Okay, so you’ve asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and be the Lord of your life! Now what? It is important that you begin to grow in your relationship with God! He is waiting for you to get to know Him better!
Four wonderful things happen when you first become a Christian: Your sins are forgiven. You become a child of God. You receive eternal life. And Christ lives in you.
Let’s start at the beginning …
1. Your sins are forgiven.
“And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.” —Colossians 2:13
“But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” —1 John 1:7
Q. How many of your sins are forgiven?
Q. Is there anything about this concept of forgiveness of sins that is hard for you to accept or understand?
Our sin does not need to haunt us … God has forgiven us. 1 John 1:9 instructs us,
“But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”
If you do sin, what should you do? Feel guilty? No, your sins have been forgiven! However, the verse in 1 John tells us that we must confess our sins to God. You must agree with God that you have sinned, and thank Him that because of Jesus’ death on the cross, you are forgiven!
In today’s world, many people do not want to talk about sin. It makes them feel uncomfortable, or sad, or angry, or guilty. But God wants us to confess it to Him, and simply let Him have it! Confess your sin and let it go!
Take a few minutes right now to confess your sin to God … and then know that He has forgiven you!
2. You become a child of God.
God’s desire is to fill us with the love of a perfect Father. He knows us intimately and has marvelous plans for us.
“To all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children.” —John 1:12
Q. What is your part?
Q. What is God’s part?
Paul encourages us with these words,
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will—to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace.” —Ephesians 1:3–7
Q. What does it mean to you to know that you are God’s child?
3. You receive eternal life.
When we accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we will experience abundant life on earth, and then eternal life continuing in heaven.
Eternal life … a life with God forever after we die! Imagine, spending time with God forever! How do we know this? The Bible is very clear!
“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” —1 John 5:11–13
Q. What do these verses teach you about eternal life?
Q. If you have eternal life today, is it possible for you to lose it tomorrow?
“He [Jesus] has said, ‘I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.’” —Hebrews 13:5
Q. In what way does the verse from Hebrews answer the previous question?
Q. What does this mean to you personally?
4. Christ lives in you!
The Bible tells about a miraculous event that occurs when we trust Christ for our salvation. He actually comes into our lives and takes up permanent residence.
“So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” —2 Corinthians 5:17–18
Q. Is there anything in your life you can already see that is becoming new?
Being a Christian means you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not a “religious system” or a list of rules, or an inventory of do’s and don’ts. It is a living faith in a living person, God himself.
Now that Christ is in your life forever, you will want to know Him more intimately, and to please Him by the way you think and live.
“For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.” —2 Corinthians 5:14–15
This a very important passage for you to think about!
Q. What are some ways that you have lived for yourself?
Q. What are some ways that you can live for God?
God created us to be His children. He desires us to spend eternity with Him in heaven; however, our sin nature would have prevented that from happening. That is why God sent his only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins, in our place, so that we who put our trust in Him can be forgiven.
When we accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we will experience abundant life on earth, and then eternal life continuing in heaven. Jesus Christ is the only one who can bring us to God. Those who don’t put their faith in Christ will suffer eternal separation from God.
Application
Q. What excites you most about your new life in Christ?
Related Lessons from Series Two: Empowered by Christ
God’s Great Love for You!
It’s hard to imagine that the God of the universe cares about each one of us individually, but it’s true! God’s love extends to each and every person … and that includes you!
(Go to lesson)
God’s Purpose for Your Life
Your life matters! God has given you an identity in Christ and has a plan for your life!
(Go to lesson)