Step 1: Made to know the Faithful Creator As a human being, you were made to live in relationship with the God who made you, and to find your hap piness, wholeness and fulfilment in honouring God for who He is his ʻgloryʼ. If you have Godʼs glory as your primary focus, you will hav e great hope. Faith is when you place your com plete trust in God; it gives you a certainty that the future of this uni verse is in His hands, and that everything that happens is part of His plan to bring the world to the magnificent goal He has for it. An d faith enables you to willingly and happily submit to his loving author ity. If you are trusting fully in God, you will be enabled to live a life that is authentic - the way youʼre designed to live. This authentic living is called love - when you only ever put God and other people before yourself - yet in doing so you will find your true identity and humanity.
Jargon buster The key book for Christians, the Bible, shows us that there is only one God, who exists in three distinct persons (the Trinity): the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Weʼre not supposed to be able to explain this, but just be glad that God tells us who He is.
Faith: Knowing the certainty of our hope 驶Entrusting myself to the Faithful Creator while doing good.始 (1 Peter 4:19)
Love: Faith translated into action
true human living: hope... faith... love.
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Hope: The glory of God!
Step 2: Without hope or God in this world le or willing to live No-one, including you, is ab g. on wr ne go s ha ng God, thi Some u have turned your back on yo ing be n ma hu a As . life this authentic to live for yourself , you make it your ambition Him ng uri no ho of d tea d who ins and 驶sin始, and is offensive to Go d lle ca is is Th ry. glo n ow - to seek your aracter, he is angry , in keeping with his own ch So d. ure no ho be to s t of rve dese kept accountable for this ac be l wil u yo t tha s se mi pro with you, and rebellion. the ur life is ultimately driven by yo nt, me ge jud of y int rta e God始s Because of this ce down that finally you will fac ep de ow kn u yo ce sin , ath fear of de condemnation. lfishness. rised not by love, but by se cte ara ch life a o int es lat s lost This fear trans but as a result your life ha , rld wo ur yo in e on er mb signed. You have become nu no longer living as God de l, na tio nc sfu dy are u yo y; its authenticit
Jargon buster Hell is the word used to describe being under God始s anger, for ever. Because He is infinitely worthy of honour, any rejection of Him requires an infinite punishment, otherwise God would be neither consistent nor trustworthy.
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Fear: All is uncertain except judgement
Ambition: My own glory?
驶With no hope and without God in this world始 (Ephesians 2:12)
Selfishness: Fear translated into action
dysfunctional 驶living始: ambition... fear... selfishness.
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Step 3: Jesus walks my path Because of His great love for you, the Fath er sent His Son into th world. He became an is authentic human being , experiencing real life this world. His one miss in ion in life was to fulfill the Fatherʼs plan to reconcile people to Hi mself. His name - Jesu s - means ʻGod savesʼ. As a man, his comple te trust was expresse d in a perfect relationsh with his Father, and th ip is faith was expressed in loving obedience, ev when that obedience en took him to a brutal de ath, when he was tortu and nailed to a cross re d by those who oppose d him. In his death, Je took upon himself the sus punishment you dese rve for your rejection Godʼs loving authority of . Not only that, but he kn ew the pain, hopelessness and ʻdy sfunctionalityʼ of a hum an being outside of a relationship with God right . He took your place in jud gement, so that you may be forgiven and reconciled to the Fath er.
Jargon buster The incarnation is when God the Son became a human being, but in such a way that he was both fully God and fully human at the same time. The reason people gave for wanting him killed was because he claimed to be ʻequal with Godʼ.
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Faith: A perfect relationship with his Father. Hope: Fulfills his Father’s plan.
ʻJesus... said, “Father, into you hands I commit my spirit.”ʼ (Luke 23:46)
Love: Obedience, even to death in our place.
jesus, the true man: hope... faith... love.
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Step 4: Set free to live in faith, hope and love. that he did truly and finally Jesusʼ coming back from the dead shows Fatherʼs appointed ruler deal with your sin; it means that he is the Holy Spirit to live in all and judge of the world, and he will send the who trust Him as their rescuer and ruler. give you a guarantee If you have faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will ign, by enabling you to that you have been restored to Godʼs des ugh Jesus. have a real relationship with the Father thro trusting in Jesus, you will When you are reconciled to God through pective on life is changed find that you are transformed as your pers to begin exploring to see things Godʼs way. Youʼll be enabled who lovingly obeys God authentic living, and find your identity as one and seeks to love those around you.
Jargon buster Justification is when God, on the basis of Jesusʼ sacrifice, declares your sins to be completely forgiven - He says you are ʻnot guiltyʼ. This can never be earned, but is a free gift - called grace. A Christian is one who has been ʻjustified by graceʼ.
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Faith: The Holy Spirit guarantees our hope. ʻThese three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.ʼ 1 Corinthians 13:13
Hope: Jesus rules all things, to God’s glory.
Love: Jesus sets us free to obey.
restored humanity: his hope... his faith... his love.
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What now? There is only one way to legitimately respond to this message:
agree that what He says Repent. Admit that you始re wrong in your rebellion against God, and and that only He can rescue about his Son Jesus is true. Recognise that sin is offensive to God, you from the punishment you deserve.
& Believe. Accept in good faith what Jesus has done for you to reconcile you to the Father. Faith is not just acknowledging a set of beliefs, but actually trusting in
Jesus as your only hope.
answered before you始re ready to Keep exploring. You may have some questions your want or go to a gathering of Christians
repent and believe. Talk to the person who gave you this booklet, who are serious about hearing God speak to them through the Bible.
But Remember that this is not just about ideas, but is an issue of life and death. You will be held accountable if you choose to reject God始s free gift of reconciliation through Jesus. Don始t put it off. 10
what you believe and how you live. The ...is one where you depend on God to communicate with you about hear and study the Bible, you will read, way we hear God communicate is in the words of the Bible. As you find that your trust in God will deepen as you get to know Him better.
...means you have complete freedom to talk to God anywhere and at any time. Talking to God is called prayer. Your Father takes great pleasure in you coming to Him will all your needs, worries and joys; especially when your desire is to hear him speak to you so you can serve Him better.
...was never meant to be something you live on your own. Knowing God as your Father means you are a member of His family - called the ‘church’. Meeting together regula rly with others whose faith is in Jesus will help you learn more about God, and what it means to live in relation ship with Him.
trust in Him to be actively sharing ...is not something to be kept private, just to yourself. Jesus tells all who will hear of him, and be enabled to live with others the great news of what he has done. This way, more people the authentic life.
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We all want to live with authenticity: free from pretence, without shame, content with who we are, and with full integrity. But, these ideals are all too elusive; and if we’re honest, what goes on in our own hearts prevents us from being the people we know we should be.
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Is it possible for a person to be truly human in the best sense of the word? Why is this world and our lives marked with failure, inadequacy, selfishness and evil? The answer is found in God’s son, Jesus. He gives us the explanation for why things are the way they are, the great news of what he has done about it, and what that means for anyone who will put their trust in him. This booklet is designed to help you see how Jesus is the only one who can give us the Authentic Life; a life of faith, hope and love. 12