Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so there are spiritual laws that govern your relationship with God.
Law 1: God loves you and created you to know Him personally.
God’s Love
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
God’s Plan
This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. —John 17:3
What prevents us from knowing God personally?
Law 2: People are sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
Human Beings Are Sinful
All have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. —Romans 3:23
The human race was created to have fellowship with God. But because of our own 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.
Human Beings Are Separated
The wages of sin is death [spiritual separation from God]. —Romans 6:23
This diagram illustrates that God is holy and humanity is sinful. A great gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that people are continually trying to reach God and establish a personal relationship with Him through their own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion—but they inevitably fail.
The third principle explains the only way to bridge this gulf.
Law 3: Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for human sin. Through Him alone we can know God personally and experience God’s love.
He Died in Our Place
God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. —Romans 5:8
He Rose from the Dead
Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time.
—1 Corinthians 15:3–6
He Is the Only Way to God
Jesus told [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” —John 14:6
This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place and pay the penalty for our sins.
It is not enough just to know these truths.
Law 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Then we can know God personally and experience His love.
We Must Receive Christ
To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. —John 1:12
We Receive Christ through Faith
God saved you by his special favor 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
When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth
After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee came to speak with Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you.”
Jesus replied, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, “The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
—John 3:1–8
We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ said,] “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” —Revelation 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.
These two circles represent two kinds of lives.
Which circle best represents your life?
Which circle would you like to have represent your life?
You Can Receive Christ Right Now by Faith through Prayer
Prayer is talking with 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 me of 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.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, pray this prayer right now, and 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 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
“This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life. I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know 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.
An important reminder…
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. This train diagram illustrates the relationship among fact (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and His Word), and feeling (the result of our faith and obedience). (Read John 14:21.)
The train will run with or without the caboose. However, it would be useless to attempt to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, we as Christians do not depend on feelings or emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of His Word.
Now That You Have Received Christ
The moment you received Christ by faith, as an act of your will, many things happened, including the following:
- Christ came into your life (Revelation 3:20; Colossians 1:27).
- Your sins were forgiven (Colossians 1:14).
- You became a child of God (John 1:12).
- You received eternal life (John 5:24).
- You began the great adventure for which God created you (John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Can you think of anything more wonderful that could happen to you than entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Would you like to thank God in prayer right now for what He has done for you? By thanking God, you demonstrate your faith.
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, beginning with the gospel of John (Acts 17:11).
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 (Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:16–17).
Fellowship in a Good Church
God’s Word admonishes us to “not neglect our meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). Several logs burn brightly together but put one aside on the cold hearth and the fire goes out. So it is with your relationship with other Christians. If you do not belong to a church, do not wait to be invited. Take the initiative; call the pastor of a nearby church where Christ is honored and His Word is preached. Start this week, and make plans to attend regularly.