Knowing God Personally
The greatest truth in all of life is that God loves you and wants you to enter into an intimate relationship with Him. So the most important thing a person can do in life is to enter into that kind of relationship with God.
A relationship with God begins with you seeing yourself the way that God does. God says, on the one hand, that you are a creature who has tremendous dignity and value because you have been created in his image (Genesis 1:26-27). He also says that His image in you has been marred and distorted by sin, and that every human being is a sinner in word, thought, and deed (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; 5:12). That's bad news, and the bad news gets worse.
Since God is perfectly holy and just, he can neither enter into a relationship with us while we remain sinners nor can he allow our sin to remain unpunished (Exodus 34:6-7; Habakkuk 1:13). That's worse news, but still not the worst. The worst part is this: God has decreed that the penalty for our sin is death (Romans 1:32; 6:23). Now when the Bible talks about death, you have to look closely at the context to determine what kind of death in being discussed. Usually, what is meant by death is simply physical death. Though that kind of death is indeed one of the consequences of sin, it is by far not the most significant type. The Bible also refers to what it calls the second death. Whereas at physical death a person's soul and body are separated, at the second death the person's soul and eternal body are separated from God for eternity (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10; Revelation 20:11-15). This is what the Bible calls Hell or the Lake of Fire, and all those who wanted nothing to do with God while they were on earth are given their wish for all eternity. They are completely cut off from God, and thus from all that is good, pure, and enjoyable in the universe. While that is a terrible fate, those who go to it do so freely choosing it.
But there is good news: God has done everything he can do to ensure that no one would have to spend eternity in Hell. God loves us, and does not want anyone to live without Him (2 Peter 3:9). The Bible says that only a human's death makes an acceptable payment for human sin (Hebrews 10:4). And only someone who was not guilty of sin himself could pay the death penalty on someone else's behalf. Since there would never be a mere man who would ever be able to be sinless, God himself intervened. Two thousand years ago, God Himself became incarnate as a man. God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and lived among us (John 1:14; 3:16). He experienced life with all of its challenges just as we do, and Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life (Hebrews 4:14-16). At the end of his life, those who hated Jesus crucified him, not knowing that their evil act was serving God's good purpose of making salvation and eternal life (an eternal relationship with God) available to all people (Acts 2:22-24).
Since Jesus had lived a perfectly sinless life as a fully human person, he could die as an acceptable substitute for another human being. And since Jesus was also God, his death was of sufficient worth for him to serve as the substitute for all sinful humans who have ever lived or will live (Hebrews 10:10-14). Thus, when he died, Jesus took the place of sinful humans. But he did not remain dead. Within three days of his crucifixion, more than 500 people saw Jesus alive at one time (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), proving that Jesus' promises and teachings were true and that God had accepted his death as making the payment for humanity's sin.
And just as the Bible's bad news got worse, the good news about Jesus gets better and better. Since Jesus paid the penalty for sin, you can now enjoy a relationship with God. Your sin no longer stands as a barrier between you and God. But in order to experience that relationship for yourself, you must do two things. First, you must believe that Jesus paid the death penalty you deserved for your sin. Second, you must trust God enough to accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for you as God's gift that made your relationship with Him possible. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." In other words, you must believe God's Word, and you must receive God's gift of salvation and a relationship with Him.
If you have come to the point in your life where you know you are a sinner and you would like to experience God's forgiveness and the richness of a relationship with Him, you can do that by praying. Your prayer to God might go something like this:
Dear God,
I know that I'm a sinner and that my sin deserves the
death penalty. I believe that Jesus died for my sins
and rose from the dead. I am trusting in Jesus alone
for my salvation. Thank you for forgiving my sin and
giving me an eternal relationship with you and a home
in heaven. In Jesus' name, amen.
If you have genuinely made this decision to believe God's Word and receive His gift of salvation and eternal life with Him, then you are now a Christian. You can now begin knowing God personally. You have just made the most important commitment of your entire life!
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Worship Services
Early Service
(7:45 - 8:45 AM)
9:00 Service
(9:00 - 10:15 AM)
10:45 Service
(10:45 - 11:55 AM)
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Where Are We?
Faith Bible Church is located on the NE side of Cedar Rapids, IA in the community of Robins.
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