1. Do you ever feel like something is missing in your life?
2. Do you ever feel like there has got to be more to life than this?
3. Do you ever feel like there is a deep empty spot in your innermost being?
4. Do you ever feel like nothing ever brings lasting satisfaction to your life?
5. Would you like to know what that empty feeling is?
I believe if we were honest with ourselves and slowed down enough to really examine our life we would answer "Yes" to each one of these questions. We all want to know the answer to the question, " What is this empty, hollow feeling in my life and who or what can fill it?"
At times we all feel like something is missing in our lives. It's like there is a hollow spot in the core of ourlives, at the very root of our existence. Most of the time we are able to repress these feelings, acting as though these questions never cross our minds. But the truth is, everyone has had these feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction with life. Everyone has asked himself or herself the question, " What is life all about: What is the purpose of my existence?"
All of us have a desire to be complete, to be whole, to have a fulfilled life. That is why most of us stay so busy trying to fill our lives with people and things that bring satisfaction to life. We strive to be successful so that we can buy things, go to the places and be accepted by the people that we believe will make us happy and satisfied in life. We are trying to fill that empty spot in our lives. But that empty spot cannot be filled with people, places or things because that empty spot is...
A NEED TO KNOW GOD!!!
Everyone needs to know God in a personal way. We all realize that something is missing in our lives. This need often comes to the surface when we face times of difficulty or when we experience the loss of someone or something precious to us. It is during these times that we realize we need something or someone beyond ourselves.
Many times we try to fill this void in our lives with new things,new people, or new adventures, but these always leave us feeling empty when the excitement is over. The empty feeling, the missing piece in the puzzle of life, is the desire of the human soul to know God, its creator, in a personal way.
God wants us to personally know Him. That's why He took the first step to bring man back to Himself. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to make it possible for fallen man to get back to God. Man is separated from God because of the original sin of Adam. Because of Adam's sin all of humanity is born naturally disobedient. All men are born sinners and are separated from God.
According to the Bible, God told Adam (the first human being) the day that he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would surely die. We all know that Adam and Eve ate of the tree and they did not immediately physically die. But what did happen was, the very moment that man chose his will over God's will, man became separated from God. When man chose to disobey God and rose in rebellion against God's will by eating the forbidden fruit, man became spiritually dead. The spirit of man, which gave man the capacity to have fellowhip with God, was now dead.
Because man was now a sinner he was unable to have fellowhip with the living God. This spirtual deadness is why man has this feeling of emptiness in life. Because of sin, man's spirit ceased to function and man was no longer able to fulfill the pupose he was created for to glorify God. So now man goes through life without personally knowing God or his purpose for which he was created for.
.But God, through His grace and mercy, provided a way for separatated sinful man to get back to a Holy God. That is why Jesus came and paid the penalty for sin by His death on the cross, so separated man could be restored to God.
Jesus, being the perfect Son of God, has shown man how to be obedient to God. Since Jesus lived a perfect (sinless ) life, He could pay the penalty for our disobedience: He became sin for us. When jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary He paid for our disobedience: He who never committed a sin became sin for us. God desires for us to personally know Him by receiving Jesus into our lives.
For when a person receives Christ into his/her life, God forgives that person of their sin (disobedience) and makes that person alive unto Himself. God resurrects that person's dead human spirit and fills that empty spot with His presence. Thus, the missing piece of the puzzle is the personal presence of God.
Just as Jesus rose from the dead physically, He resurrects the human spirit when He comes into the life of an individual. Now that individual can once again have communion and communication with God since his human spirit has been made alive by the presence of God's Holy Spirit. Because of Jesus, we can know our purpose in life and the void can be filled.
Now the question comes: How can I get back to God? What do I have to do to receive Jesus Christ into my life? What does the Bible say is neccessary for a person to do to receive God's forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ.
First to receive Christ a person must realize the Cause of their separation from God.
1. The cause of a person's separation from God is man's original sin. Romans 5:12 " Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."
Romans 3:10-12 " As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
2. The cause of a person's separation from God is man's own sin.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I John 1:8 " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Second to receive Christ a person must realize the Cost of their sin.
1. The Cost of a person's sin is the death of the sinner.
Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Hebrews 9:27 " And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment"
2. The Cost of a person's sin is the death of the Savior.
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in what while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit"
Third to receive Christ a person must receive the Call to salvation from God.
1.The call to salvation is through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 10:9-10 " That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 1 Timothy 2: 5-6 " For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
2, The call is to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord. Romans 10:13 " For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." John 1:12 " But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name."
Fourth to recieve Christ a person must receive the Cure for their separation from God.
1. The cure of your seperation from God is to repent of your sin Romans 12:1 " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Acts 3:19 " 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." 1 John 1:9 " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgie us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
2. The cure of your separation from God is to respond in faith. Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Ephesians 2: 8-9 " For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
3. The cure of your separation is to recieve Christ by faith. Romans 10:17 " So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." II Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;behold, all things have become new."
Do those scriptures make sense to you? Is there any reason why you would not be willing to receive God's forgiveness of your sin through His son Jesus Christ? Do you believe that you are a sinner? Do you believe that Jesus died for your sin and that He rose again from the dead? Are you willing to turn from your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ and receive Him as the Lord of your life? If you are willing to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior that means that the Holy Spirit is drawing you for Romans 3:11 say, "There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God."
If you will simply call out to the Lord and pray a prayer something like this you can know God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ and you can be assured of having eternal life:
"Father I come to you in the name of your only Son Jesus Christ, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward You. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen
