CAN I KNOW GOD

PERSONALLY?

QUESTION:DOES GOD WANT A RELATIONSHIP

WITH US?

ANSWER: YES! GOD LONGS

FOR US TO KNOW HIM PERSONALLY

Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very

own through what Christ would do for us . . .

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into

his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did

this because he wanted to!

. . . God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ,

a plan he decided on in mercy long ago; and this was his purpose: that . . .

he will gather us all together —

to be with him in Christ forever. Moreover, because of what Christ has

done, we have become gifts to God that he delights in,

for as part of God’s sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his . . . (Ephesians 1: 4-5, 9-11 – Living Bible)

He does not want anyone to be lost,

but he wants all people to change their hearts and

lives. (2 Peter 3:9 – New Century Version)

QUESTION:IF GOD LONGS FOR US

TO KNOW HIM, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

ANSWER: OUR SINS CAUSE A DISCONNECT BETWEEN GOD

AND US

Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went along with the

crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying

Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air,

who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against

the Lord. All of us used to be just as they are,

our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us

into.

We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like

everyone else . . . Remember that in those days you were

living utterly apart from Christ;

you were enemies of God, and he had promised you no help.

You were lost, without God, without hope.

(Ephesians 2: 1-3, 12 – Living Bible)

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s

glorious standard. (Romans 3:23 – New Living Translation)

QUESTION:CAN WE FIX THIS

DISCONNECT WITH GOD ON OUR OWN?

ANSWER: NO! BUT JESUS MADE

A WAY FOR US TO RECONNECT WITH HIM

But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that

even though we were spiritually dead and doomed

by our sins, he gave us back our lives

again when he raised Christ from the dead —

only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved —

and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with

Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all

because of what Christ Jesus did.

And now God can always point to us as examples of

how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through

Jesus Christ . . . But now you belong to Christ Jesus,

and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with

his blood.

For Christ himself is our way of peace . . . Now you are no longer strangers to

God and foreigners to heaven,

but you are members of God’s very own family and you belong in God’s

household with every other Christian.

(Ephesians 2: 4-7, 13-14, 19 – Living Bible)

Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in

by offering himself as a sacrifice

for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. (Galatians 1:4 – The

Message)

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned,

but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.

(1 Peter 3:18 – New Living Translation)

Do vs. Done

Religion vs. Relationship

Achieved vs. Received

QUESTION:TO RECONNECT

WITH GOD, WE DO WE NEED TO DO?

ANSWER: NOTHING. WE ONLY RECONNECT WITH

GOD THROUGH CHRIST

It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and

stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our

shoulder, hated and hating back.

But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in,

he saved us from all that. It was all his doing;

we had nothing to do with it. (Titus 3:5 – The Message)

Because of his kindness, you have been saved through

trusting Christ. And even trusting

is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God.

Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done,

so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from

Christ Jesus . . . Now we can come fearlessly right into God’s presence,

assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ

and trust in him. (Ephesians 2: 8-10, 3:12 – Living Bible)

But to all who received him, he gave the right to become

children of God. All they needed to do was to trust

him to save them. (John 1:12 – Living Bible)

A gift to be received

Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me

calling him and opens the door, I will come in.

(Revelation 3:20 - Living Bible)

A door to be opened

May you be able to feel and understand how long, how

wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to

experience this love for yourselves,

though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or

fully know or understand it.

And so at last you will be filled up

with God himself. (Ephesians 3:18-19 – Living Bible)

A love to be experienced

Let’s Pray