HOW CAN I KNOW GOD?

How do you begin to know God? Wait for lightning to strike? Do nothing but good deeds and charity work for the rest of your life? Pray a lofty prayer with a bunch of long Bible-words in it? Nope, none of these.

God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him, and this page will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now.

God loves you and has a plan for your life.
God loves you. No, seriously, He really loves you. In fact, the whole reason He sent Jesus to earth was to clearly tell us how much He loves us, and to make a way for us to be with Him, both on earth and in Heaven. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” God knows exactly why He created you; He did it on purpose! He is the perfect One—the only One—to help you find out why you’re on this earth and what you were meant to be. Basically, He wrote the book on you!

But there’s a problem with human beings getting close to a perfect God…

Everyone sins, and it separates us from God.
You probably realize you’re not perfect, but you probably think you’re a “good person,” at least “good enough.” Unfortunately, that’s not enough. God is perfect, and He can’t be associated with even a little imperfection. After all, even a tiny drop of mud in a glass of pure water will pollute the whole glass, right? Besides, no matter how hard we try to be perfect, we inevitably fail. This imperfection—this “missing the mark” with God, if you will—is what the Bible calls sin.

Understandably, there’s a penalty for “missing the mark” with a perfect God. And honestly, we deserve to pay for our own sin. (After all, we committed it!) But here’s the even bigger problem: the payment for sin is death. Yes, death—physical, emotional, and spiritual separation from God forever. In Bible times, people deal with this by offering animal sacrifices to God, so the animal’s death would replace theirs. But it just wasn’t ever enough. So what are we going to do? How do we get close to God?

Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin.
Remember the verse from earlier: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” God made the ultimate sacrifice so that we would not have to die separated from Him. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. On the Cross, Jesus took all of our sin on Himself and completely, fully paid for it. The Bible says it this way in 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” So, because of Jesus’ death on the Cross, the penalty is paid, and our sin doesn’t have to separate us from God any longer!

But Jesus didn’t just die for our sin—He rose from the dead. And when He did, He gave us a chance to not only walk with God on earth, but forever in Heaven as well! He also proved that there’s no other way to find God, because no one else could have made this payment. Jesus was the only perfect Son of the perfect God, not just another sinful human being—and it made all the difference! Jesus told us in John 14:6, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

But just knowing about what Jesus did for us is not enough. God offers us the Cross as a gift of love—and just like any gift, in order to benefit from it, we have to actually receive it.

Accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
To have a relationship with God, you must personally welcome Him into your life. The Bible says in John 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Jesus tells us how we can start to know Him right now! “Accepting Jesus” means believing that Jesus is the Son of God, then inviting Him to guide and direct your life. You can actually pray and do this right now!

It’s not necessary to say any particular words—it’s not an incantation or magic spell; it’s a decision you make that, with God’s help, you’re going to live God’s way. If you are unsure of what to pray, this might help you put it into words: “Jesus, I want to know you. I want you to come into my life. Thank you for dying on the Cross for my sin so that I could know you. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me eternal life with God. I want to live my life the way you want me to live it. Please help me do that from now on. Amen.”

If you sincerely asked Jesus into your life just now, then you can be sure He has! God promises to do so, and He never breaks a promise! So congratulations! You have begun a personal relationship with God, a dynamic and lifelong journey of change and growth as you get to know God better. God doesn’t want you to go it alone, so the next step is to find a Bible-believing church where you feel comfortable.