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Synopsis from atstracts.org

Written specifically for the youth. Examines why we need God, what we need from Him, and what He has to offer.

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Some people think they don’t need God. Others wonder if he even exists, and if so, in what form? Here are some thoughts about why we need God, what we need from him, and just exactly what he has to offer.

Are We God?

Humanity has made some great strides in recent years. But while we’re progressing in some ways, we seem to be regressing in others: more crime, divorce, teenage suicide, lower SAT scores, more HIV, war, terrorism, chronic hunger (and all in the midst of great scientific progress). This regression should tell us something —namely, that we’re not God, and we should probably look beyond our race to find him.

We need God to be outside of humanity.

So What’s the Plan?

But wait, you say, those terrible things in the world prove that a good God doesn’t exist. Not necessarily. Do you want God to control every decision that people make so that nothing bad ever happens? Forced obedience? Or would you rather have God retain control, but still allow people to make free- willed decisions...even if those choices may result in evil, pain, suffering? We need God to be all-powerful, yet allow us free will. Like the Force? These days it’s popular to think of God as some kind of force- field that exists in all things. But even if all things exist and are sustained, moment by moment, by God’s power, wouldn’t we want him to be more than merely a force? If God were just a force-field, you could talk to God, but he wouldn’t answer. God would be impersonal, incapable of relating to us in any real sense.

We need to know God personally.

Does Anybody Care?

Being accepted and loved is a motivation for much of what we do. But imagine, if the most important person in your life said, “I don’t care about you at all.” Or what if the most important person in your life said, “I care about you very much,” but you knew they didn’t really mean it... because no matter what they said, their actions didn’t verify their words.

We need God to really care about us.

Know What I Mean?

Typically, we think of God as being remote and distant. Wouldn’t we rather have God involved in the universe, and specifically, in what’s happening here on earth? There are some unique difficulties, responsibilities and challenges that we must face as human beings.

We need God to understand our human experience.

Are You Thirsty?

Most of us want fulfillment in life. There seems to be something akin to a thirst within us that yearns to be quenched. But that thirst—even though we try— is not satisfied for long by things such as money, possessions, romance, or even fun. There is something more to life, something we’re missing on our own.

We need God to give meaning and fulfillment to our lives.

Good News: That’s What God is Like

If the previous thoughts accurately reflect what you want or need from God, then it’s time to introduce yourself to the God of the Bible.

• God is definitely outside humanity. He alone is the eternal God. “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”1 “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”2
  
  
• God definitely has things completely under control, even though he allows us to make free-willed choices (and suffer the consequences). He says, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?”3 “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”4
  
  
• God is knowable, and wants to be known. He is not merely a force. The Bible says that he created people “in his image,” thus showing his desire to relate to us. And those that know him, he calls his “children.”
  
  
• God really cares. He didn’t just say it, he proved it by his actions. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins, that we might be forgiven by God and have eternal life. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”5
  
  
• God understands the human experience. Jesus Christ was not only God’s Son, he was God as a man. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”6 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.”7
  
  
• God offers the most fulfilling life possible. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”8 He also said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”9
  

What do you think? Is God someone you would like to know? If so, then why don’t you tell him right now? He says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”10 The Bible also tells us...“To all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”11

If becoming a child of God is something you want, you can go to him and ask him yourself. If you are sincere, he will hear you and the door will be opened to you. You can tell him something like this:

Dear God, I believe you are the true God and have revealed yourself in Jesus and in the Bible. I need you and want you in my life. I want to be your child. I want the forgiveness and new life that Jesus made possible for me by dying on the cross and rising again. Amen.

If you have prayed something like this and want to know more about God, read the section called “John” in the Bible. If you are sincere, you will find him there.

(Endnotes) 1-Psalm 90:2; 2-Isaiah 46:9; 3-Lamentations 3:37; 4-Isaiah 46:10; 5-1John 4:9-10; 6-John 1:1, 14; 7-Hebrews 1:3; 8-John 10:10; 9-John 6:35; 10-Matthew 7:7; 11-John 1:12

• Bible references: NIV Article adapted from www.everystudent.com Photo by DigitalVision • Printed in USA • ©2002