How to Know God Personally

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ...

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Principle 1:

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

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God's Love
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." ¹

God's Plan
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful]. ²

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life? Because...

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Principle 2:

All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God.

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We Are Sinful
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ³

We were created to have fellowship with God; but, because of our stubborn self-will, we chose to go our own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

We Are Separated
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God]. ⁴

This diagram illustrates that God is holy and people are sinful. A great gulf separates us. The arrows illustrate that we are continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through our own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion -- but we inevitably fail.

The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf...

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Principle 3:

Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.

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He Died in Our Place
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." ⁵

He Rose From the Dead
"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." ⁶

He Is the Only Way to God
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.'" ⁷

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

It is not enough just to know these three principles...

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Principle 4:

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

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We Must Receive Christ
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." ⁸

We Receive Christ Through Faith
"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." ⁹

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth

We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." ¹⁰

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

Which circle best describes your life?

Which circle would you like to have represent your life?

The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer

Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

How did Jesus Christ Die? Physical Aspects

Medical experts, historians and archaeologists have examined in detail the execution that Jesus Christ voluntarily endured. All agree that he suffered one of the most gruelling and painful forms of capital punishment ever devised by man. Here is a brief summary of some of the things we know about his last hours from history, archaeology and medicine…

Severe stress, even before the abuse began

Jesus had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Even before the crucifixion began, he clearly had physical symptoms associated with severe stress. The night before the execution, his disciples reported seeing Jesus in “agony” on the Mount of Olives. Not only did he not sleep all night, but he seems to have been sweating profusely. So great was the stress that tiny blood vessels were rupturing in his sweat glands and emitting as great red drops that fell to the ground (see Luke 22:44). This symptom of severe stress is called hematohidrosis. (Learn more…)

Jesus was physically exhausted and in danger of going into shock unless he received fluids (which he apparently did not). This is the man that the Roman soldiers tortured.

Torture by beating with Roman scourges

Having previously been beaten by the Jews, it was now the Romans' turn. The beatings administered by Roman soldiers are well known to be very bloody, leaving lacerations all over the body. Romans designed their whips to cut the flesh from their victim's bodies. These beatings were designed to be painful to the extreme. It would also cause a fluid build up around his lungs. In addition, a crown of thorns was forced into his scalp which was capable of severely irritating major nerves in his head, causing increasing and excruciating pain, as the hours wore on.

In Christ's severely stressed condition, these beatings were easily enough to kill him. His body was horribly bruised, cut and bleeding. Having had no nourishment for many hours, and having lost fluids through profuse sweating and much bleeding, Jesus would have been severely dehydrated. This brutal torture would certainly be sending him into what doctors call “shock,” and shock kills.

In addition, Jesus was forced to carry the the wooden beam on which he would die. Imagine the effect of carrying a heavy weight if you were in that condition.

Crucifixion

Hung completely naked before the crowd, the pain and damage caused by crucifixion were designed to be so devilishly intense that one would continually long for death, but could linger for days with no relief.

According to Dr. Frederick Zugibe, piercing of the median nerve of the hands with a nail can cause pain so incredible that even morphine won't help, “severe, excruciating, burning pain, like lightning bolts traversing the arm into the spinal cord.” Rupturing the foot's plantar nerve with a nail would have a similarly horrible effect.

Furthermore, the position of the body on a cross is designed to make it extremely difficult to breathe.

Frederick Farrar described the intended, torturous effect: “For indeed a death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds—all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the suffer the relief of unconsciousness.”

One doctor has called it “a symphony of pain” produced by every movement, with every breath; even a slight breeze on his skin could bring screaming pain at this point.

Medical examiner, Dr. Frederick Zugibe, believes Christ died from shock due to loss of blood and fluid, plus traumatic shock from his injuries, plus cardiogenic shock causing Christ's heart to fail.

At the ninth hour (the time at which a sacrificial lamb was killed everyday in the Jewish temple), Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and soon died, after saying “It is finished.” At about this moment is probably the time when the temple's priestly ram's horn would have been blown that day, announcing that the priests had completed the sacrifice of the lamb for the sins of Israel. Also at that moment, the great, thick curtain that closed the Holy of Holies room from view, ripped open from top to bottom. -Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46

James Thompson believed that Jesus did not die from exhaustion, the beatings or the 3 hours of crucifixion, but that he died from agony of mind producing rupture of the heart. His evidence comes from what happened when the Roman soldier pierced Christ's left side. The spear released a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34). Not only does this prove that Jesus was already dead when pierced, but Thompson believes it is also evidence of cardiac rupture. Respected physiologist Samuel Houghton believed that only the combination of crucifixion and rupture of the heart could produce this result.

Relevant Questions Is Jesus Christ a man, or is he God? Answer Was Jesus God, manifest in human form? Answer If Jesus is God, how could he die? If Jesus died on the cross, then how can he be alive today? Answer Is Jesus Christ really God? Answer If Jesus was the Son of God, why did He call Himself the Son of Man? Answer Trinity - How can one God be three persons? Answer

There is no question that it was painful beyond words.

Biblically, it is clear that Jesus chose and willed His moment of death. That moment was induced not by pain, emotional stress, heart attack, or any other, but by His will. Though fully human, He is also fully divine. As God, He could not die from external sources, but only of His own volition and will.

Near the end, a criminal beside him mocked, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” Little did this sinner know that the man he was speaking to hung there voluntarily. He was speaking to our Creator, capable of releasing all the power in the universe and beyond, and easily saving himself. Jesus remained in this agony and shame, not because he was powerless, but because of his incredible love for humanity. He suffered to provide the needed way of salvation for you and me.

If you would like to learn how to have a personal relationship with Christ, click here. …or go to our Good News home page, Is Jesus Christ the Answer to Your Questions? (ChristianAnswers.Net/gospel) Go

You can read an illustrated summary of the life and death of Jesus (click here). Better yet, start at the very beginning of God's story to understand what God did and why Jesus died. Go… (ChristianAnswers.Net/godstory)

We have provided much more information and documentation about Jesus's life, death and resurrection at ChristianAnswers.Net/jesus .

For further information on the subject of Christ's death, we highly recommend "How Jesus Died: The Final 18 Hours," a half-hour Christian video. This informative production can help you and others better appreciate what Jesus suffered to save us. It can be purchased on-line. Go… or by calling 800-332-2261

You can read about Christ's death in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - each of these disciples reported what happened, with greater or lesser details depending on their main focus.

THE MESSAGE OF JESUS ABOUT HUMAN PAIN

Lent is a time when the Cross of Jesus speaks to us as a living symbol of God’s merciful love. It stands like a beacon high on the hill of Calvary, its horizontal beams like arms outstretched to embrace all human anguish. It shows us that what seems to be an end of hope is really a new beginning.

St. Therese of Lisieux reflects on human suffering and how it has meaning beyond our personal endurance. “I accept with gratitude the thorns mingled with the flowers,” she wrote. Why gratitude? She goes on, “My joy is to struggle unceasingly to bring forth spiritual children. I keep saying to Jesus, ‘For you… I’m happy to suffer’” ( The Poetry, p.185,6). She is explaining that new life can be brought forth from the womb of our tribulation. Thus the compression of pain which has us embedded within its tightening coil is broadened to reach out to others in their need. Personal pain is not self-enclosed but takes on apostolic power.

Therese declares, “Jesus made me understand that it was through suffering that He wanted to give me souls.” She does not say that her apostolic longing made for an increase of suffering. She says “Jesus made me understand.” In other words, grace enlightened her to see that suffering is not simply devastation but the seed of fruitfulness. The willing acceptance of what each day contained brought her “a peace so sweet, so deep it would be impossible to express...that inner peace has remained my lot, and has not abandoned me in the midst of the greatest trials” ( Story of a Soul, p.148).

St. Therese ponders what suffering can do for us in time and also looks forward to an eternal recompense that rewards us for what we endure. She writes to her sister Leonie, “This thought of the shortness of life gives me courage, it helps me bear the fatigue of the road….Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place in the home of His Father.…Let us wait.…The hour of rest is approaching.…I rejoice when seeing how much God loves you and is granting you His graces. He finds you worthy of suffering for His love, and it is the greatest proof of tenderness He can give you, for suffering makes us like Him ( Letters, Lt 173, p. 896, 7). She is telling us adversity has its own special work to do in each human life.

But in what way does suffering make us like God? To understand that part of the mystery, we turn to the Gospels to see how Jesus relates to affliction. “Then He went about all Galilee...healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.…They brought him all the sick, those weighed down with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epilectics, and paralytics and He cured them all” (Mt 4: 23, 24). Here we see God Incarnate moving among us, revealing divine love in a human heart which beats with compassion for every member of the crowd that followed Him. The infirm were released from their afflictions. Nevertheless, ahead of them lay further afflctions--of body and mind and heart. Their deliverance through the touch of Jesus was only a temporary release because life held out further losses. Or was it only temporary? What does Jesus do when He touches a human life? What takes place? What is so good about the Good News?

We Christians, like all other children of planet earth, are born into a reality that will necessarily incorporate grief and lamentation. We accept this actuality and reject any explanation that says our sorrowing is a waste or based on illusion. To unlock the meaning of our ordeals, we climb a hill where God-become-human dies in agony. After that culminating event, everything else in the world's history has a new illumination--a light born out of the darkness of Calvary. We see the awesome spectacle of a God in utmost need, struggling in our pain. St. Therese describes the face of Jesus as "luminous... in the midst of wounds and tears" (Letters, Lt 95, p.580).

The primal sin was accepting the serpent's promise, "You will be like gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5). And from that human decision came suffering and death. Who would have conceived of a divine response to this original betrayal whereby God would embrace the very penalty imposed upon sin: suffering and death? The Psalms of the Hebrew Bible sing over and over of God's abundant kindness, of God's steadfast love. Yet we Christians sing of a mercy that not only pours out compassion but enters into the experience of our desolation. We have an infinite God who has willed to feel our limitations, even our small ones.

Jesus does not explain human existence from afar. He allowed Himself to be restrained by the boundaries of the humanity He shares with us. But in so doing, He transforms those very limitations and endows them with power.

He looks at us in whatever lameness is holding us back from moving forward with Him. His words sound in our ears. "Get up and walk" (Mt 9:5). With His power energizing us, we know the path before us this very day-yes, with all its difficulties--leads to eternal life.

Sister Margaret Dorgan, DCM