Man was created to know, love and serve God. Coming to know God in this personal way can be explained 'in four points. The first describes something about God, the second something about man, the third something about Christ and the fourth tells you what to do with the other three.

The first point is: "God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life."

There's often a great contrast between the conditional nature of human love and the unconditional nature of God's love. Human love is often selfish at its root. It says, "I love you because you love me," or "I will love you if you return my love.

"But God's live is unconditional. He loves and accepts us just as we are. It's this type of unconditional love that makes human relationships work.
God's love is described in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

God's plan is described in John 10:10 when Christ said: "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" - in other words, that it might be full and meaningful.

But most people are not experiencing the abundant life. For instance, a famous football superstar and millionaire, was quoted in a magazine as saying, "I sit in my house and sometimes I get so ... lonely it's unbelievable. Life has been so good to me, I've got a great wife, good kids, money, my own health - and I'm lonely and bored ... I often wondered why so many rich people commit suicide. Money sure isn't a cure-all."

Point Two states the underlying reason that many people don't experience a life of abundance.

Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. You see, man's basic problem is that he is sinful. The apostle Paul wrote: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his own stubborn self will, he chose to go his own independent way and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. The word sin comes from a Greek word that means "to miss the mark." When someone would shoot at a target and miss the center - the bull's eye - the distance from the arrow to the bull's eye was called "sin". In the same way, we do good things, but we still miss the mark of God's perfect standards. What are the consequences for this?

The apostle Paul stated them this way: "For the wages of sin 'is death" or spiritual separation from God. Because of this separation caused by sin, man is unable to reach God and the abundant life, even though he might live a morally good or religious life.

The third point explains the only way to bridge this gulf ...

It is that Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." A modern story illustrates what Christ has done for us. One day a man who was a judge tried his own son who was brought into court on a traffic offence. The judge was faced with his responsibilities to pass sentence on the guilty one, but he was also full of compassion, since the guilty one was his son. The boy was penniless, but the Judge passed sentence on him. Then, he took off his robe, came down from his place of authority, stood beside his son and paid the fine himself. Because we were helpless to pay the penalty for our sin, God, after passing the sentence of death on us, stepped down from heaven, became man and paid the penalty. This love that Jesus showed for us when He died on the cross is more than an idea. The love of Christ lives because Jesus lives. Because Jesus is alive we can relate to a living person who loves us right now.

Not only did Christ die, but He also rose from the dead. In describing this, Paul wrote, "Christ died for our sins ... He was buried ... He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures ... He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred ..." His resurrection is conclusive proof of His claim that He was God. In speaking to Thomas, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."

'You know, man has tried many ways to reach God - drugs, philosophy and even religion. But his search goes on as these attempts leave him unfulfilled. Religion has been defined as man's best attempts to reach God. Christianity has been defined as God's best effort to reach man.

So, in summary we can see that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

Consider the previous illustration of a judge who had to hand down a guilty verdict against his son. Imagine the son's crime as having been more serious than a traffic offence. Let's say instead that he'd been convicted of murder. Again, the judge would have had no choice but to pass sentence. In this case he would have had to pronounce his son "guilty" and sentence him to death. But, let's say the judge then rose and walked down to where his son stood weeping. He turned to the crowded courtroom and said, "My son is guilty and the demands of the law must be met. But because I love my son, I will pay the penalty for him." The judge took off his judicial robe and offered himself to the police who led him away to die for the crime of his son.

We would all agree that this is a story of great love. And it is also a picture of God's love for us. We are guilty of sin, and the penalty of sin is death. But because God loves us, He volunteered to pay our penalty by offering Himself (in the person of His Son) to die for us.

Point four describes what we must do in light of the other three points. It states:

"We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives." We must receive Christ. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." We receive Christ through faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the -gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." There are two important words in this verse, grace and faith. Grace refers to God's love for us, which He demonstrated by sending His Son to die for us when we didn't deserve it. God offers His grace, His gift of salvation, to us as a gift. But it is not enough to know that a gift is being offered; it must be received before it becomes ours.

Faith is a decision to accept the gift being offered and to trust the word and character of the person offering the gift. Let me illustrate this with a story. In 1830 George Wilson was tried by the U.S. court in Philadelphia for robbery and murder and was sentenced to hang. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, granted him a presidential pardon. But Wilson refused the pardon, insisting that it was not a pardon unless he accepted it. The question was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the following decision: "A pardon is a peer, the value of which depends upon its acceptance by the person implicated. It's hardly to be supposed that one under sentence of death would refuse to accept a pardon, but if it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must hang." And he was hanged.

When we receive Christ into our lives, we are actually born a second time. Just as being born of physical parents gives us the ability to live in this world, so being born spiritually into God's family gives us the ability to live in the spiritual realm. It's this second birth that enables us to have a relationship with God.

Finally, we accept Christ by personal invitation. Christ is speaking and says:

"Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him ..."

The promise Jesus makes is that He will come into our lives if we want Him to. Like marriage, accepting Christ involves two "yes" answers - one from the bride and one from the groom. One "yes" is not enough. Christ has already said "yes" to us. Now it remains for us to say "yes" to Him. How do you say "yes" to Christ and accept Him? Accepting Christ involves turning from self to God (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us the kind of people he wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

Imagine two kinds of lives:

1. The first is the self-directed life. Self is on the throne of this person's life. Christ is outside the life. This person's interests are directed by self, often    
     resulting in discord and frustration.

2. In contrast, the second life is the Christ-directed life. Christ has come into this person's life. Self is yielding to Christ, and this individual's interests are
     directed by Christ, resulting in harmony with God's plan.

Which one would you say best represents your life? Which one would you like to have represent your life?

You can accept Christ right now by faith expressed in prayer. Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you have never invited Christ into your life, you can do so by repeating silently in your heart the prayer I am going to say aloud in a moment. The prayer I am going to pray goes like this:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as My Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart and you would like to invite Christ into your life as Saviour and Lord, just repeat the words silently as I pray them aloud.

Let's pray.

REPEAT THE ABOVE PRAYER ONE PHRASE AT A TIME. PAUSE AFTER EACH PHRASE IN ORDER TO GIVE THOSE IN YOUR AUDIENCE A CHANCE TO PRAY.

If you prayed that prayer, you can be assured of two things right now. First, Christ came into your life as He promised He would.

In Revelation 3:20, Christ did not say, "I might come in," "I sort of will come in" or "maybe I will come in on alternating Sundays." No, very forthrightly He said, "I will come in to him." So, if you repented of your sin and invited Him to come into your life, then Christ is there. You don't need to hope He is in your life, you can know. He's there on the basis of His promise.

Second, you can know for sure that if you were to die right now you would spend eternity wit ' h God in Heaven. John wrote in I John 5:11-13: "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life" (italics added).

The condition for having eternal life is having the Son. So, if you know that you have the Son, you can also know that you have eternal life. Note that John wrote this letter specifically to drive home this point to his friends. He says, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [that is, to those who have received Him as Saviour and Lord] in order that you may know [not hope so, feel like or wish, but know] that you have external life."

I'm really interested in what you think of the things I've shared tonight (today). To get some feedback from you, I am going to pass out some cards and pencils so that you can write down your comments or questions for me.

HAVE A COUPLE OF HELPERS HAND OUT THE PENCILS AND CARDS. A HELPFUL STRATEGY IS TO ASK THE PERSONS IN THE FRONT ROW:

"Would you help me out?" THIS GETS THE JOB DONE MORE QUICKLY AND INVOLVES THE AUDIENCE.

So, take a minute to let me know what you think. Just write down your name, address and phone number and any comments or questions you have.

Then, if tonight, for the first time you prayed and invited Christ into your life as Saviour and Lord, put an "X" after your name.

The reason I want you to do this is I have some material I'd like to send to you which I personally found helpful when I made the decision to accept Christ.

I promise your name won't be published as one of the 10 most religious men and women in town. I have some literature that covers the kind of issues that were addressed tonight (today), and I'd just like to send it to you.

WHILE INDIVIDUALS ARE FILLING OUT THE CARDS, SIT DOWN AND IGNORE THEM. THEY DON'T NEED DISTRACTIONS AT THIS POINT. LET THEM CONCENTRATE; AFTER THREE OR FOUR MINUTES, ANNOUNCE THAT YOU WILL GIVE THEM ANOTHER MINUTE SO THAT THEY WILL BEGIN TO WRAP UP THEIR COMMENTS. AFTER THE MINUTE IS UP, SAY:

As you finish the cards, please fold them in half and hand them in.

AFTER ALL THE CARDS ARE COLLECTED, SAY:

Thanks so much for this opportunity to be here and to share with you.

This is an expanded version of the Four Spiritual Laws. @ Copyright Josh McDowell and Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. 1979. All rights reserved.