• 1. God Loves you and created you to know him personally.
  • God's Love - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16)
    
    
  • God's Plan - "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3)
  
  
  What prevents us from knowing God personally?
  
  
• 2. Man Is Sinful - Man is sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know him personally or experience his love. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
• Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his 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.
  
  
• Man Is 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 we can know God personally and experience His love.


• 3. He Died In Our Place - "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
• He Rose From The Dead - "Christ died for our sins... He was buried... He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures... He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..."(1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
  
  
• He Is The Only Way To God - "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6)


It is not enough just to know these truths... We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience his Love.


• 4. We Must Receive Christ - "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12)
• We Receive Christ Through Faith - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast"(Ephesians 2:8,9)
  
  
• When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth - "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him'. In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again'. 'How can a man be born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!' Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.'"(John 3:1-8)
  
  
• We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:30)
  
  


Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us the kind of people 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 the will.

• You Can Receive Christ Right Now By Faith Through Prayer (Prayer is talking to God)
  • God knows your heart and is not so 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 Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
    
    If you said this prayer and it expresses the desire of your heart, then Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
  
  
  
• How to know that Christ is in Your life?
  • Did you receive Christ into your life? According to His promise in Revelation 3:20, where is Christ right now in relation to you? Christ said that He would come into your life and be your friend so you can know Him personally. Would He mislead you? On what authority do you know that God has answered your prayer? (The trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word)
    
    
• The Bible promises Eternal life to all who Receive Christ
  • "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:11-13)
  • Thank God often that Christ is in your life and that He will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5). You can know on the basis of His promise that Christ lives in you and that you have eternal life, from the very moment you invite Him in. He will not deceive you.
    
    
• Do not depend on feelings
  • The promise of God's Word, the Bible- not our feelings-is our authority. The Christian lives by faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word.
    
    
• Now that you have entered into a personal relationship with Christ
  • The moment that you received Christ by faith, as an act of the will, many things happened, including the following:
    • 1. Chirst came into your life (Revelation 3:20 and Colossians 1:27)
    • 2. Your sins were forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
    • 3. You became a child of God (John 1:12)
    • 4. You receive eternal life (John 5:24)
    • 5. You began the great adventure for which God created you (John 10:10;2 Corinthians 5:17 and Thessalonians 5:18)

Suggestions for Christian Growth

• Spiritual growth results from trusting Jesus Christ. "The righteous man shall live by faith" (Galatians 3:11). A life of faith will enable you to trust God increasingly with every detail of your life, and to practice the following:
  • G Go to God in prayer daily (John 15:7)
  • R Read God's Word daily (Acts 17:11) - begin with the Book of John
  • O Obey God moment by moment (John 14:21)
  • W Witness for Christ by your life and words (Matthew 4:19; John 15:8)
  • T Trust God for every detail of your life (1 Peter 5:7)
  • H Holy Spirit-Allow Him to control and empower your daily life and witness (Galatians 5:16,17; Acts 1:8).