How to come to know Jesus and discover more to life
Know Jesus Personally
Knowing Jesus personally is THE most exciting thing that could ever happen to anyone!! The person named Jesus I’m referring to here is the One whom the 66 different books contained in the Bible are all about! The Old Testament tells of this coming Lord and Savior; the New Testament tells of His supernatural birth and sacrificial life, and the life-changing effects that trusting in Him have had on people’s lives.
Simply put, the eternal God and Creator of all that is loves you. He loves you more than words can tell. He loves you so much that He sacrificed His own Son to rescue you from a life of slavery to your own self-centeredness.
Before you were even born, God knew there was no way you could ever become righteous in His eyes. Knowing this hopeless situation of all mankind, God the Father sent His only Son (Jesus) to enter this world, being born as a baby. Jesus lived a perfect life in every way. At the end of His brief life, he willingly took upon Himself all the unrighteousness of the entire human race, paying this debt for everyone, forever in full.
Those who come to God, trusting in what Jesus did for them in taking away their unrighteousness, will be accepted by Him and will live forever with Him in His very presence!! Now, is that good news or what!!
Do you understand yourself as God sees you? Do you see your need to be saved from a life of going your own way?
Ask God to forgive you
1 John chapter 1 verse 9: “But if we say we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.”
- Each person needs to be forgiven. Many people do not understand what sin is. A helpful way of explaining sin is to say that sin is 1,2,3. People put ‘me’ first, ‘others’ second and ‘God’ third. They may not be terrible people but they do not live as though life is a gift from God - they do not seek to live God’s way in God’s world.
- Sin deserves punishment but God does not want to punish us.
- Like any parent who loves their children, God wants to forgive - He can’t just let
- people carry on doing what is wrong - forgiveness involves a change of heart.
Supporting Verse:
Romans chapter 3 verse 23 - “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Believe Jesus died to take the blame for all the wrong things you have done.
1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18: “Christ himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God.”
- Christ not being guilty can be helpfully explained by showing that unlike us He lived a life that was 3,2,1. He lived God first, others second and Himself third. As such He did not sin.
- His death helps us because He was innocent but He died to ‘take the blame’ for those who are not. He got what we deserve so that we can get what we don’t deserve - forgiveness and a new relationship with God.
- This all happened because God loves us - this is underlined by the supporting verse.
Supporting Verse:
Romans chapter 5 verse 8 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Choose to live in the way that God intends for you and depend upon God to give you the power you need to live His way in His world
Acts chapter 2 verse 38: “Change your heart and lives and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
- Believing in Jesus involves living differently - God’s way in God’s world - but nobody can do this on their own.
- God doesn’t leave us on our own - when we ask for forgiveness we receive a gift of the Holy Spirit.
- He is ‘God in us’ and gives us the desire and power to live differently.
- A car can’t run without petrol, a washing machine can’t run without electricity, a Christian can’t ‘run’ without the Holy Spirit.
Supporting Verse:
Luke chapter 15 verses 11 - 32 - ‘The parable of the lost son.’
Being able to tell this story in your own words demonstrates the change of heart that leads to forgiveness.
A Personal Prayer
God, I believe that you are there but I want to know you personally. Please forgive me for all the things I have done and continue to do that are not right. Thank you that you sent Jesus, your Son to die for me.
I believe his death on the cross makes it possible for me to be forgiven.I choose to follow Jesus and live my life in the way that you want me to. I can’t do this without your help, please take my life and help me to become the person that you want me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15
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Scripture quotations are generally from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lock man Foundation.
