You arrived at ths page because you are curious about how you can know God. Good! Understand that God loves you with a love that is beyond compare to anything we can experience as humans. God wants to spend eternity with you. But there is a problem.
God is infinitely holy and good and just. Sin keeps us separated from God. Just as Adam's sin caused him to be expelled from the garden, so too our sin keeps us from the presence of God. Nevertheless, God still loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. But we could never enter into His holy presence as sinful creatures. Our sins must be dealt with.
Could not God just forgive our sins if we ask? No! God loves us, but his justice requires that sin be punished. God cannot simply forgive our sins as if they are insignificant; His justice does not allow this. To dismiss our sins out of hand without punishment is contrary to God's nature as an infinitely just God. Justice demands punishment.
God can certainly punish me for my sin. But that would not solve the problem, because I would still be a sinful creature. The moment God punished my sin, I would start sinning all over again. So I would still be kept from God's presence, even if God chose to punish me for the sins I commit. So what can God do to satisfy His justice?
God himself can take the punishment for my sin; past, present, and future! He loves me so much that He is willing to take the punishment in my place, so that His requirement for justice can be met. This is why Jesus was born. By one imperfect man, Adam, the penalty for sin came upon the world. And by one perfect man, Jesus, the penalty for sin was paid. Let me illustrate with a story.
Imagine for a moment that you have a favorite lamb. You were present at the birth of this lamb. You watched it grow. You cared for it, gave it food when it was hungry, provided warmth when it was cold, protected it from predators that threatened its life. You came to be very close with this lamb. Even though you know it cannot understand what you say, you share your most personal thoughts with it. This lamb has become your best friend.
Now imagine that one day you learn this lamb has become gravely ill. It is close to death. You weep at the thought of losing your best friend. You want to do whatever you can to prevent this lamb from dying. You ask the veterinarian, "What can I do to help?" He tells you, "Your lamb needs a new liver; the one she has is not functioning properly, and she is being slowly poisoned by the toxins in her blood." To further complicate things, the veterinarian tells you that a suitable replacement liver cannot come from just any other lamb; it requires a very special liver - one that has never been polluted with any toxins of any kind. You soon discover the hopelessness of the situation. In desperation, you ask the doctor, "Where would we find such a liver?" The doctor tells you the only solution is for you yourself to become a lamb, to be born into this world perfectly pure, and then to sacrifice your liver for the lamb, in order to save its life.
This was the choice God faced. Man has become wicked and polluted, unholy in the sight of God. Mankind is slowly dying of this pollution, and with no solution, we would die apart from God, eternally separated from Him. Yet, because He loves us so much, and because He desires an eternal relationship with us, the eternal Son of God took on a human nature, was born of a virgin, and therefore was a pure man, Jesus Christ, to free us from the pollution of sin. The Bible says "He [God] made him who knew no sin [Jesus] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). In fact, when John the Baptist, known in the Qur'an as Prophet Yahya, baptized Jesus he said, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). The eternal Son of God became a man in order to become the sacrifice of a just God who requires that all unrighteousness be punished. There was no other alternative; nobody else lived an unpolluted, righteous life except Jesus alone. For this reason He was able to take our punishment for our unrighteousness, and He did so willingly because He loves us.
How can you experience this cleansing of your sin and get the assurance that you will spend eternity in heaven with God?
- Confess Your Sin to God: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
- Repent: Repent means to turn away or turn around; to go in a different direction than what you were going. "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Confessing and repenting does not give us a license to continue willfully sin against God. Quite the contrary. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). More biblical references about repentance: Acts 20:21; Mark 1:15; and Hebrews 6:1.
- Trust Competely in Jesus as Your Lord and Savior: Ask Him to be the authority over your life. "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).
- Confess Your Sin to God: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
If you made that decision, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us at info @ radicaltruth . net
God Bless You!