Discussion 1

Understanding Your Relationship with Jesus Christ

Knowing Jesus Christ is the most exciting relationship you can have. It is the beginning of a life of adventure with an all-loving, all-powerful God who has created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) If you have sincerely asked Christ to come into your life, you can be sure that your relationship with God is secure. You have been completely forgiven and accepted by Him as a result of Christ’s death on the cross. Jesus is the only sufficient provision for a relationship with God.

Understanding the following truths will help you to build a firm foundation on which to grow. These wonderful benefits are based totally on Jesus Christ. None of them can be earned. You received them the moment you placed your faith in Christ.

1. Christ forgave your sin.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…” (Ephesians 1:7).

When you trusted Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, all your sins were forgiven…past, present and future.

What difference do you think it makes to know that all of your sins have been forgiven?

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2. Christ made you a child of God.

“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 – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12, 13).

What did you do to become a child of God?

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3. Christ came into your life and He will never leave you.

(Christ speaking)”Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.” (Revelation 3:20).

a) Where is Christ right now in relation to you?

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(Christ speaking) “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” (John 6:37).

b) Under what circumstance might Christ leave you? (See Romans 8:38-39)

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c) According to this, how many times is it necessary to receive Christ?

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4. Christ gave you new life.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

You began a new spiritual life when you trusted Christ to be your Savior and Lord. As you grow in Him, you will begin to see new qualities that God is developing in you.

5. Christ gave you eternal life.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

(1 John 5:10-13). (Bookmark in book illustration.)

a) In who is eternal life found? ______________________________________________________

b) Who has eternal life? ___________________________________________________________

c) Do you have the Son (Jesus)? _____________________________________________________

d) Do you have eternal life? ________________________________________________________

e) When did eternal life begin for you? _______________________________________________

Key Question: If you were to die tonight, how sure are you that you would spend eternity with God? Please circle one. 0% - 25% - 50% - 75% - 100%

Which of these five truths are especially meaningful to you now?

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Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dealing with Doubts

Even though feelings are very real, your relationship with Christ is based on facts, not on feelings that can change daily. Doubts, questions and varying emotions are common parts of everyone’s life but they are very unreliable gauges of your relationship with Christ. The Christian lives by faith in the trustworthiness of God and His Word.

This train illustration shows the relationship between fact (God and His Word), faith (our trust in God and His Word), and feeling (which is the result of our faith and obedience).

The train will run with or without the caboose. However, it would be useless to attempt to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, we as Christians do not depend on feelings or emotions to decide what is true, but we place our faith in the promises of His Word.

So what if you don’t feel like a Christian tomorrow? Place your faith in the faithfulness of God Himself and the trustworthiness of His Word. The more you learn, the more you will be able to answer any doubts with solid facts. Your feelings will begin to respond to the truth of God’s Word and not to your circumstances.

Summary: Since you have trusted in Christ’s payment for your sin, understood the basis of your relationship with God and have learned five truths about your relationship, you can be confident in your relationship with Christ.

Suggestions for Further Growth:

Take one truth each day and reflect on it. Read the accompanying verses and thank God that this is now true about you.

Tell someone this week that you have a relationship with Christ.

Consider being baptized as a public confession of your faith.

Key Question: What happens when you struggle and fall short in your efforts to live the Christian life? For the answer, join us next week as we learn more about experiencing God’s love.