Richard Cappetto

JESUS CHRIST 4 Steps to know God from Hal Lindsey's site Category: Life 4 Steps to know God 1. GOD LOVES YOU AND IS SEEKING TO HAVE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to remove the barrier of sin." (1 John 4:10) God loves you and planned a wonderful, full life for you. He wants to enter a personal and intimate relationship with you that includes fellowship, inner peace, happiness, guidance in life and power to fulfill His special plan for your life. 2. SIN HAS CREATED A BARRIER BETWEEN MAN AND GOD "All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God." (Romans 3:23) GOD is Holy, and cannot have a relationship with anyone who falls short of His righteous character. Sin began when man went his own independent way and rejected his relationship with God. At that point, man became unacceptable to God's Holy character. The Ten Commandments were given to show us how good we would have to be if we try to come to God in our own merit. But God doesn't grade our law-keeping on the curve. He said, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10) No matter how sincere we are, or how hard we try, or how religious we are, we can never produce a righteousness that God can accept. Even our good deeds are not acceptable in God's sight, "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags …" (Isaiah 64:6) So our sin has created a barrier that we cannot remove. Even though God loves you, He cannot compromise His holy character to receive you. Only God can remove this barrier. 3. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO REMOVE THE BARRIER BETWEEN GOD AND MAN Jesus said of Himself, "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) "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28) You see, God so loved us that He stepped out of eternity into time and became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life as a man and thus qualified to die for the sins of the world. He then willingly died in our place to purchase a pardon for sins and satisfy the demands of His own perfect justice. When He did, He tore down the barrier of sin that separated us. 4. NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE BARRIER BETWEEN YOU AND GOD YOU MUST RECEIVE THE PARDON JESUS PURCHASED FOR YOU Jesus Christ has removed every barrier that stood between you and God except one -- you must receive the pardon He purchased for you by an act of your will. You see, a pardon is not a pardon until it is received. There is a pardon with your name on it in heaven, but you must receive it to make it valid. It is not a matter of how good you are -- or even how bad you are. The issue is, will you talk to God and tell him you receive the pardon he purchased for you. He wants you to come just as you are and confess you can never be good enough for Him to accept. YOU can change your eternal destiny right now. Wherever you are, just bow your head and tell God you receive His pardon for your sins. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and begin to give you a new heart with new desires. He will come into your life and bring a new power and motivation for living you never dreamed possible. Jesus gave us this invitation, "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) The door represents your will. The Lord Jesus Christ is knocking at the door of your will right now. Just invite Him in and receive the gift of pardon He gave His life to give you. Then thank Him for the pardon and that He must keep His Word. Don't expect feelings right away. Some have them, some don't. The important thing is to simply believe God keeps His Word and He now has come to live in you. Seek out a Church that is true to the Bible and seek to learn about your new life. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Welcome to the forever family of God!