This leaflet will help you to understand how you can get to know God through Jesus Christ.
In the beginning ...
The Bible tells us that our earliest ancestors enjoyed friendship with God but for most of us today he does not even seem to be there! Why?
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The power of choice
Well, according to the Bible, when God made us he gave us the ability to make up our own minds: the power of choice. Our ancestors could choose to trust God or choose to decide for themselves what was good and what was bad.
They chose knowledge rather than life and were cut off from God.
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Chips off the old block!
We take after them: we would rather go our own way and that is why God seems so far off.
The problem is that we do all sorts of things that a good, holy God cannot live with- but of course it is us who do the dying not the immortal God!
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The Bible's name for going your own way is "sin" and sin cuts us off from God and the life that is in him. Sadly, that means that we are cut off from God forever, not just for this life.
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Think again
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We can choose to stop going our own way and go with God instead but what about all of our wrong choices in the past? Can we get back to God's way without getting lost?
And can we keep it up? Sooner or later we will choose to go our own way again.
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God, do something!
We are well and truly stuck- it's up to God to do something. Well, he has!
First, he arranged to become a human being so that he would know what we are up against.
Second, he showed what God was really like by how he lived and what he said.
Third, he let himself be put to death to wipe out our sins and put us back in touch with God.
Yes, God did the dying for us!
Fourth, he rose from the dead and took his body into heaven. Then he sent the Holy Spirit to give us the power to live as God wants us to.
Now we do something!
We can't earn God's friendship and his power to do good but we can choose
to take it as a gift!
Jesus promises that whoever chooses to put their trust in him will not rot away on the cosmic garbage heap but will have eternal life.
It doesn't matter if we understand or not (who can understand God?).
All we have to do is trust that Jesus died for us and be willing to make him boss in our lives.
Think again, again ...
Choosing to go God's way and starting to do it is called "repentance".
The Bible says "repent and be immersed in water to wash away your sins and God will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit"
The Biblical name for being immersed is "baptism".
Being dipped in water may seem to be a strange thing to do but it is our
first chance to show that we have really chosen to go God's way.
The Bible says that if we confess out loud that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Baptism is a chance to tell people that we have chosen to follow Jesus.
But what we do is only a sign of the important spiritual thing that God does.
When we repent and trust God he changes us on the inside and cuts us off from
the tangle of our old life. Then he puts us into Jesus Christ and fills us
with the Holy Spirit as he promises.
A word with God
If you choose to claim this promise you only need to tell God. If you like you can say this:-
Almighty God, I know that I am a sinner who often chooses to go my own way instead of your way.
Lord Jesus, I accept that you died to wipe away my sin and put me back in touch with God.
I believe that you rose from the dead and I trust you to keep your promise to give me eternal life.
I make you lord of my life and I choose to follow you and go your way.
When anyone says this prayer and means it God comes to them and changes them inside. He becomes their closest friend and sticks by them forever. Then all the angels in heaven have a party because someone is saved!
What next?
When we trust Jesus to save us we are "born again". We need to meet with other people who are born again and tell them what God has done for us.
Then we can see about getting baptised and asking Jesus to keep his promise to baptise us with the Holy Spirit and power.
We need to talk to God in prayer and get to know him through reading the Bible.
Christian friends in a Bible based church will be a great help and they may tell you about some good books, such as "Going God's Way" by Arthur Wallace, but remember, the most important book is the Bible!
Its up to you ...
Jesus said:
"There is a wide way that leads to destruction and a narrow way that leads to life.
Not many people find the narrow way. Make every effort to find it yourself"
He also said:
"I am the way, the truth and the life; no-one comes to God except by me"
So what will you decide? Which will you choose?
© K.Wilson 1995