Seeking God?
Seeking God?
We believe that God wants us to know Him and to live in a close personal relationship with Him through faith. In fact, it is God who prompts our hearts to seek Him. If you are here today seeking Him, it is because He is seeking you and drawing you to come near to Him through faith. The Bible gives us a clear understanding of how we come into right relationship with God.
The Way to God
GOD CREATED US FOR THE VERY PURPOSE OF LIVING IN RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
The Bible tells us that God created the universe and everything in it. He created human beings uniquely in His own image to relate to Him as nothing else in this world does. Genesis tells us: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” Gen 1:27. We are spiritual beings made for relationship with God. God is the ruler over His creation, including humankind. His design was for us to follow and obey His loving rule over His creation. The result was that all humans would live in close fellowship with God and the world would reflect God’s perfect goodness. God loves and wants us all to experience a life of peace that is abundant and eternal.
The Bible says…
”You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:11
“…I have come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Since God has planned for us to have peace and abundant life right now, why are most people not having this experience? The world is not a perfect place and most people are not living in close relationship with God. What went wrong?
OUR PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE CHOSEN TO REJECT GOD’S RULE OVER OUR LIFE AND THAT HAS CAUSED OUR SEPARATION FROM GOD
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us robots to automatically love and obey Him, but gave us a will and freedom of choice. We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. The Bible calls this rejection of God’s rule “sin”. This results in separation from God and leads to our living in broken lives in a fallen world. We have wrecked our lives and filled the world with turmoil.
God, who is perfectly holy and absolutely just, cannot accept our rebellion and its horrific consequences. His response is to separate from us. Separated from Him, we are spiritually dead and will be eternally separated from God for all eternity. The truth is, we cannot really be our own “god” and live outside God’s rule; there is only spiritual death when we are separated from God.
The Bible says…
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…” Isaiah 53:6A
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Romans 6:23
WE OFTEN ARE AWARE OF OUR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND ATTEMPT TO REACH GOD THOUGH OUR OWN EFFORTS.
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God…
The Bible says…
“There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2
BECAUSE GOD LOVES US AND CARES ABOUT US DESPITE OUR REJECTING HIM, HE HAS MADE A WAY FOR US TO COME BACK TO HIM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus is God’s divine, perfect son who has never sinned. He has been one with God for all eternity. Yet he left heaven to become a man. Jesus took upon Himself the just punishment of God for our sin. Jesus was raised to life after His death on the cross to demonstrate God’s acceptance of His sacrifice on our behalf and to show that we too can live eternally through faith in Jesus. God accepted Jesus death in our place and He died on the cross and rose from the grave, paying the penalty for our sin and bridging the gap between God and man.
The Bible says…
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [referring to Jesus] the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
“…God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, Himself man, is between them to bring them together…” I Timothy 2:5
“For Christ also has suffered once for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” I Peter 3:18a
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WE CAN BE FORGIVEN AND RECEIVE GOD’S GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
We must trust Jesus Christ and what He did on our behalf. This is an act of faith. It means we accept God’s rule over our life through Jesus and follow His teachings. We receive Him into our life and His gift of eternal life by personal invitation.
The Bible says…
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20
“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
“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN RECEIVE CHRIST:
1. Admit your need. (I acknowledge that I have been living to please myself and not God; I am a sinner)
2. Be willing to turn from your sins. (To turn away from living to please yourself – to repent – and to submit to God’s rule over your life.)
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave. (Trust what He did for you rather than try to bridge the gap to God through your own efforts.)
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as your Lord and Savior.)
SIMPLY TALK TO GOD AND EXPRESS YOUR FAITH:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite you into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus name. Amen.
GOD’S ASSURANCE: HIS WORD
If you prayed this prayer, the Bible says…
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into your life? Where is He right now? What has He given you?
The Bible says…
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.”Ephesians 2:8-9
“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” I John 5:12-13
Receiving Christ, we are born into God’s family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. This is called regeneration, or the “new birth.”
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.
To deepen this relationship you should:
1. Read your Bible every day to know Christ better.
2. Talk to God in prayer every day.
3. Tell others about Christ.
4. Worship, fellowship and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
5. As Christ’s representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.
Please contact our church for resources that can help you with your faith in Christ.
