Do you know Jesus Personally?

One of the things that Christians often talk about is having a personal relationship with Jesus. What does it mean to know Jesus personally today? And how...

Do you know Jesus personally?

One of the things that Christians often talk about is having a personal relationship with Jesus. At first glance, that can seem a little unusual – after all didn’t Jesus live and die 2000 years ago? What does it mean to know Jesus personally today?

Part of the answer to that question comes from understanding a little about Christianity. Rather than a code of conduct, or set of rules to live by handed on by a long-passed teacher, Christianity is actually about being in a relationship with a living God. Christians believe that God is. God is real. God exists. God is eternal.

There’s a word that Christians sometimes use to refer to God: Emmanuel. It’s a word that comes from Hebrew language origins and means “God with us”. Christians believe God is with us, today as in every other time and place. If God is with us then it makes a little more sense that we can figure out how to have a relationship with God.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus, Christians believe, is not only a historical person – a Jewish prophet who lived and taught in Israel around 2000 years ago – but is actually the Son of God.

The Bible tells us that God “so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). At the end of his life, the Bible records that Jesus died by crucifixion, but then was raised to life again, before returning to God’s presence for eternity. Jesus, Christians believe, lives on.

Prophet, Teacher and Son of God

So Jesus is not only a prophet and teacher, but also the Son of God. More than that though, Christians believe that Jesus is part of the three-fold “Trinity” of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection he opened up a pathway by which we can have an ongoing relationship with God. So entering into a relationship with Jesus is actually entering into a relationship with God. Jesus by his life, death and resurrection, opens up the pathway for us to God.

If you’d like to know more about who Jesus is in history, in the Bible, and what Christians believe (or in fancy words: our “theology”), check out our article “Who is Jesus?”.

Why have a personal relationship with Jesus?

To be Christian is both to follow Jesus’ teaching and to know and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour; to literally become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

"Christianity is about being in a relationship with a living God."

To follow Jesus’ teaching we need to know it and to know the one who taught. Any relationship involves knowing things about the other person, what matters to them, what their values and beliefs are, what they do for a job, who their family is, and so on. In this instance, to be Christian, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ invites us to know more about Jesus – who he is, what he taught, and how his earthly life was lived, and most importantly what he accomplished by his life, death and resurrection.

A second reason to seek to know Jesus personally is that through Jesus we come into a relationship with God.

Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life comes when we “know God, the only true God, and know Jesus Christ whom God sent”. We talked earlier about Jesus being one with God, and that if we are in relationship with Jesus then we are in relationship with God, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To know one is to know all three.

How do I get to know Jesus personally?

If we’ve talked about the what and why…then it’s time to talk about how! How to know Jesus personally? How to have a relationship with God? Without going too deep, there are five things we can think about.

An Act of Faith

First, entering into a relationship with God really is an act of faith. We can choose to believe and to accept, by faith, that God exists, and wants to be in relationship with us. Sometimes we have to make that choice even when we don’t really feel like it. One person in the Bible faced with his own doubts once said to Jesus “Lord I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Faith is not necessarily simple – sometimes it feels like a choice we make again, and again, and again. Getting to know God personally always involves this element of faith.

Prayer

That brings us to the second thing to think about – prayer. Put simply, prayer is talking with and listening to God.

Just like the person in Mark 9 (above), we can talk to Jesus about real things; about our doubts; about our failures; about our celebrations and about our needs. We can talk to God in prayer every day and anytime. We can pray in planned times, or at any moment we feel like we just need to reach out to God right now. We can structure prayer, borrow words from prayers or songs others have written, or just let our real, genuine emotions bubble to the surface. We can pray alone, in small groups, or with the gathered Church.

It’s good though to remember that prayer is not just speaking, but listening too. Sometimes we need to ask God to speak to us and practice listening to see if we can sense God speaking.

Read and Study the Bible

Third, the best way to learn about Jesus, what he was like, how he lived, and what his own relationship with God the Father was like is to read and study the Bible. The whole Bible tells God’s story, and the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are particularly focused on telling Jesus’ story.

We find stories in which Jesus spent time with friends and family, in which he travelled, in which he told stories (we call them ‘parables’) to those around him and even moments in which he is overcome with emotion at difficult times. In reading the gospels we can get a sense of what Jesus is really like. If reading the Bible is new to you, start with the Gospel of Luke, and see what you can learn about Jesus.

Reading the Bible, and particularly the gospels, also gives us great insight into what Jesus taught, and whether his own life reflected those teachings (hint: it did!). This helps us make our own choices and life decisions – particularly if we want to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour and seek to follow his ways.

Talk With Others

Fourth, we can talk with friends about how they know God, and about their own personal relationship with Jesus. Hearing others reflect on Jesus will give us a sense of what he means to them, and helps us think about what he means to us. It’s similar to when one of our friends tells us about another friend of theirs and we slowly get to know them – maybe eventually we meet and become friends with that third person as well.

Join A Church

Finally, a great way to get to know Jesus personally is by joining and sharing in the life of a church. In activities like worship, prayer groups, small groups and bible study we get to know God. In sermons and messages, we learn more about God. In the lives of other Christians we get to see Jesus. As we live and serve and pray in Christian community we get to experience Jesus for ourselves, and that helps us get to know him personally.

Want to know more?

One of the best ways to learn more is to visit a local Church or Christian community and ask them to help you. We’ve written before about why Christian community matters, and how to choose a suitable church. Ultimately, every local church is there to help you get to know Jesus.

Many local churches run short courses exploring all aspects of Christianity and these are a fantastic way to discover Jesus. Check out an Alpha course or a Christianity Explored course or simply ask your local church how they can help you get how to know Jesus personally.

Scott Guyatt is a writer, speaker, trainer, and facilitator who has served the church in Australia for more than two decades. Scott’s experience includes helping the church explore mission, discipleship and leadership practices in local communities across the country.

Do you know Jesus Personally?

One of the things that Christians often talk about is having a personal relationship with Jesus. What does it mean to know Jesus personally today? And how...