How To Find True Peace With God In Your Heart!

 
 
A Special Message For You About Finding Peace With God
By Our Pastor-Teacher, Dr. Gary Kuhne

All people are created with the need to find peace with God through entering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Finding this personal relationship and the resulting peace with God is central to our emotional and spiritual well-being, both now and in the future.  God is interested in helping us find that peace and explains clearly the pathway in the Bible.  This pathway is also called “The Gospel” in various places in the Bible.  This essay was written to help you review the basic facts of the Gospel that point out the pathway to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Some of you reading this have never read the Bible before and these facts could very well revolutionize your understanding of life itself.  Some of you have read some of the Bible in the past, but are unsure of its meaning.  For you these facts could help provide an assurance of your personal relationship with God.  Let’s examine these Gospel facts together.
 
The Gospel Rests Upon Three Foundational Truths

The gospel message is rooted in three foundational truths that both explain our world and God’s role in our very existence.  Let’s examine each of these truths in turn.

FIRST: God is really there! The scriptures begin by telling us that we are not alone in the universe!  There is actually a personal God who is really there!  No understanding of the gospel can begin without this fact, since the gospel is ultimately all about how we can find relationship with that God.  The following two verses help to clarify this truth.
The fool says in his heart, "there is no God".
Ps.14:1
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so men are without excuse.
Rom. 1:20

SECOND: God created the world!  We live in a created world, not a cosmic accident.  The Bible explains that the world we live in is the result of God's work of creation and God has a definite purpose and plan for its existence.  Notice the following verses.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen. 1:1
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command.
Hebrews 11:3

THIRD: God created each one of us!  Each of us is here because God had a purpose in creating us.  No one is an accident.  To know God created us is the first step toward finding out “why” he created us.  The following verse clearly communicates this truth.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb;…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Ps. 139:13, 16.
 
The Gospel Also Rests Upon Two More Facts About God

Building upon the three foundational truths covered above, the Bible goes on to explain two more important about God.  These truths help us to understand the reason for seeking after a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Let’s examine them together.

FIRST: God loves us!  The Bible tells us that the God who is really there and created us actually loves us.  We matter to Him!  Although it seems hard to believe, the scriptures make it plain that God loves us and wants us to experience His love in our lives.  The love he has for us is best expressed through the sending of Christ into the world.  Notice the following verses:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
I John 4:10
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom.5:8
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

SECOND: God wants a relationship with us!  The Bible goes on to explain that because God loves each of us, He wants us to be in a vital and satisfying personal relationship with Himself.  He created us for just such a relationship and we are never able to find lasting fulfillment in our lives if we are not in personal relationship with God.  While the Bible clearly teaches this truth, I personally find it amazing and wonderful that the God who is really there and who created the whole world actually loves us and wants a relationship with us.  Notice the following verses:
God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Acts 17:27
 
The Gospel Is Needed Because Of A Serious Problem

We have seen that God is really there, that He created both the world and our own lives.  We discovered that God loves us and wants relationship with each one of us.  While the Gospel builds upon the foundation of these wonderful truths, it also reveals a sobering problem. Let’s examine more about this problem together:

FIRST:  We are all sinful and separated from God!  Although God loves us and wants relationship with us, if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that we have all rejected God and rebelled against His offer of relationship.  The Bible tells us that everyone has sinned against the God.  In fact, our choice to turn away from God is what the Bible calls “sin” and has resulted in separating us from God.  Instead of the joy and satisfaction such a relationship could provide, we feel alienated from God and restless in our hearts.  Notice how the following verses put this truth:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Rom.3:23
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.
Isa 53:6

SECOND: We are helpless to solve this separation!  Not only are we separated from God, but the Bible also tells us that we can do nothing on our own to solve the problem.  Our separation from God is the penalty we must pay for our sin (i.e., our choice to  turn away from God), a penalty that will go on for eternity unless something is done.  Yet we are powerless to pay this penalty for sin and change our eternal problem. Notice how the following verses put this truth:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world.
Eph. 2:1
For the wages of sin is death.
Rom.6:23
 
The Gospel Explains God’s Gracious Solution To Our Problem

Reading about the problem of our sin and separation could lead us to despair if the message ended there.  Thankfully God included more in this Gospel message.  The gospel message goes further and explains God’s answer to our great problem. Let’s look at the answer together.

FIRST: Christ died for us!  God, in His great love for us, did not abandon us to the separation we deserved due to our sin.  He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come into this world and pay for our sin through His death on the cross.  When Christ died, He paid our penalty and created a way for us to find forgiveness and a solution to our separation.  The solution rested entirely upon what Christ did for us.  We can add nothing to the payment He made to solve our sin problem.  Notice the following verses:
You see, at the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom.5:6
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.
Eph. 2: 4-5
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.
Col. 1:21-22

SECOND: A personal relationship with God is now possible through Jesus Christ!  Because of Christ's death on the cross, we can find forgiveness for our sin of rejecting God.  Because of such forgiveness, we can then begin to get to know God through a personal relationship, just as God intended in our creation.  This new relationship with God is the foundation for our meaning and purpose in this life and throughout eternity.  Notice the following verses. 
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Eph.1:17
I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me.
John 14:6
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
John 17:3
 
KEY: The Gospel Requires A Response!

Finally, the gospel message requires that we act on these wonderful truths.  God calls for each one of us to admit our sin and turn from our rebellion against God.  God also calls for each one of us to personally choose to receive Christ as our Savior.  All of these wonderful truths about God's love and Christ's death remain only so much head knowledge unless we act upon them.  Christ's death on the cross will do us no good unless we decide to turn from our rebellion and receive Christ as our personal Savior.  This requires a definite decision on our part. 

If you will decide to admit to God that you have sinned, be willing to turn back to God, and ask Christ to be your Savior, then the wonderful results of His work can be yours.  One way we can show such a definite choice is by praying a prayer like the following. 
 
Dear God, I know I am separated from you.  I am sorry for my sin and rebellion against you.  I want to personally accept what Jesus did on the cross to pay for my sins.  Please forgive me and accept me as your child.  I really want to know you better.  Thank you.  AMEN

If you will pray such a prayer, really meaning it in your heart, God promises to forgive you and bring you into relationship with himself.  The following verse helps to clarify the need to personally act on this truth.
Yet to all who receive Him (Jesus), who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the Children of God.
John 1:12
 
A Final Note

If you prayed the prayer above after reading this essay, or have further questions about the Gospel and relationship with God, please write to me using the “Guestbook” function on this website.  I have additional literature I could send you to help you in this pathway toward peace with God.