Question 51 – How can I begin a relationship with Jesus?

In the context of Christianity, people of have a wholly false view of how to get to God and come near to him. They suppose/believe that they must take part in certain rituals, keep the Ten Commandments, attend church, pray a lot, enter a monastery or convent, or go to confession. These are, however, mistaken ideas and have almost nothing in common with renewing our lost relationship with God. The situation in the context of other religions and cultures can sometimes be very different. At this point, I am more likely speaking about the attitude of my society and other societies that are similar to most of the western world that have been influenced by Christian culture. Our understanding of God's requirements is so often coloured by the idea that we "must deserve it". Now, I would like to introduce a loving God whose offer of salvation (rescue from sin) and eternal life with him can not be deserved or earned by us. He himself offers us salvation as a gift. It comes through unmerited grace that is necessary to accept by faith.

However, before I show you how you can accept this gift, I would like to request something from you. If you want to enter into a relationship with God, think carefully about your decision! Are you looking for God so that he will serve you, make you rich, healthy, happy, and fulfil whatever else you desire? Do you possibly want a god who will iron out your problems and help you when you are in difficulties? Is it possible that you want God but in reality you have no intentions of changing anything in your life? If you have answered positively to any of these questions, I ask that you consider your motivation. Jesus can give you prosperity, health, and fulfilment of your desires but he does not have to do this. As the case may be, he does not always nor in every case do this. He loves us and wants us to trust him but we will not always like his plans. If you really follow God, he will allow many difficulties into your life that will build your character and strengthen your faith in him. It is quite likely that you will face ridicule, misunderstanding and rejection from people who want nothing to do with God and such things.

Jesus described the radical nature of it in the following way:

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-33)

Do not misunderstand these words! Jesus does not want you to hate your parents or children. He is not against you owning possessions and all the material things that are included in its meaning. However, what he does require is that he alone has first place on the ladder of your values. He wants you to love him more than your children, spouse, or parents. He wants you to "give all" in the sense of opening your heart/life to him and that all that has value in your life take a place below him. Many people see these words as too fanatical and narrow-minded. It is important to realise that to love God more than those who are nearest to you will in no way harm them. It is the exact opposite. The more I know and experience God and his love, the more love and understanding I can give to those dearest to me. If I love God more than my wife, it is a guarantee to her that I will try to love and honour her and will not cheat on her or do other such things. If I give up my goals and dreams and allow the Lord Jesus to lead me, I might lose something in the short term, however, Jesus promises the following:

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29)

To put Jesus Christ on the throne of your life and submit your whole being to the rule of Christ does not then, in the end, result in loss but gain – not only some time in the future heaven but also here on earth, whether in the matter of material or spiritual blessings. Despite this fact, there are many who do not want to follow God in this way. Therefore at this point, I beg you to consider whether you want to accept God in this way. Do you desire to love God and follow him even if it will not always be according to your ideas and desires?

Renewal of a lost relationship

The next text should be understood as specific inspiration to realise the basic principles needed to renew mankind's relationship with his Creator. It is not an instruction manual but more of a guide to help you understand what mankind's state is and what God has planned so that we can live a fulfilled, loving, adventurous life with him. This renewal of your lost relationship with God is closely connected to four spiritual laws that are necessary not only to intellectually understand, but are also to be accepted by faith (to rely on them and put your hope in them).

First Law: God loves you and has a perfect plan for your life.

We have already spoken about God's love towards mankind which he has shown to us in an extraordinary way many times – in his Son who humbled himself, taking the form of a servant and being willing to die in our place and take the punishment for our sins.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

God's plan for our life

God has a specific plan and role prepared for every person to play on this earth. He has prepared good works for each of us so that we will fulfil our mission and that will contribute to the building of his kingdom. However, in order to fulfil our mission we must first know God and his will. It is also important to give ourselves fully to him and to live in submission to his Word, principles, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, 

"...I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (that is a meaningful life) (John 10:10)

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)

Does the question why there are so many who do not live in this way and who do not experience God's love occur to you?

Second Law: Mankind is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, we cannot know and experience God's love or his plan for our lives.

I believe that no one will protest at my statement, "No one is perfect." Even a person who considers himself/herself to be better from a human standpoint is not perfect and is far from fulfilling God's measurement of holiness and perfection. We offend God in a significant way by ignoring him and avoiding him (in our lives). We do not give him thanks or praise for giving us life or give him the praise and respect that he deserves. The Bible indisputably states that all of us are sinners and are corrupt/distorted to various degrees in our hearts.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Mankind was created to live in fellowship with God. However, he decided to live according to his own ideas, independently from God. In this way fellowship with God was destroyed. This attitude is seen in an active resistance or a passive indifference towards God and is an expression/demonstration of what the Bible calls sin (that is, "to miss the target").

Mankind is separated from God

One of the most important characteristics of God is his holiness and justice. He cannot abide anything impure and sinful in his presence. His own law is:

"...the wages of sin is death."

(that is not only physical death but mainly spiritual death including rejection and separation from God) (Romans 6:23)

This illustration represents the fact that God is holy and mankind is sinful. Sin creates a deep chasm that divides them. The arrows represent the many attempts that people try to reach God and a life full of self-effort. For example, people try good works, religious traditions and techniques, and so on. None of these things, however, are able to solve the problem of a person's sinful nature. God clearly states that we cannot come to him in our own strength.

Third Law: Jesus Christ is the only solution to the problem of mankind's sin. In him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.

Mankind cannot reach God but God can reach mankind. Our offence must be punished. Not even God himself can overlook our sins. Because of this, he decided to take the punishment that we ourselves should rightly take. At the time when Jesus was dying on the cross, God the Father identified him with our sin. Jesus took the punishment for all our sin and offences on himself.

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"...God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13b-14)

However, it did not end here. Jesus rose from the dead.

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

… and that there is only one way to God.

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6)

This illustration represents how God bridged the chasm that separates us from him. He sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in place of us and to pay for our sins. Therefore we do not have to bridge the chasm by our own effort (it is necessary to point out that this is useless for us to try); God himself placed the bridge – Jesus Christ. Many people know these laws and even believe them. This is not enough, however. As has already been stated, I can believe that an elevator/lift can take me to the highest floor of a building but if I do not step into it I will not get there. It is necessary to act by stepping into the lift (by showing faith/trust in it).

Fourth Law: We must personally accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

Christianity is not about participating in various rituals, blindly attending church, or a routine recitation of learnt prayers. Christianity is about a trusting relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Therefore we must receive him from the depths of our being, the depths of our heart, and with an intellectual decision invite him into our lives. It is only then that we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God," (John 1:12)

Only, we must receive by faith. Childlike faith, that he is who he says he is. By faith, that he will do for us what he said he would do.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

To receive Jesus means to confess that one is sinful, and turns to God (repentance = a change in thinking/opinions resulting in forgiving others who have sinned against you), and trusts Jesus to enter his/her life and forgive him/her sins, and make him/her into that which God wants him/her to be. It is necessary to humble oneself and confess that Jesus is the only one who can lead one's life and fulfil it in a meaningful way. It is not enough to intellectually accept that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for our sin. It is also not enough just to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus by faith and by a decision of our will. It is necessary to pass the reins of our life over to Jesus and allow him to sit on the throne of our life so that he will rule and manage all the areas of our being (whether it is our career, family, our hobbies, finances, dreams…).

How can this happen? What steps need to be taken?

You can receive the Lord Jesus by faith in prayer right now. God knows you. It is not important how beautiful your words are, but it does depend on your sincerity. It makes no sense to pretend or to be pressured into it. God searches our hearts not just our words. If you want to pray, here is an example of how you can:

Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you that you that your died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me for ignoring you my whole life and for the many wrong things I have done. I am not perfect and I am truly sorry for my sins. I, therefore open the door of my life and receive you as my Saviour and Lord. Please help me and guide my life – give me strength to follow you fully. I thank you for forgiving me of all of my sins. Take control of my life and change me so that I will be what you want me to be.

Many questions will come with this step. For example:

Should I expect strong emotions?

Many people think that this step must be accompanied by "thunder and lightning", various ecstatic experiences, and strong emotions. At this point, I would like to put this expectation in its proper place. In many cases, people experience strong emotions. When they are healed/freed from various addictions, they can feel a wonderful freedom, fullness and so on. This, however, is not the only possible course of events. More often than not, nothing so intense happens at that moment. God deals differently with everyone. If you do not have any "feelings" now, they will come later as you follow the Lord.

What happens to us, who we are/what we become?

• The Bible speaks about the restoration of our relationship with God as a new birth, being born again. It means a new birth in the spiritual sense.
• We become God's children legally and have access to his throne (to him).
• Jesus has forgiven us of all our sins and our "sin record" before God is clean.
• We have gained eternal life.

Is this not a cheap forgiveness?

Some people think wrongly that when a person receives God's forgiveness, he/she can then continue to sin and is "high and dry". That he/she has escaped punishment. This is a mistake. In the case that someone truly knows God's character and his love, the last thing he/she would want to do is hurt God. Yes, we must fight with our sinful nature our whole life, but if we are speaking about wilful sin, then it is a case of "calculation" rather than a sincere faith in God (and this is not saving faith).

Is it possible to live my whole life as I want and then convert on my deathbed?

Many people say that they will live life to the full and then maybe turn to Christ on their deathbed. Who, however, can guarantee that this day is not your last? I am not trying to scare you, but this is a daily reality. Thousands of people die unexpectedly every day. What is more, people who think like this have probably not understood what God has done for them at all.

So, I do not have to do any "good works"?

Of course we do. In reality, we are called to good works. We are called to love God with all of our strength and others as ourselves. This means that if we love others, we will help them, we will think of their good and we will not hurt them. If you do this in "real life", in a couple of months you will have done more than some will have done in their whole life. The order and motivation is very important here. In reality, Christians do good works because God has saved them and has given them a new heart. However, we often understand the process backwards – that is we must do good works to get to God rather than we do good works as a result of God's work in us.

Summation

In order to restore our relationship with God, we must be sincerely sorry and confess our sins against God and others. We must want to change our lives and not continue on in our evil way of life but instead allow ourselves to be led and changed by God's principles. We must also receive the reality that Jesus died for us, was raised to life, and will return as King to judge the nations with our whole heart by faith.