Knowing God
In life we often say we know so and so or this person or that person. Sometimes that means we know them well or very well. Sometimes it simply means we have met them once or just know who they are, though we have never met them. It might mean we know a little about them. A wonderful person we can get to know personally and well is Almighty God. This comes through first getting to know His son Jesus, the Christ (John 14:7-9 of the Holy Bible).
But how does this begin? How does a person get to know Jesus? It starts by becoming a true Christian. To the true Christian, Christianity is more than a religion. It is a relationship with Almighty God. A relationship where God becomes a person’s Heavenly Father and that person becomes God’s true child. How does this happen? God’s son tells us we must become born again spiritually. When we become born again, spiritually, our spiritual nature changes. God’s Holy word calls this becoming a new creation in and through Jesus, the Christ.
How does this process begin? It begins by responding to the inward knowing and hunger inside of us for the creator. There is a basic instinct, desire and longing in every human being for more than this earthly life can give. It begins by desiring to fill an emptiness inside of us. Many have tried to fill the emptiness with the things of this world and have had no success. Once you respond to God’s calling and drawing and love, that void inside of you will be filled.
What must you do for this to happen? You must believe that Jesus, the Christ, was sent to this earth as God’s only begotten son. You must believe you have a sin nature and because of this that you need Jesus as savior of your life. God is Holy and will not allow sin in His presence. We will all die one day and the spirit and soul part of our being will exist forever somewhere. In your heart you know there has to be more to this life than this earthly existence of 70 or 80 years (or less or longer for some). But where will you exist after your spirit and soul leave your body?
There is one of two places where every human being will end up after they separate from their body. For those who choose to come to know God in this life, this existence, they will go to heaven after they die physically. For those who refuse to know Him, they will go to Hell. God is super loving (God is love – 1 John 4:8), but He is also holy. Because He is holy, sin cannot remain in His presence. The sin nature must be washed away from us before we can ever exist with God in heaven for eternity.
You may be wondering how the sin nature can be removed from you so that you can exist with God forever in heaven. The precious blood of Jesus that was shed for every human being has the power and ability to remove every human being’s sin nature.
How does this happen? You must truly be sorry for sinning against God. Even as a child we come to realize right from wrong. Our conscience (the voice of our spirit) makes us aware of right and wrong and of God’s existence. When we reject God and His will for us to respond to Him, we die spiritually. This happens in our childhood. Most children are about 7-8 years of age when they truly realize/come to understand what is right and what is wrong.
You must believe that Jesus lived a sinless life on this earth and that He is the almighty son of God; that He was crucified for the sins that all mankind committed against Him and His heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.
You must believe that although He lived a perfect life on this planet that Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, whose blood was shed for your sin. God put all the sin of all mankind for all eternity on His beloved, holy and perfect Son when he was crucified for you and I. He was our scapegoat who lovingly and willingly laid His life down for you and I.
You must believe that after he died through crucifixion by being nailed to a cross, that He was raised again to life after 3 days, by the power of God. You must believe that He is seated in heaven on His throne at the right hand of God the Father.
You do this by believing this in your heart and then saying it (confessing it) with your mouth. Once you choose to believe and accept these scriptures from God’s word, please pray the below written prayer and you will become what the Bible calls Born Again, Saved, a New Creation/Creature in Christ Jesus, a Christian. If you feel you need to read more before accepting Christ Jesus as your savior, below the prayer are scriptures from God’s word and some brief explanations of each verse. Feel free to look these verses up in a Bible or New Testament also.
Please pray this prayer of salvation out loud if you are ready to accept what Christ Jesus did for you:
Almighty God, I am truly sorry for my sin. I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of the savior, Jesus the Christ. Please forgive me for violating my conscience and rejecting you. I now come to you through your son Jesus the Christ. I believe He is the only begotten Son I read about in John 3:16. I believe He was crucified for my sins and that He died on a cross for me and was buried. I believe that after 3 days He was raised to life by your mighty power and is now seated in His place of power and authority and majesty at your right hand. Because I am truly sorry for my sin, I believe Jesus’ precious blood has now cleansed me of all my sin. I believe I am now born again, saved, a new creation in Christ Jesus, a true Christian. Thank you so much for becoming my Heavenly Father. Amen! Jesus thank you for loving me enough to die for me! I love you too.
A Closer Look at the Scriptures
The book of Romans in God’s Holy Bible tells us that:
Romans 3:10 reads `As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: `
— This verse means that we are all guilty of sinning against God.
Romans 3:23 reads `For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; `
— This means that we all fall short of God s standard for His approval of our life.
Romans 5:12 reads `Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
— Sin, the nature of sin in man was passed onto to everyone by Adam, the first man that God created. When Adam violated God s word to not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, he took on a nature of sin. With the birth of each person after that, that sin nature is passed on to each and every person. Again we see that according God s word all have sinned.
Romans 6:23 reads `For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.`
— This verse tells us that God s word says that the consequence for sin is death. What kind of death since we do not die physically when we sin? It is a spiritual death that we suffer. Meaning that when we eventually die physically we will be eternally separated from God and exist forever in hell. When this verse talks about `the wages of sin is death it is referring to eternal death.
— But this verse also tells us that there is hope. That hope comes from a gift that God has made available to everyone. That gift is eternal life. How do we obtain this eternal life? This verse tells us it is through Jesus. Jesus died for our sins. That is how he paid the wage/price for our sins. He became sin for us. He was our substitute paying the price for the sin we committed against Him, against God the Father and against the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:8 reads `But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
— This verse tells us that Jesus died for our sins because He loves us. He did this so that we can be saved from eternal death (spiritually) and eternal punishment and torment.
Romans 10:9 reads `That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
— This verse explains to us how we can become saved, born again/become a real Christian.
Romans 10:10 reads `For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
— This verse explains that our heart and our mouth are involved in our becoming saved.
Romans 10:13 reads `For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
— This verse tells us that anyone that calls upon the Lord can be saved from eternal death (salvation).
Below are scriptures from other books of the Holy Bible that explain important things about salvation.
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother`s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
— In this passage we do not see the word saved or salvation used. We see another word used for salvation and that is the word `born again.’ Jesus explained that this rebirth is not a physical rebirth. He explained it is a spiritual rebirth that is required before we can see the kingdom of God/go to heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
— This verse tells us that Jesus became sin for us so that we can be in right standing with God.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
— This verse says to repent and then be converted. Converted from what to what? Be converted from a spiritual sin nature to a born again spiritual nature. Again this verse says to repent to be converted. What does the word repent mean? It means to be deeply sorry for sinning and to change your way of living. It means to stop sinning on purpose and strive to live in a way that is pleasing to God. This verse says that when we do this our sins will be blotted out.
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
— This verse tells us that because God loves us He tells us to repent/change our attitude about sin.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
— This verse tells us that because God so deeply loved us, He sacrificed His son for us to pay the price for our sin against Him.
A Prayer of Salvation
If you now feel you are ready to accept what Christ Jesus did for you and repent of your sin and turn away from anything in this world that would hurt your relationship with God, please pray the following prayer out loud (even a whisper will work).
Almighty God, I am truly sorry for my sin. I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of the savior Jesus, the Christ. Please forgive me for violating my conscience and rejecting you. I now come to you through your son Jesus, the Christ. I believe He is the only begotten Son I read about in John 3:16. I believe He was crucified for my sins and that He died on a cross for me and was buried. I believe that after 3 days He was raised to life by your mighty power and is now seated in His place of power and authority and majesty at your right hand. Because I am truly sorry for my sin, I believe Jesus’ precious blood has now cleansed me of all my sin. I believe I am now born again, saved, a new creation in Christ Jesus, a true Christian. Thank you so much for becoming my Heavenly Father. Amen! Jesus thank you for loving me enough to die for me! I love you too.