Know Jesus
Who Is Jesus?
According to John 1:1-5 and Colossians 1:15-16, Jesus is the Word and the visible image of God. The Bible describes God as a single being, the One True Living God, who has revealed Himself to the world in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, God created all things and apart from Him, nothing that was created has been created. He is our Creator, who came to earth in human flesh with the very purpose of redeeming a fallen and sinful humanity back to Himself. He will come back again one day as King to establish His eternal Kingdom and to judge all who ever lived.
Who Are We In God’s Eyes?
Romans 3:23 informs us that we are all sinners who fail to meet the standard of God, unable to redeem ourselves in any way. The lies you tell, the lust of your eyes, the hate in your heart, murder, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, theft, rejecting Christ and worshiping other gods or material things. Those are all sins, along with many others, and are detestable to God. We know right from wrong because it is written on our hearts as our conscience and what is written is known as the Moral Law or Ten Commandments. (Romans 2:15, see Exodus 20 for Ten Commandments).
What Does My Sin Earn Me?
Romans 6:23 states that the wages of our sin is death. You’ve justly earned your wage of death for your sin. Death is the arresting officer who drags you off to God’s judgment and eternal punishment in hell (Revelation 20:11-15). God has given us His Law to protect us and expects it to be obeyed. There’s just one big problem, due to our sin nature we are incapable of fully obeying His Law and living a life on our own that is fully pleasing to Him — creating an uncrossable chasm between us and God (Romans 8:8, Romans 5:12)
Jesus Came To Redeem Us
Because of our sin-nature from birth, Jesus came to this earth in human flesh in order to live that perfect moral life of which we are unable to live. He did so in order that He might redeem us and reconcile us to God — to bridge that chasm between us and God. On the cross He took on God’s wrath and our sin punishment, He was buried and on the third day rose again to defeat death. He made a way for anyone who will trust in His atoning work to find salvation from God’s wrath and receive eternal life. (John 3:36)
Salvation Is A Gift of God
God displayed His unimaginable love to the world by sending Jesus to die for our sins (John 3:16-17, Romans 5:8). This is a gift of God that no one can earn and you will not find anywhere else. You can’t buy it with money, you can’t earn it with good deeds, you can’t just be a “good person” or simply go to church. There are not several paths to God but only one path which is found through a saving faith in Jesus Christ alone (John 14:6). It’s Jesus who lovelingly leads us to a state of repentance so that we may place our trust in Him.
How Do I Accept God’s Gift?
Like any other gift, you have the choice to accept it or not. Acceptance comes in the form of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance means to have a change of heart toward God and His commandments, to understand through a contrite heart that you’re a sinner who is in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. (Mark 1:15). Faith, a gift of God, is not merely believing Jesus is God, or going to church, but having Christ take residence in your heart and life, fully trusting in His death and resurrection for salvation. If you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, rose again to defeat death and you confess that He is Lord, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10, Romans 10:13)
What Happens After I Accept Jesus?
If you truly accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you now have the Holy Spirit residing inside and are a “new creation” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are now dead to sin, but alive in Christ (Romans 6:11). You won’t be perfect in life but you will experience a God-given change from the inside out though the remainder of your life. The result of your saving faith will manifest itself through your discipleship and the clear and consistent evidence of the “fruit of the Spirit” in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). You will still face trials in life and the expectation of persecution along the way, but you’ll have a new strength in Christ to endure as God is preparing and forging you for His Kingdom. (1 Peter 1:5-7)
How Do I Get To Know Jesus Better?
Your new relationship with Jesus is like any other in the fact that communication is vital. Prayer is how we can talk to God and the Bible (His Word) is how He tells us about Himself. Study of God’s Word is vital for growth as a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 that: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that: All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.