God desires to have a relationship with you. He wants to be your Father and your best friend. When God created Adam, the first human being and our ancestor, he was walking and talking with him in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-9). So, how can you know God personally?
Sin separates us from God
Unfortunately Adam sinned when he knowingly disobeyed God. The beautiful relationship and friendship Adam enjoyed with God broke down: God is holy and without sin and therefore had to separate himself from sinful Adam.
“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)
As Adam’s descendants, we are also separated from God. We inherited his sinful nature, but we also sinned ourselves, by our own choice.
“All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:3)
We cannot know God or be in a personal relationship with him, because our own sinfulness is a barrier between God and us. But sin is more than just a barrier. Sin is so offensive to a holy God that He must eventually punish it.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
God wants a personal relationship with us
Because of His great love for us, God does not want us to go to hell, the place of eternal death. He sent Jesus into the world to give us eternal life. Jesus, the eternal God the Son, was born as a human being and lived a sinless life. Jesus fulfilled God’s Law, his holy standard, perfectly. He was the only human being that lived without ever sinning.
Jesus therefore is the only human being that did not deserve to be punished for sin. But he came into the world to take all our sin on himself and receive the punishment we should have received.
“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
On the cross, Jesus took our place
On the cross, Jesus, the innocent one, died an un-deserving death. When he died, Jesus carried our sin and thus put our sin to death. Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Forty days later he ascended into heaven.
Now the way to a relationship with God is open to us: if we believe that Jesus died for us on the cross; and when he was resurrected he gave us a new life, a life free from sin and a new identity as God’s children.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
All we need to do, is putting our hope in Jesus’ sacrifice and believe it is sufficient to make us acceptable before God. There is nothing we can do to make us deserving of God’s grace and forgiveness.
“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 1:8-9)
A prayer to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour
Here is a short prayer to ask Jesus to forgive your sins and to invite him into your life, to be your Saviour and your Lord.
“Dear Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. You died on the cross for my sins. I want to put my trust into what you did for me on the cross. Come into my life and to be my Saviour and my Lord. From now on, I want to live for you and with you. Amen.”
Everyone who believes with sincere faith in Jesus according to Romans 10:9-10 is justified and made righteous in the sight of God.
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (Romans 5:1)
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God.” (John 1:12)
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