You have indicated that you would like to know more about how to have a personal relationship with God. That’s great!
The fact is, God loves you and wants to connect with you as His creation. He desires to have a relationship with you and for you to have one with Him.
Steps to Peace with God
Step One
God's Purpose: Peace and Life
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.
The Bible says...
"We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1
"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
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10
Why don't most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?
Step Two
The Problem: Our Separation
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots, to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. The Bible calls this disobedience sin.
We still make this choice today. This results in man's separation from a relationship with God.
The Bible says...
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
Our Attempts to Reach God
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God...
The Bible says...
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isaiah 59:2
No bridge reaches God...except one.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." John 14:6
Step Three
God's Bridge: The Cross...
God so loved mankind that He chose to pay the penalty for our sin Himself, so that He could offer us a way to re-establish our relationship with Him. Jesus Christ, His Son, came and died on the Cross for our sin and God raised Him from the grave to show us that Jesus was truely the One sent to accomplish His plan. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.
The Bible says...
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." 1 Timothy 2:5
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
God has provided the only way to have a relationship with Him.
However, each person must make a choice to enter into this wonderful relationship.
Step Four
Our Response: Receive Christ
We must trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation in order to have this relationship with God and the promise of eternal life.
The Bible says...
"Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to be called the children of God - children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13
Where Are You?
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now and receive God's gift of eternal life?
