Taken from the Back to God Ministries International Website (a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church)
God’s Love and Purpose
Becoming a Christian means entering into a relationship with God. You are important to God and God wants you to have an abundant life, full of love and purpose. You can know God’s love and purpose for your life when you understand and accept what the Bible says about God, people, and Jesus Christ.
God’s Love
For 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
The Bible – John 3:16
God’s Purpose
Jesus says,
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The Bible – John 10:10
People’s Problem
Most people do not experience God’s love and purpose for their lives. This is because there is a great gap between God and people. People have a sin problem that keeps them from closing the gap between themselves and a holy God.
People sense their inadequacy and try to bridge the gap. They try to reach God through good deeds, going to church, and being a good person. But they cannot do it. No person can successfully deal with their sin problem. Even good deeds are contaminated with a concern for self that makes them unworthy in the eyes of God. This sin causes frustration, worry, emptiness, guilt, and it stands in the way of relationship with God.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
The Bible – Romans 3:23)
The wages of sin is death
The Bible – Romans 6:23
All our righteous acts are as filthy rags
The Bible – Isaiah 64:6
God’s Solution
God has provided a solution, the only way that this problem can be solved. Jesus Christ through his perfect life and his death and resurrection has bridged the gap between God and people.
For Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
The Bible – I Peter 3:18
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.
The Bible – I Timothy 2:5
Jesus said,
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Bible – John 14:6
Crossing the Bridge
Come to God and have a relationship with him by “crossing the bridge.”In other words, personally receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Tell God your are truly sorry for your sin and want to change (repentance). Trust in Jesus alone to make you right in God’s eyes (faith). Welcome his Holy Spirit to live in your heart and guide your life. You can do this by praying a simple prayer.
This is a suggested prayer. If you pray this prayer sincerely, Jesus will become your Savior and Lord, your bridge to God.
Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving me and for dying on the cross so that I can live an abundant life and become a child of God. I am a sinner. Please forgive me. Live in me by your Holy Spirit and be the leader of my life. On the basis of your promises in the Bible, I thank you for this new life. Amen.
Repentance
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The Bible – 1 John 1:9
Faith
Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
The Bible – Acts 16:31
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
The Bible – Ephesians 2:8
Life on God’s Side
Now that you have crossed the bridge through faith and commitment to Jesus Christ, you have a new life in relationship with God. God enters your life through the Holy Spirit to give you confidence of God’s love for you and the power to live the life God has called you to live. Several things characterize this new life.
- Read your Bible every day.
- Pray to God every day.
- Join a Bible believing church.
- Serve others.
- Tell others about Jesus.
- Obey God’s directions for your life.
- Trust God to lead you.
- Rejoice in God’s gift.
The Christian Life
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?
The Bible – Galatians 5:22-23
