How Can I Know God?
The Lord God who made heaven and earth is the one and only God. He is made up of three persons in one Being: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).
God made it easy for us to know Him. He loves you and me and everyone in the whole world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth.
Jesus, is God, but He became a human baby just to save us. Then He showed us by His life:
- How to live
- How to love
- How to pray
- How to forgive
- How to give our lives for others
- How to know and love God.
Jesus also showed us what God is like (John 1:14 , John 1:18, Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3).
God is Just
God is holy. He’s perfect, powerful, and far greater than we could ever imagine.
He’s also just. He always acts in ways that are right and true and good.
He made good laws that help us know good from evil.
God wants us to live with Him forever in heaven. But we have a problem. Our problem is called sin.
- Sin makes all of us do bad things sometimes.
- Sin makes us disobey God’s good laws.
- Sin makes us want to do things our own way instead of God’s way.
- Sin makes us turn away from the wonderful God who created us.
- And sin will keep us out of heaven.
Good People Don’t Go to Heaven
You probably think you’re a good person. Most people think they’re good. But our idea of good isn’t good enough.
Jesus said, “Only God is good.” Actually, God is more than just good. He is perfect. So if perfect is what Jesus means by “good,” we’re all in trouble.
You wouldn’t go visit a king, queen, or president in muddy, grubby clothes, would you? So we can’t expect God to let us into His throne room of heaven covered in our filthy sins.
That would be like a pig trying to clean itself up, dress in human clothes, and act like a human. The pig might look different, but it would still be a pig.
Unholy Sinners
We’re unholy sinners—every one of us. No matter how much good we try to do, we can’t make ourselves good enough for heaven.
God knows we can’t be perfect. But our sin still has to be paid for. Sin against God is so serious that the payment for sin is death.
But don’t worry. God formed a perfect plan before the creation of the world. His perfect plan can take care of our sin problem.
The Perfect Solution
Since only God is perfect, only God can make us good enough to go to heaven.
That’s why God sent Jesus, fully God and fully man. Jesus could take our place in death because He lived as the only perfect man.
He gave His life for all the sins of the world. Then He rose to life again and went back to heaven.
The bad news: we’re still covered in sin until Jesus washes it from us.
Jesus Cleans Us Up
The Good News: God did everything to make forgiveness of sin and eternal life available to us as His free gift. God forgives us, because Jesus paid what we owed. But we have to respond to his offer. Will you accept God’s gift by admitting you’re a sinner and believing in Jesus?
When we believe in Him, Jesus cleans us up and covers us with new clothes. The clothes are His righteousness, His goodness.
That’s what believers called “being saved.” Saved people love Jesus and live their lives for Him. He becomes closer than the closest relative or best friend.
Instead of dying and spending eternity in hell, saved sinners can live forever in heaven. But only through Jesus.
Jesus Is the Way to God
Saved people don’t suddenly become perfect. They do become new people, “new creations,” in Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God comes to live inside our hearts. And then as we grow in our faith, God makes us more and more like Jesus.
When we die, we’ll be good enough to enter God’s throne room. But not because we lived for Jesus. It’s only because He died for us and rose again in the Resurrection.
Jesus’ sacrifice, His blood shed on the cross for us, will cover us in His goodness. We will be dressed in the perfection of God Himself!
When I think about what Jesus did for us, it makes me want to love Him more each day.
You Can Know God Too
What about you?
- Do you believe Jesus came to die and pay for your sin?
- Do you believe He rose from the dead and can give you new life?
- Would you like to turn away from evil and live your life in a close friendship with Jesus?
- Would you like to live forever in heaven when you die?
You can! If you truly believe, ask Him right now in your own words to come into your heart. You can:
- Tell Jesus you know you have done wrong.
- Tell Him you’re sorry for your sins.
- Tell Him you believe He can save you.
- Thank Him for dying to pay for your sins.
- Ask Him to save you and help you turn from evil and live for Him.
Then God will make you a new creation from the inside out. Jesus will live in your heart in the form of the Holy Spirit.
So to answer the question, “How Can I Know God?” The answer is you can know God by:
- Repenting of your sins
- Believing in Jesus
- Welcoming Him into your heart.
Living for Jesus
After you’re saved:
- Stay close to Jesus.
- Let Him take charge of your life.
- Ask Him to help you stay away from sin.
- Read the Bible (His love letter to you) often.
- Get involved in a Bible-believing church.
Then you’ll know Him better and better every single day. And you will look forward to living with God in heaven someday!
To grow in your knowledge of biblical worldview, follow the links in our worldview series, below.
You can also click here to read about one way we know God is our Creator