Beginning A Relationship With God

Beginning A Relationship With God

We are so glad you desire to know more about beginning a relationship with God.

Here are a few truths that will help you get started.

1. God loves you and wants a relationship with you.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)

You were created by God to be in a relationship with him. A relationship with God is what life is all about. A person separated from a relationship with God is like a fish separated from the water. Just as water is the source of life for a fish, God is the source of life for a person. A person outside of a relationship with God is like a fish outside of the water…neither can experience the purpose for which they were designed.

People are born outside of a relationship with God. But why?

2. Sin entered the human race and separated people from God.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

Adam, the first person God created, chose not to be in a relationship with God. With this choice, sin entered the human race and spread to all people. All people are born disconnected from God as a result of sin. Sin is the desires in our hearts and decisions we make that are opposite of God’s love. These desires and decisions bring brokenness into our world.

3. The result of sin is death and hopelessness, spiritual separation from God.

As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins…without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:1, 12)

Because we are all born disconnected from God as a result of sin, we are dead spiritually. The penalty for sin is death.

For the wages [penalty] of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Yet God loves us and desires to be in a relationship with us.

4. God, through Jesus, has made it possible for us to be in a relationship with him.

God was reconciling the world [bringing people into a relationship] to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Because our sin debt is death, Jesus fully paid our sin penalty when he died on the cross for all our past, present, and future sins. All our sins were counted against Jesus. Therefore, there are no sins left to be counted against us. As a result, sin no longer separates us from a relationship with God. Not only did Jesus die for all our sins, but he was resurrected from the dead and now offers us forgiveness and eternal life. Through faith in Jesus, we receive forgiveness and eternal life and begin a relationship with God.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
(1 Peter 1:3-4)

5. Through faith in Jesus, you can begin a relationship with God.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Grace is everything God has done for us in Jesus to forgive our sins, make us innocent of sin, and bring us into a relationship with him. He offers as a gift all Jesus has done for us. Through faith in Jesus, we receive God’s gift of grace.

One of the ways we can express our faith in Jesus and receive God’s gift of grace is through prayer. Below is a simple prayer you can say to God indicating your desire to receive his grace and begin a relationship with him.

God, I realize I was created to be in a relationship with you. Jesus has removed through his death the sin that separated me from a relationship with you. He paid my full sin penalty when he died for all of my sins. I also believe Jesus rose from the dead. Through his death, I believed Jesus secured for me eternal forgiveness, and through his resurrection, I believe he secured for me eternal life. Today, I place my faith in Jesus and receive his gift of forgiveness and eternal life and begin my relationship with you.

Now that you have placed your faith in Jesus:

1. You relate to God by grace.

You relate to God based upon everything Jesus has done for you (grace), not what you do for God (works). Through faith in Jesus, you are innocent before God and at peace with him. God doesn’t see you as guilty, rather, because Jesus took your guilt upon the cross, he sees you as innocent. As a result, you are at peace with and accepted by God, which means there is no sin that would cause God to reject you.

Therefore, since we have been justified [forgiven forever, innocent of sin, right with God] through faith, we have peace [we are not under God’s judgment or condemnation for sin] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace [all that God has freely and fully done for us in Jesus] in which we now stand [in grace, you stand before God forgiven, innocent, not guilty]. (Romans 5:1-2)

2. You are fully forgiven forever.

Since all of your sins were counted against Jesus, there are none left to be counted against you. Your sin debt has been completely canceled, because it was completely paid for by Jesus at the cross. You are forgiven. You can now spend the rest of your life thanking God you are forgiven!

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

3. You are a loved son or daughter of God.

As a loved, forgiven, and accepted child of God, you can enjoy your relationship with him. You can talk honestly and openly with him about anything. You can talk with him anytime and anywhere, without fear of rejection. You can talk with him about your hopes and dreams, fears and doubts, and struggles and success, assured of his love, forgiveness, and acceptance.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

To help you grow in your relationship with God, you may find Brad’s Books helpful: CLICK HERE

You may also find the Blogs and Teaching Resources on this website helpful.