Diane Knew God

Diane was a joy for everyone who knew her.  We all miss her smile, her sense of humor, and her genuine concern for those she loved.  She cared about everyone she knew.  Her biggest concern for all of her friends and family was, and is, that they “know the Lord.”  You may have heard her talk like that.  What did she mean?  Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3).  

Do you know God the Father and Jesus?  Diane did.  Is it possible that Diane actually knew God?  What a claim!  Diane never met Jesus face to face, although she sees Him face to face right now.  How can anyone know God?  We all know Diane was not perfect; she knew it too.  That is the first step towards knowing God: seeing your own sin.  Diane came to understand her own sin many years ago.  Consider the ways you have broken the Law of God as seen in His Ten Commandments.  Lying, stealing, taking God’s name in vain—these are just a few of the many ways that we all break God’s Law.  God is holy (without sin) and must judge sin wherever He finds it.  The Bible says that after we die, there is a judgment (Hebrews 9:27).  Since we have all broken God’s Laws, how can anyone know God?  How can anyone escape judgment and the Hell we deserve?  

The second step in knowing God is to understand who Jesus is.  He is God in the flesh (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8).  He walked on water, stopped a storm and calmed the sea, raised the dead, healed the sick, and was raised from the dead Himself.  Jesus bore the sins of sinners—all those who would turn from their sin and trust in Him alone.  All who do are declared “not guilty” of their sins because Jesus’ perfect obedience is “credited” to them, like an electronic funds transfer of obedience from One who obeyed to those who did not (2 Corinthians 5:21).  This is “amazing grace.”  

The third step is to turn away from all you know to be sin and to turn to Jesus alone in absolute dependence (faith).  Only He can save you.  “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)  “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.”  (John 3:16)  Please consider this message carefully.