What on earth could she possibly mean by the phrase: “Know Jesus?”  I am so glad you want to know! Did you know that God created people so they could know Him intimately? He wanted to have a relationship with them.

When the Lord created Adam and Eve and put them in the garden of Eden, He did not leave them there with a list of religious rituals to perform while He observed from afar. No, Genesis 3:8 says that God walked with Adam and Eve “in the garden in the cool of the day.” He spent time with them!

You have likely heard some form of the story of how God put a tree in the garden and commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of its fruit, or they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). Genesis 3 records how one day Satan came and tempted Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit.

Eve was deceived and seduced by Satan’s lies and ate the fruit— and of course Adam followed suit. In the moment they disobeyed God’s command, not only did their bodies begin to die physically, but what’s worse is that they died spiritually.

Can you imagine how empty they must have felt when that happened?

You see, once Adam and Eve sinned, they rejected God’s rule and yielded themselves to Satan.

And without someone to rescue them, they were without hope of ever being in right standing with God again.

Because of their rebellion against God, they could no longer fellowship with Him, for God cannot allow sin in His pres- ence. And unless God provided a way that Adam and Eve—and by extension, all of mankind—could have that relationship restored, they would forever be without hope. Every one of us was destined to spend eternity in hell, separated from God’s presence.

However, because of God’s great love for His creation,

He had planned a way to rescue us and bring us back to Himself.

(That’s why we use the word salvation!)

Have you ever wondered, Why did God put that tree in the garden anyway? I mean, if it hadn’t been there, Adam and Eve would never have been tempted. Did Adam and Eve’s sin catch God by surprise, so that the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) entered into a holy huddle to figure out Plan B for mankind’s redemption? (Redemption is a big word that basically means “buy back”—see Revelation 5:9.)

No—God knew Adam and Eve would fall. Revelation 13:8 says Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world.” That means even before God created the world or people, He knew all of us would need a Savior. And because of His great love for us, and His desire to have a people who would choose to love and serve Him, He put the tree in the garden to give Adam and Eve a choice. When they sinned (and He knew they would), God told them He would offer up His Son to pay the price for their disobe- dience (Romans 5:12-21).

Imagine—God loved you so much that He sacrificed His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not die but will live forever (John 3:16)! God says the very act of offering His greatest treasure, Jesus, was His way of showing you and me just how very much He loves us. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

So what does it mean to believe in Him like John 3:16 says? Is it a mere mental assent to the truth that Jesus is fully God, and being fully God He took on the form of a man when He was born through a virgin? And that Jesus lived a sinless life, willingly gave Himself up to die a cruel death on a cross, and then victoriously rose from the dead—so that His blood could wash away our sins and He could give us eternal life?

While all those statements are true, if you simply agree with the facts about Jesus, that does not mean you have a relationship with Him. In fact, James 2:19 says even the demons believe, and they tremble in fear because they know Jesus is God’s Son, and what they know He accomplished when He died for our sins.

To know Jesus is to enter into a personal covenant (that’s a big word that means “vow” or “promise”) with Jesus. He wants us to make a lifelong commitment to Him—but how?

First, God wants you to repent of your sins. (Repent means to agree with God that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, and that you will turn away from your sins.) The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Only the blood of Jesus can wash away your sins (Hebrews 9:14).

I know it’s easy to take offense when someone says, “You’re a sinner,” but let’s be honest: You and I both know that even though we try to do what’s right, our natural instinct is to disobey God’s laws.

You see, God gave us those laws not so we could try to become sinless by doing all that they command, but to show us that we will never be able to measure up to the sinless life God requires of us to have a relationship with Him and enter into heaven when we die (Galatians 2:16; 3:24).

So where does that leave us? If Galatians 2:16 says that no one is justified by the works of the law, then how can we possibly be restored to God and go to heaven? If God isn’t making sure our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds by the time we die (a completely bogus concept not taught in Scripture), and if, as Romans 6:23 says,

“The wages of sin is death,”

then how can we be rescued from judgment?

I’m glad you asked! For the Bible also says:

 “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”

and that we are justified (made right) “by faith in Jesus Christ”

(Romans 6:23; Galatians 2:16).

The Bible teaches that Jesus is not simply one of many ways to salvation; He is the only way. In John 14:6, Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Those are Jesus’s words, not mine. The only way to an intimate relationship with God is through Jesus. It is only when you receive His free gift of salvation that Jesus’s blood washes away all of your sins. God Himself says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). Think of it—God promises to wipe the slate completely clean!

No matter how many bad decisions you have made up to this point,

no matter how shameful your past, Jesus is offering you freedom from all of it!

Freedom from shame and the bondage of sin.

Once Jesus washes away your sins, He promises never to throw them in your face again. The Bible says God removes our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). (You do realize that east and west never meet, right? That means that in Christ, our sins are taken away forever. No more regrets to hold you back!)

But you don’t get to just say some magic words, “I believe,” and then go back to life as usual. To know Jesus, He wants you to surrender all that you are to Him.

“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”

(Romans 10:9).

Jesus doesn’t ask you to simply add Him onto your life. He wants to be your life. And to anyone who becomes Jesus’s follower, He promises that He will give you a new and pure heart. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Believe me when I tell you that without a relationship with Jesus I was a selfish, arrogant, fearful, and materialistic woman. But when I accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation and surrendered my life to Him as my Lord, I was set free. I have never looked back!

Jesus took the mess that I was and gave me a new heart.

Through Jesus, God forgave all my sins

—all of them!

And when I said yes to entering into a relationship (there’s that word again) with Jesus, He put within me His Holy Spirit. (So that’s what was missing!) And God wants the same for you.

When God fills you with His Spirit, life makes sense!

In fact, it’s the life you were born to live, in fellowship with your Creator.

Nothing else in this life will ever satisfy your longing for Him—nothing.

If you know Jesus, you never have to worry about being “good enough” for God to love you or let you into heaven when you die. To those who are in Christ, God says He adopts us as His very own children: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1).

Jesus says we can call God “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). That means “daddy.” And God says His great love for us is perfect and immeasurable. Nothing we could ever do will make Him stop loving us (Romans 8:35-39)! To top it off, God promises you will never be alone again. Jesus promises He will never leave you nor forsake you (Matthew 28:19-20; Hebrews 13:5).

And there’s one more thing:

• If you decide to believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead for you
• If you choose to agree with God that you are in need of a Savior because of your sinful heart
• If you pray and submit to Jesus as the Lord of your life…

Then God’s Spirit will fill your heart with His presence, peace, and purpose.

When you receive Jesus’s free gift of salvation, He promises to lead you, guide you, and accomplish great things for His kingdom through you for the rest of your life. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “By grace [that means you can’t earn it] you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For [you] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand.” God has a plan for your life.

So now you know what it means to genuinely know Jesus. And how you can have personal relationship with Him. It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit is drawing you to Christ even at this moment, and that you will pray to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior so you can begin this wonderful journey to know Jesus and walk with Him for the rest of your life—then on into heaven in the next!

Need More explanation? Watch Rhonda’s video here

I would love to celebrate your newfound relationship with Jesus. If you have prayed to know Jesus and surrender to Christ as your Lord and Savior, won’t you let me know? Please message me at: www.rhondastoppe.com/contact

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