Your Relationship With God - 18 June

Welcome to our new study. This study is for everyone who breathes! If you are a Christian, you will learn more about your relationship with the living God. You will learn why Jesus needed to come. You’ll see that only He can take away sins. If you’ve not accepted God’s free gift, you will find out more about His everlasting love for you.

I’ve been burdened lately about our relationships with God. You see so many “versions” or definitions of Christianity, but what’s right? Can we just pray a prayer with a pastor and be saved? Is that REALLY all there is to it? Or is this salvation thing more than insurance against going to hell? Is God a big “eye in the sky”, waiting for us to do something wrong, or is it possible that we can have a relationship with Him – talking to Him, listening to Him, and being guided by Him?

This three week study will show you that Jesus is Who He claimed to be. You will see that you are bound for Hell without a right relationship with God. You will see that the relationship with God started in heaven. And in the end, if you’ve accepted God’s free gift of salvation, you will rejoice because you are a child of the King!

First, we need to acknowledge that we are sinners. We choose to run our own lives and do things without asking for God’s help. We fall short of God’s standard of holiness. We are separated from God’s love. When we accept the free gift of salvation, we still sin, but we are sinners saved by grace and we turn our lives over to Jesus and ask for His help.

Where did we get this sin stuff anyway? From Adam and Eve, who chose to listen to a serpent rather than their Creator. Because we have common ancestry in Adam and Eve, we have inherited their sin nature.

What do we need to do to start the relationship with God?

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified [declared not guilty and made righteous] by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled [no longer an enemy; now you are a friend] to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11 (ESV)

Did you notice that God loved us while we were still sinners? We didn’t have to do anything to earn God’s love.  How did He demonstrate His love? By sending His only Son to die for us. If YOU were the only person in the world, God would have sent Jesus to die. Is that amazing?

How are we justified (verse 9)? It’s not our good works, because we already know that we’re sinners. You cannot work your way into heaven.

Many people think they are Christians because they know about God. Maybe you’ve gone to church all your life. You may think you are a Christian because you are not Jewish, or Muslim, or Buddhist. But these verses tell us that we are only a member of God’s family if we are justified by Christ’s blood and saved from the wrath of God.

On Wednesday we will look at sin – why we are sinners, what sin IS, where sin leads. In the meantime, look at these verses and tell God what you think. If you are certain you are saved from His wrath, take some time to thank Him! If you are not so sure, you can discuss it with God, too. There’s no magic formula for praying. Just talk to Him. He is there to listen. If you would like to talk to a person, feel free to email me, or call the pastor. We’re here to help.

See you Wednesday.