when He suffered and died on the cross that He took the punishment for my sins and that salvation comes from trusting in Him. I receive the free gift of salvation today. I turn away from my sins and choose a new beginning with you and through you.

Today, I am a new person. Today is the beginning of the rest of my life—a life that will last for all eternity.

Thank you Lord

In Jesus name,Amen

The Next Step

Find a good church in your area. Find a church where the Bible is taught and people sincerely love and serve one another. Find a church where the pastor encourages the people to pray and study the Bible on their own as well as gather together in groups, large and small, to pray together and support one another through all the challenges of life. Loving, caring relationships are critical for you right now. If you can connect with an experienced solid Christian who can guide you, your chances of living your new life well are increased greatly. Go to the web site for New Life Church http://newlifechurch.org to get an idea of what a good solid church looks like and then find one that holds similar beliefs.

Constantly ask God for His guidance and He will be faithful.

Congratulations, and know that we love you!