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How to Know God

Left to our own resources we can never come to know God in truth. Man has invented many gods and countless religions, but by himself he is unable to find the true and living God. How then can we ever come to know the Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth? Quite simply, God must reveal Himself; that is the only way. The following exercise will demonstrate the problem we face in knowing God. Imagine there are two people on your computer screen. These flat people have height and width, but no depth. They are two-dimensional. The computer screen is the extent of their world. Can they see you? No. They can see only what's on the screen (in their world). They have no depth perception. Now use your finger to touch your computer screen. Now can they see you? They cannot see all of you, but they can see the tip of your finger, the part that has entered their world. That is a crude analogy of our situation with God. Since God must exist in at least eleven dimensions, and we exist in four, we cannot detect Him if He remains outside our world. We cannot know God unless He reveals Himself. In other words, He must "touch the screen" of our world. This analogy is crude because, in reality, there are many more dimensions separating us from God than those separating you from the "screen people." The extent and nature of God's existence are unfathomable. The "Finger" of God As we study human history, especially religious history, do we find any instances where God "touched the screen" of our world? Do we find episodes of a multi- and extra-dimensional God entering our realm? God's "finger" has touched our world, in a person known as Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed to be God {John 17:3, 12:44; 5:19.}, told people that He was the God of the Old Testament {John 8:58, 10:30; Revelation 1:17 cf. 1:8 and Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12}, said that to see Him was to see God {John 14:9}, said that He was the only person who had ever seen God {John 6:46}, said that He was the only person who had come directly from God to our world {John 3:13}, and forgave people of their sins {Matthew 9:2, 9:5; Mark 2:5, 2:9; Luke 5:20, 5:23, 7:48} (which only God can do). Many other passages of the God-inspired Bible also affirm Jesus' deity {John 1:3, 1:4, 1:18; Hebrews 1:1-13; Colossians 1:1520, 2:9}. He was God in the flesh {John 1:1, 1:14}. Jesus' claims to be God may seem extravagant to us. But if we are the "screen people" and He is the "finger" that has touched the screen, then His claims make sense. The multi-dimensional Creator God entered our four-dimensional world by becoming a human being. But why did God enter our world? We get a clue from Jesus' name, which means salvation. Our Spiritual Limitations Just as God's existence is far beyond our own, so is His character and behavior. He is holy and righteous. Holy means that God is separate, other; righteous means that He is perfectly good. God is thus set apart from man, who is sinful.
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Sin is a word that means "missing the mark." God's holiness is the bulls-eye, and our character and behavior miss the mark. You might be asking yourself, "So what's the big deal about that?" The importance of sin is relevant when we consider a relationship with God. Since God is holy, He demands holy relationships. Another way of stating it: God who is perfect must have perfect relationships with others, or not have them at all. So how can we, who are imperfect, have a perfect relationship with Him in His perfection? The "Lamb" of God Our sin separates us from God, so God came into the world to be the solution for our sin. Jesus (Salvation) was "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" {John 1:29}. How did He take away our sin? He did this by being crucified (an ancient form of execution). God placed our sins upon Jesus so that our sins would no longer separate us from God. The Bible says that "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" {2 Corinthians 5:21; see also 1 John 2:2}. How does this work? The Old Testament sacrificial system of the Israelites pictured what God would accomplish when Jesus was crucified: a lamb or goat was slain to atone for (pay for) the sins of the people. The innocent lamb or goat was punished for the sins of the people, in place of the people. So, too, the ultimate Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was punished for our sins. He was punished in our place. In this way God's justice is satisfied and our sins are removed, paving the way for the perfect relationships God must have. What's Our Responsibility? Our responsibility is to rely upon Jesus--God's means of our salvation. Many world religions say that a person can have salvation through good deeds. This, however, means we are actually trusting in ourselves rather than in God's solution for our sin, Jesus the Lamb of God. The problem with relying on our good deeds is that--even if they "outweigh" our bad ones--our bad deeds still separate us from relationship with God who is perfect. Therefore, we must not trust in our imperfect selves, but rather in Jesus who was perfect on our behalf. Our responsibility is to admit and turn away from our sins, to ask God's forgiveness, and to take advantage of God's loving offer by placing our reliance upon His solution for our sin, Jesus' sacrificial death. What follows will be a relationship with God in which God will change us. He does not leave us as orphans, but comes to reside spiritually within us through His Holy Spirit. This indwelling of God enables us and motivates us to do good deeds and to be free from our compulsion to sin. We are then to live a life of obedience, with reverence for and humility before God, and dependence upon His empowerment to live a life that honors Him. Where are you Today? Are you relying on your own goodness for a relationship with God? Are you following rituals that you think will put you in God's favor? The Bible says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" {Ephesians 2:8-9}. There is no boasting before God. He has given us a way unto salvation, and that way is Jesus Christ who died on our behalf. We must rely upon Him in order to be forgiven of sin and to be granted eternal life.

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Are you thinking that you yourself are God, or that you are part of God? Such thinking is common today, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The very first sin recorded in the Bible resulted from someone being deceived into thinking they could be God. It is the oldest lie in the book. Don't fall for that deception. We are not God. We never will be God. As created beings, the best and wisest thing we can do is submit our lives completely to the one and only God. Are you thinking that life is more fulfilling without God? This, too, is a great deception. We have been created in such a way that only a relationship with God will ultimately satisfy us. Jesus had that in mind when He said: "He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" {John 6:35}. Jesus was speaking of the spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst we have until we come to know God through Him. Do you want to know God? Jesus came to this earth in human form, born of a virgin Mary, lived a sinless life and died on the cross of Calvary for our sins and he rose again on the third day. Jesus is the Word of God, the perfect image of the invisible God, the truth, God with us! Admit that you have not loved God nor anyone else to the best of your ability. Admit your selfcentered ways. Admit your need of forgiveness and ask God to forgive you for all the wrongs you've ever committed. Ask Him to forgive you based on Jesus' death on your behalf. Ask Him to come into your life and become your Father, and thank Him for the relationship that He graciously offers you. Here are six verses from the Bible you need to understand: 1. All have sinned; all fall short of Gods glorious standard. (Romans 3:23) God has a standard by which we must live, and failing to live up to this standard is sin. God is perfect and His standard is perfection. None of us can attain this therefore we all have sinned. 2. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) We have all sinned so we all deserve the punishment for sin; where there is a crime there must be punishment. Gods system has one punishment for sin: death. 3. And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27) We get one chance at life; the decisions we make on earth have eternal consequences. Once we die, we are judged on what we have done with our lives. The only thing that will save us from being condemned is to accept Jesus as our savior. 4. God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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The good news is that Jesus came to take the punishment for our sin. He lived a perfect life, which is something we will never do. He couldnt be punished for His own sin because He didnt have any. His punishment was entirely for us. 5. If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (1 John 1:9) Just because Jesus died doesnt mean all of this happens automatically. We have to recognize what He has done for us and ask Him to forgive us for our sin. When we do this, He will forgive us and we will be made clean in Gods sight. 6. Those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. (John 5:24) If we respond to the message of what God has given, through Jesus, we will have a new life. This new life will go on forever, it is eternal. We have left our sin, and all the death that goes with it, for an amazing new life in God.

When the Apostle Peter was asked this question he said you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

The Bible calls this repentance. Before we are Christians we do what we want, we rule our own lives. When we become Christians we surrender this position to Jesus. He becomes the person who sets the direction of our lives. So we become like Him: thats what it means to be Christian or Christ-like. Sin is simply disobedience to God. Sin deserves punishment and we are sinners; our sin separates us from God. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable; we need God to save us. This means completely turning away from the lifestyle we have been living and turning to God. Obviously our lifestyle will change but its not about a set of religious dos and donts: its about a change of heart. If we can understand that repentance is turning away from what we have been doing and giving God control of our lives, everything else will follow.

As a sign of turning from sin, we begin by asking Jesus to come into our heart. This is also called as the, "Salvation Prayer" or the "Sinners prayer". The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
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Repentance is not something you should think. Praying out-loud will remove any doubt from your mind about whether you have really prayed or not. This is what you must pray: a) You need to confess your sins and ask for God's forgiveness. b)Ask Jesus to come into your life as Savior and Lord. c) Thank God for His forgiveness. You can do this anytime and anywhere. (You are then putting your life into Gods control and saying that from that moment you will follow and serve Jesus alone.) If you have prayed this prayer from the bottom of your heart, you now have Jesus in your heart. Now tell someone what you have done!

Now after you have accepted Jesus as your savior, find a church where you can be baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit. It is a commandment of Jesus that all those who believe must be baptized in the name of Jesus. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16: 16. The word Baptism is derived from the Greek word, 'Baptiso', meaning 'immersion'. After you've done this, you can grow in your relationship with God through the following:

Read God's Word, the Bible, on a regular basis. This is now your spiritual "food"; you cannot grow without it. A good place to start is with the Gospel of John. Communicate to God regularly through prayer. Bear your heart to God, being open and honest with Him about all things. He asks that you cast all your cares on Him, and immediately ask forgiveness for any sins you commit. And remember that prayer is not only talking to God, it also involves listening. Find others who share your faith in Christ. Fellowship with other believers is key to spiritual maturity. You should look for a church where God's Word is taught and honored, where Jesus is the focus, and where there is a sincere reverence for God. Commit your life to God. You will be pulled in two opposing directions, one toward your old way of life and the other toward God and your new life with Him. Submit every area of your life unto Him and obey Him in all things.

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