Knowledge: How We Know We Know
1 John 2:1-11
How do we know we know God? Perhaps a simpler version of
that question is this: How can we be certain that we know God in the sort of
way we know a best friend? After all, I don't think many of us lose sleep at
night over whether or not we know the characteristics of God. God is love. God
is merciful, gracious, kind, all-powerful, yada yada, yada. What we lose sleep
over, is whether or not we know him in the kind of way that leads to "Well
done good and faithful servant." After all, I don't know many Christians
who are dying to hear Jesus say, "Well, it was a toss up, but you barely
passed."
So how do we know we know God? Do we need to read our
Bibles more? Pray more? Think more loving thoughts? Read more books? Listen to
Christian music? Really try to fall in love with Jesus? (I love when Christians
say they want to fall more in love with Jesus, as if it's such a difficult task
to fall in love.) While some of these may act as a bandaid to a massive hole in
our chest spewing blood of doubt, they won't really answer the question - not
according to Scripture anyway.
1 John 2:3 begins
this way: "Now by this we know that we know Him…"
What!? It's
that simple? One verse tells us exactly how to know him? Why on earth have I
lived all these years with such self-doubt of my relationship with Jesus?
Whatever it is, sign me up!
Here is that verse
in its entirety. "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His
commandments."
Huh.
Not as attractive of
an answers as you were looking for? You were kind of hoping for something more
emotional, weren't you? Me too.
Well, what
commandments then? The two biggies - loving God and loving neighbors?
When we look at 1
John 2 in context, John has been talking a lot about sin blocking our
relationship from God. And contrary to popular thought, there are two kinds of
sins - commission and omission. There are sins in which we commit a sinful act
and sins in which we neglect to commit a godly act. John is now discussing the
latter.
Verse 4 says,
"He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in Him." No matter how hard we try to keep from
doing sinful things, we will never know God until we begin doing godly things.
Let me give an
example. Think of someone you have fallen in love with. Or if you have not yet
fallen in love, someone whom you have become very close with (a family member
or friend). At what point did you realize that you were in love with them?
Note, my question is not when you first
found them physically attractive.
For me, the moment
was in July of 2012. I was interning with Focus on the Family in Colorado
Springs during the Waldo Canyon Fire. After the fires had been contained, the
entire group of interns volunteered with Samaritan's Purse to help search among
the ashes of people's homes for anything valuable. We were split into teams,
and by divine providence I was placed with Meredith DeAnda - a young lady from
Georgia who I'd had a crush on for several weeks. We were required to wear
these full body suits that resembled
those suits worn by those people trying to capture E.T. We also wore masks and
hats. Needless to say, all I could physically see of Meredith were her eyes.
We worked for hours
in the 90-degree weather. I was insistent that we take a water break every 10
minutes so as to stay hydrated. But Meredith fought me on it every break,
insisting that we had to spend as much time as possible looking for the owner's
possessions among the ashes. When we discovered a photo album of wedding
invitations and photos, Meredith could not contain her joy. That's when I knew
I loved her - the sweaty girl in pigtails in the E.T. catcher outfit.
What's your story?
They are all different, but many of them contain one similar element. We fell
in love when we realized something that made the other person happy - what made
them unique. They said or did something that made us stop in our tracks and think,
"I love that about him," or "I love that about her." It may
be something we never thought we'd love. Maybe it's something we used to hate.
But once we saw it from their perspective - everything changed.
That's how John is
saying you come to know God. In our American culture, "commandments"
is a word that makes us cringe. Command. We
don't like being told what to do. It inhibits our freedom. But that's where we
are all wrong. God's commands aren't the kind of rules that are meant to make
life more boring. God's commands are things He enjoys - things He loves. He
loves to see widows taken care of. He loves to see orphans adopted. He loves to
see hungry people given food, prisoners visited, the naked being clothed and
the freezing given hot cocoa.
When I got married,
it was expected of me to do things with and for my wife that she liked. It was
required that I kiss her often, help in the kitchen, get a job and visit the
in-laws. It was required of her to make meals (not because I'm chauvinistic - she's
just a way better cook than I am), care for our children and support me. These
are normal things husbands and wives do for each other. I love to eat, so
Meredith makes food. Meredith loves to not be in debt, so I work. That's how a
relationship works.
So why should it be
any different with God? We love to be loved, forgiven of our sins and promised
a home after death. God has provided those. God loves to see us use our time
and money to help the less fortunate and to see the lost saved.
Yet, we assume that
we can know God intimately without obeying those commandments. We claim that
our American freedom gives us the right to enjoy all the pleasures of God
without giving anything in return. Let's face it, when Meredith doesn't receive
clean dishes and kisses - James doesn't receive other things.
Let me clarify
something. God does not love us because we do things for Him. Romans 5:8 says
that "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." His love has
nothing to do with our obedience.
But…
Our intimate
knowledge of God has everything to do with it.
You see, while I try
to use human relationships to explain our relationship with God, the comparison
is extremely flawed. Our relationships with each other include two individuals
who each have something to offer the other.
We have nothing to
offer God.
In John 17:3, Jesus
prayed to the Father moments before his arrest. He said, "Father, the
hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that
Your Son may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that
He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is
eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
You have sent."
God chose us for
eternal life long before we sought him. God chose us for eternal life while we
spat in His face. God chose us for eternal life knowing that we would never
offer anything valuable to Him in return. But God didn't just give us eternal
life. He gave us the opportunity to know Him.
If Meredith and I
hadn't worked out, I would have considered it a privilege just to know her
- a privilege to work with her, drive
her home, visit her cubicle, etc. The privilege I feel to know her intimately
is off the charts. But Meredith is a sinner.
God, Creator of the
universe, Savior of the damned, Giver of life has given us an opportunity to
know Him intimately and we complain because the way to knowing him includes commandments.
Listen to the words
of Paul in Philippians 3.
"What things
were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count
all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and county them as rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of
His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
A simple summary:
Paul considered every earthly possession and relationship as poop compared to
knowing God intimately. He considered pain and suffering, not as punishment,
but as an opportunity to better know
Christ, because Christ also suffered.
In 1 John 2:6, John
says, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He
walked."
If you want to have
an intimate relationship with Jesus. If you want to fall in love with Him
without having to force yourself to do so. If you want to know you know Him - then turn your eyes on
Jesus. Get to know Him by reading the Gospels. It's all there. The compassion.
The grace. The mercy. The forgiveness. The calm spirit. And then obey Him. Do
the things He loves. Help the people He wants helped.
Don't pray that you
will fall in love with Jesus. God isn't into forcing people to love Him. Pray
that you will understand who He is. Because once you understand, I guarantee
the falling in love will happen all on its own.
