Law 1
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, and your family.
“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
Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” with purpose and meaning. John 10:10
Yet most people are not experiencing the abundant life, personally or in their families, because…
Law 2
Man is separated from God by sin, and therefore cannot know and experience God’s love or His plan for his life or his family.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Law 2
Man is separated from God by sin, and therefore cannot know and experience God’s love or His plan for his life or his family.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Every person was created to know and experience God, but because of a stubborn self will, we choose to go our own independent way, breaking the connection with God. This self-will may be characterized by an attitude of active rebellion, or passive indifference, and is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. And sin separates every person from God, and from each other within a family.
“The wages of sin is death,” and spiritual separation from God. Romans 6:23
“The wages of sin is death,” and spiritual separation from God. Romans 6:23
God is holy, and man is sinful, and a great gulf separates the two. Man is continually trying to reach God through his or her own efforts such as a good life, philosophy, religion, or good works – but all these inevitably fail.
The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf between God and man.
Law 3
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s plan for your life, and your family.
Jesus died and was separated from God in our place.
Law 3
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s plan for your life, and your family.
Jesus died and was separated from God in our place.
“For God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Jesus defeated death, rising from the dead.
“Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and on the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures….He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” I Corinthians 15:3-6
Jesus is the only way to God.
“Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6.
God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending Jesus Christ, His Son, to die on the cross, paying the penalty for our sins.
It is not enough just to know these three laws, but law four is the key.
Law 4
Each person must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Then we can know and experience God’s love and His plan for our lives, and for our families.
“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12. You can receive Christ by faith. “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.” Ephesians 2:8-9
When we receive Christ, we experience a new birth. You can read about what Christ means regarding a new birth in John 3:1-8 in His conversation with Nicodemus about being born again.
We receive Christ through personal invitation.
In Revelations 3:20 Christ says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and abide with him, and he with Me.” Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (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.
These two circles represent two kinds of lives.
These two circles represent two kinds of lives.
Self-directed life Christ-directed life
- Self is in control - Christ is in the life and in control
- Christ is outside the life - self is yielding to Christ
- Interests are directed by self, - interests are directed by Christ,
often resulting in discord resulting in harmony with God’s plan
Which circle best represents your life?
And which circle best represents your family?
Which circle would you like to have represent your life? And your family?
To move from the circle on the left to the circle on the right, you must simply receive Christ by faith through prayer, and you can do so right now. Prayer is just talking with God.
God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:
“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 Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?
If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised. And this is the beginning of restoration for your family as well.
You can now know that Christ is in your life if you did receive Christ just now. According to His promise in Revelation 3:20, Christ has come into your life and He is with you right now. Christ said He would come into your life. Would He mislead you? On what authority do you know God has answered your prayer? You can trust the very trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word.
You can also trust that He wants to bring restoration to your family, starting with you!
The Bible promises eternal life to all who receive Christ – and this was most exciting to me when I received Christ back in 1977.
“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.” I John 5:11-13
You can thank God often that Christ is in your life and that He will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5). You can know on the basis of His promise that Christ lives in you and that you have eternal life from the very moment you invite Him in. He will not deceive you.
An important reminder… Do not depend on feelings
The promise of God’s Word, the Bible – not our feelings – is our authority. The Christian lives by faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word. Just as a train will run with or without a caboose, it would be useless to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, as Christians, we do not depend on feelings or emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of His Word.
Now that you have received Christ…
The moment that you received Christ as an act of the will, many things happened:
- Christ came into your life (Rev. 3:20, Colossians 1:27).
- Your sins were forgiven (Colossians 1:14, I John 1:9)
- You became a child of God (John 1:12)
- You received eternal life (John 5:24, I John 5: 11-13)
- You began the great adventure for which God created you (John 10:10, 2 Co. 5:17, I Thes. 5:18)
- God has begun to restore your family because of your reconciliation with Christ.
Can you think of anything more wonderful that could happen to you than receiving Christ? Would you like to thank God in prayer right now for what He has done for you? By thanking God you demonstrate your faith. Would you like to ask God to use your new relationship with Him to begin to bring restoration to your family?
To enjoy your new life to the fullest consider these suggestions for Christian growth for you and your family. Spiritual growth results from trusting Jesus Christ. A life of faith will enable you to trust God increasingly with every detail of your life and your family (as “the righteous man shall live by faith,” Galatians 3:11) and to practice the following:
- Go to God in prayer daily (John 15:7).
- Read God’s Word Daily (Acts 17:11). Begin with the Gospel of John.
- Obey God moment by moment (John 14:25).
- Witness for Christ by your life and words (Matthew 4:19, John 15:8).
- Trust God for every detail of your life and family (I Peter 5:7).
- Holy Spirit – allow Him to control and empower your daily life and witness (Galatians 5:16-17, Acts 1:8).
Fellowship in a good church
God’s Word instructs us not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together.” (Heb. 10:25). Several logs burn brightly together, but put one aside on the cold hearth and its fire goes out. So it is in your relationship with other Christians.
If you do not belong to a church, do not wait to be invited. Take the initiative - call the pastor of a nearby church where Christ is honored and God’s Word is preached. Start this week, and make plans to attend regularly. Get involved in a Bible study or a discipleship group.
Special materials are available for Christian growth.
If you have come to know Christ personally through this presentation of the gospel, helpful materials for Christian growth are available to you. For more information, go to www.ccci.org.
Special materials are also available for family restoration – visit other places on this blog and visit www.focusonthefamily.org.
If this blog piece has been helpful to you, please share it with someone else.
Adapted from Bill Bright. Campus Crusade for Christ, and New Life Publications, copyright 2000.
