How to Know you Know God

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.