Why does this topic of knowing God even matter?  Here’s why!  Because about 2,000 years ago, a man named Jesus walked among us!  Christ Jesus (title and name) performed many miracles, provided some profound teachings that we can easily argue are not of human origin, and then He rose from the dead on a Sunday morning, following His brutal murder by crucifixion on the Friday afternoon prior.  While Jesus walked among us, He also claimed to be God, often quoted the Old Testament, and gave Himself the divine titles.  His followers were eyewitnesses to His miracles and His teachings, so when Jesus rose from the dead, it compelled His followers to proclaim His message.

If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then this topic of knowing God is meaningless, and here is why: Because Christianity is the only religion in the world in which our primary truth claim is historically verifiable, and a miracle; in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God revealed Himself, told us the way of salvation, invites us into a relationship with Him, and also informs us of the alternative of rejecting His invitation!  Considering the eyewitness of history, it would be wise to listen to the One who claimed to be God, performed many miracles, then rose from the dead to validate His truth claims!

At Visceral Reflections, one of the core tenets of our mission is to help people prepare to have a good eternity!  We often say, “we want people to have a good life, but more importantly we want people to have a good eternity!”  The reason we say this is that if we are not prepared to step into eternity at the time of death, then everything we achieved in this life was lost time that dies with us!  The way that we prepare to have a good eternity is by knowing God!

Before explaining How to know God, it is important to understand why you should know God!  Historically, Christianity has rightly explained the consequences of dying without knowing God, that is to be eternally separated from God!  This is what we call Hell, and the Lord Jesus spoke about Hell more than anyone else in the Bible.  This is a profound truth, but it is also of equal importance, perhaps more important to understand what it means to know God in this life as well as the life to come! 

This is the message that I want you to hear, largely that knowing God, i.e. being in a relationship with God, will change your life in many ways.  Becoming a Christian will NOT give you a perfect life, in fact, in many ways your life will be harder if you are faithful to God, but you will be blessed with the presence of God in your corner for the rest of your life.  To know God means that you will experience these blessings and many more:

• It will bring you a sustainable joy in your soul, heart and mind
• Provide you with the peace of God that surpasses all understanding; when you become a Christian, you have peace with God, but with that comes the peace of God to sustain you when the hardships of life appear.
• Provide clarity on who you are as a child of God, you are defined by God; what that means is that constant strain to make a name for yourself is set aside because you now have the ultimate identity as a child of God.
• Put all of your temporary identities in this world into proper perspective by seeing them through the lens of your eternal identity; whether that is by career, relationship, fame, fortune, whatever gives your life meaning now put into perspective by your eternal identity as a child of God; what this means is that you can now have visibility to the true merits of those temporary roles as you seek to live a life that honors God.  That may mean changing jobs or working more diligently, being a more caring spouse, giving away money, asking for help, pursing a different future, etc.
• Receiving with a thankful heart your permanent place in the family of God!
• Yes, it is true that you have escaped Hell and will spend eternity with God in heaven, but as you grow in relationship with God, that reality will lessen as your faith becomes your eyes and you begin to grow spiritually to become the person that God has called you to be!

To that last point, the scriptures tell us that God, our heavenly Father, has great joy in giving us the Kingdom of God (Luke 12:32), however as we grow up in the Lord, we will also grow a greater sensitivity to the fact that our loved ones who do not know God will spend eternity in Hell away from God and us!  The more you grow in relationship with God, the more you grow a strong desire for others to also know God!  As Christians, we are not selling fire insurance when we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are inviting people into an eternal relationship with God which includes being saved from going to Hell!

So how do we enter in to a relationship with God?  This is actually easier than one might think, so follow these steps below to ask God to come into your life:

1. We enter into a relationship with God by faith.  We place our faith in Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sins.  John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not go to Hell, but have Eternal life.”  Jesus tells us again in John 6:40 and 6:47 that everyone who looks to Jesus for salvation and believes in Him (for the forgiveness of sins) will have eternal life and the Lord Jesus will resurrect us on the last day!”
2. Pray this prayer: “Father God, I come before you and ask you to come into my life. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent of my sins.  Thank you for sending you Son Jesus to pay the penalty for all of my sins.  Lord, you promise that anyone who comes to you will not be rejected (John 6:37), so I ask that you would receive me into your eternal family! Please teach me to live life according to your ways and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and your Word, please keep me on the path of life with You!  I am thankful, I am grateful, and I praise you for causing me to be born-again (John3:3).  I ask that you receive my prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus!  Amen.
3. Now that you have been born-again and your name is written in the Book of Life for all eternity, begin growing in your faith by praying to God daily, giving thanks daily for all things, and most important, start reading the Holy Bible.  The more you read the Bible, the more you will know God and the Holy Spirit now living in you will guide you in word and deed.

There is much more to know about the Christian life and growing a relationship with God, this will all be discussed in part 2 of Knowing God to be published at the appointed time.

Lastly, if you prayed this prayer, please let us know here: https://visceralreflections.com/contact-us/  If you do not have Bible or not sure which version to read, please let us know and we will send you a Bible.  

May God bless you and keep, and make His Face shine upon you on your new journey!!