How to know God
Dear Friend,
I am not sure what brought you to this particular post, but if it is for the purpose of wanting to understand how to “know” God, then I pray that this will be most helpful for you. Let me start off by saying every one of us has been born with the internal desire to live forever. In fact, the Bible tells us that “God has placed the desire to live forever” in each of our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is the reason so many of us oftentimes think about what will happen when we die.
In our day and age, many people have tried to push God out of the way, and will dogmatically defend their belief that there is no God, and there is no life after death. However, that does not change the fact that God is real, death is certain, and a persons eternity must be decided before they pass over to the other side.
With that being said, I would like to help you with your spiritual journey, by doing the following;
- Help you to discover how you can know God.
- Help you understand why it is important to know God
- Help you to move forward in a growing relationship with God from this moment on.
1) How you can Know God
There is a great story from the Gospel of John, where two men were following after Jesus, but from afar. Jesus then asked the two men why they were following Him, and what they were looking for. Rather than answering Jesus' question, they asked Him where He was staying.
Right now, you may be like these two followers, you have heard about Jesus being the Son of God, and the Savior, and that He can radically change your life, but you are not quite sure if He is the real deal or not, you want to know for yourself. That is a great place to be at in life, if you sincerely want Jesus to show Himself to you.
In the story from the Gospel of John it is recorded that Jesus invited these two guys to come and see where and how He lived (John 1:38). What these two men ended up seeing was far greater than they ever could have imagined. You see these two brothers were named Andrew and Peter. These two men ended up being two of Jesus closest friends and most faithful followers, because they were convinced that what they saw in Jesus was for real. He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God. Much like Andrew and Peter, Jesus wants you to get to “know” Him also. Jesus wants you to take the time out of your day, just as they did some 2,000 years ago, in order to try and get to know Him. You might ask, “Why is it important that I know Jesus?
2) Why it is important to know God
The reason it is important to know Jesus is because it is by knowing Jesus that we are able to receive forgiveness for our sins, and eternal life from God. Jesus said that it is by knowing God that we are given eternal life. “And this is the way to have eternal life – to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth” (John 17:3).
In order to get to heaven and have eternal life, we have to know God. The Greek word for “know” means much more than simply having an intellectual knowledge of God, or even a belief in God, it means to actually “know God on an intimate level.” It is a much deeper knowledge than just being aware that God exists. It is an intimate and personal knowledge that comes from a close relationship based on God's terms.
What are God's terms for having a relationship with Him?
How to Know God
Before we talk about God's terms for having a relationship with Him, let's first look at what great lengths God has gone to in order to have a relationship with us. The Bible tells us, “God demonstrates (or proved) His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). It was Jesus' death on the cross that paid for our sins, and His resurrection from the dead that gives us victory over death, and provides a way for us to live forever in heaven. The Bible tells us in the Gospel of John, that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
Coming to God on His terms and not our own:
We see that the Bible tells us that in order for us to “become” God's children, we have to “receive” Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we can begin knowing God, and receive assurance of our eternal destiny. Again, it was Jesus who said, “And this is the way to have eternal life – to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth” (John 17:3).
Knowing God is as simple as ABC
A) Admit: Admit that you have lived contrary to God's perfect standard. The Bible says “All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (or perfection)” (Romans 3:23).
B) Believe: Believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever Believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
C) Confess: Confess Jesus as your Lord, and your belief in his death, burial, and resurrection, and you will be saved. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
There is nothing more that God wants for you, or that I would want for you, than for you to begin a new spiritual journey with God today, by receiving His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. By confessing your sins to God,and believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected from the dead, you will be saved! If this is something that you would like to take part in, you can say the following prayer and begin your spiritual journey with God immediately.
"Dear God, I want to begin a new life with you today. I realize that I can no longer do things my way. I want to be forgiven of my sins, and place my trust in your Son Jesus. I believe in my heart that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and that He raised from the dead on the third day. Please forgive me for my sins, and save me. From this day forward, I put my trust in your plan for my life. Amen"
3) Moving forward in your Relationship with God
If you just received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I want to help you get started on your spiritual journey. The first step is to tell others about your decision. Jesus tells us, "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32-33).
The next step is simple as well! You need to grow in your love for God and your love for other people. Jesus told us the Greatest Commandment that God has given to us is to "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind"... and the second is; "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-49). It is that simple, by continually growing in your love for God and for other people, you will be living a life that pleases God and causes you to become more like Jesus.
If you just received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I would love to hear from you, so that I can help you get started on your new Spiritual journey. Please email me so that I can encourage you in your new spiritual journey, and help you get started on the right foot.
