Do you know about Jesus, or do you know Jesus?
There is a difference.
My wife loves to play board games. There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t sit down at the kitchen table to play a game. I am not a big game player, but I will play with her because she likes it, and it’s important to her. It’s quality time with her.
What would our marriage be like, though, if we didn’t spend time together, if we didn’t talk, didn’t go on dates, didn’t have meals together? I would know her, but I wouldn’t really know her. It might not be long before she gives me some divorce papers.
Sadly, many people know facts about God but have never personally experienced His love.
God didn't create us for religion; He created us for relationship.
He doesn’t just desire church attendance, though that is a good thing. No, religion or church attendance by itself will send you straight to hell. Religion will bind you up, but Jesus came to set you free.
Are you familiar with the scripture John 3:16?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Notice that love is the driving factor for what God does. How many people would you say are truly “for you, got your back”? Maybe your spouse, but have they let you down? Maybe parents, but perhaps they have passed? Surely not your boss, though they may be a great person. Probably not your neighbors, or classmates, or government workers, all of them will let you down. God is truly there for you; He truly loves and finds value in you.
Focus on that thought: God values you.
Years ago, there was a man named Moses who had a conversation with God. You see, God had asked Moses to represent him to the children of Israel. Moses asked God by what name he should tell the Israelites. God could have given a name that meant creator, or the almighty, but He chose to give a name that meant the personal covenant-making God, the God who is concerned for you.
Can you find 10 people who are concerned with you?
The Problem is Sin Separates Us
Nothing can separate us from God’s love, but there is one thing that can separate us from a Holy God.
Romans 3:23 All have sinned.
Romans 6:23The wages or payment of sin is death.
Sin is not just breaking rules or having a guilty pleasure. Sin is you trying to live independently from God and his holy standards.
Good people still need a Savior.
Church attenders still need a savior
Conservatives still need a savior
Colossians 2:13-14 ESV “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Christianity is not about what we do for God; it's about what God has done for us through Jesus.
Do you know Jesus, or do you know of Jesus? Today is the day of salvation.
If you choose to believe in the plan of salvation, you need to do three things to start with, and all three are vital.
Repent. This means to change your mind. This means you were going one way, and you have decided to go another way, to follow Jesus. This means you actively lay your life of sin down and pursue the life of God. Do a 180-degree turnaround. Repentance is both additive and subtractive. Additive in that you move toward Christ and place your faith in Him. Subtractive in that you must choose to lay aside your sin. Repentance is not behavior modification. C.S. Lewis best shares what repentance is in his book “Mere Christianity”. “If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.”9
Believe. You need to believe in your heart that Jesus paid the price for your sin, that He died on the cross and rose again to new life for you and me.
Confess. You need to make a verbal faith confession. Confess today that Jesus Christ is your Lord.
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”Romans 10:9-10 NKJV1
Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. I need your free gift of salvation. I repent of my sin. I believe that you died on the cross for me and rose again on the third day. I confess by faith that Jesus Christ is Lord for all the days of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Next steps:
Join a Bible Study plan or group in an app, book, or with a local church group.
Begin to make a lifestyle of prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God.
Join a church that preaches and teaches the whole counsel of God and doesn’t water down the Word to please people.