The Flip Side of Knowing God
Big Idea: God knows us deeply before we know him, and despite our flaws, he seeks a loving relationship with us.
I still remember the first time I heard her name. I was a happy single man, but I knew I wanted to find a wife and get married one day. My love life was completely void of any love life. And then I heard a name, and although the name meant nothing to me at the time, I filed it away in case it came in handy later. And then came the actual person. Let me say that the details of the actual person were also filed away because there was a good chance I might need them later.
And then came the flirtations. When I saw her one day, I squeezed her elbow—ever so subtly, but we knew what was going on. And then one day, in front of all our peers, she flirted back. I jokingly mentioned trying one of her chicken wings, and she got up, walked around the table, and put a wing on my plate. It was the best chicken wing I've eaten in my entire life. It was true love.
I was gathering information about the woman I would eventually marry. And I began to discover that she, as well, was accumulating information on me. As much as I wanted to get to know Charlene, I found out that she likewise wanted to find out more about me. This was not going to be a one-way proposition. Which is a good thing, because I wasn't really interested in a one-way proposition. The best relationships are mutual; as one person learns more about the other, the other person learns more about them too.
There aren't many Christians who are uninterested in getting to know God better. Most genuine believers will express a desire for greater intimacy with God, such as a stronger sense of his presence, increased trust in his power, and a deeper understanding of his will. I think that all of us realize that we desire to know God more fully. But any good relationship has got to be mutual. Let me put it this way: if your interest in God is not reciprocated, you're wasting your time. You're an unwanted admirer. If your longing to deepen your relationship with God is both acknowledged and even exceeded, you are firmly on the right path in your pursuit of a greater understanding of him.
What seems to matter most is this: not that you know God, but that God knows you. The wonderful truth is that God welcomes your quest to get to know him better, and what's more – God knows you already, in an intimate way. You, my friends, are graven on the palms of his hands. You are never out of his mind. There is no moment when his eye is off you, or his attention is distracted from you. There is no moment, in fact, when his care falters. This is wonderful news. It is the flip side of knowing God: the fact that God already knows you, and cares about you.
Two Implications
This has a couple of wonderful implications, which I'm going to spell out for you.
God has seen you at your worst, but has chosen to love you anyway.
Getting to know Charlene filled me with anxiety about revealing my true self. I carefully maintained my best behavior around her, presenting a polished version of who I was. She accepted this image of me, making it shocking for her after our wedding to realize I wasn't perfect. Marriage exposed my character flaws and annoying habits that I had previously tried to hide.
In all honesty, I suspect she glimpsed some of these imperfections beforehand. But living together in marriage brought her face-to-face with the full reality of who I truly am.
But God knows you: every detail of your life, every blemish. God has seen all the twisted things about you that no one else has seen. God has seen more corruption in your soul than even you're aware of.
But here is the great truth:
His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst of me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me" (James Packer, Knowing God)
God knows you at your worst and, despite having every reason to be disgusted, loves you with an unchangeable love. Paul speaks about this truth in Romans 5:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
If you underline your Bible, you should underline those five words in verse 8: "while we were still sinners." These are amazing words. God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but because he loved us. We all at times feel unworthy of God's love, but just remember this – God loved you before you ever turned to him. If God loved you when you were a rebel, he surely loves you now that you love him back! For some reason, God wants to be our friend and has given us his Son to achieve this goal.
As we approach God and desire to know him better, we don't have to worry that God will turn us away because we're not worthy. God desires a relationship with you—he desires to know and be known, even though we're so unworthy. When we stray from God and fear returning, we can be confident that he will welcome us back with joy, just like the father in the prodigal son story. When we feel unworthy and hesitant to approach God, we can be sure that he wants us to come to him and have a relationship with him. And be sure that nothing you could ever do will turn God away from you. God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, following chapters about God's judgment on Judah, there's a refreshing reminder of his unwavering love: "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness'" (Jeremiah 31:3).
You know, friends, God has seen you at your worst, and God has chosen to love you anyway. God wants you to get to know him better, regardless of your past struggles. You don't need to turn away from this quest, even though you've been inconsistent in your Christian walk. Regardless of your spiritual state, God wants you to be close to him. He has seen your worst moments but still seeks a relationship with you.
It's amazing to think that God knows you—parts of you that you've forgotten. God is aware of your faults. God knows the sins you will commit in the future. He knows the hidden thoughts of your heart that even your closest friends don't know. And God has chosen to love you anyway. God desires a relationship with you. We love because he loved us first (1 John 4:19).
God has seen you at your worst, but has chosen to love you anyway. The second implication is also great.
God knows you personally, as a friend knows a friend.
It's remarkable that the God of this universe wants a relationship with us. It's remarkable that God wants a relationship with us, just as a father or a friend desires connection.
I have some very close friends, and for the life of me I can't remember ever befriending them. I've come to the simple conclusion that I didn't initiate the friendship; they did. I don't value those friendships any less; in fact, it's kind of nice that someone saw me and pursued a relationship with me.
Paul says of our friendship with God:
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12)
The knowledge that we were chosen by God is revolutionary. Our knowledge of God is the direct consequence of God's taking knowledge of us. We know God by faith because he first singled us out by grace. God, in his sovereign grace, loved us, chose us, redeemed us, called us, and is preserving us. God has chosen you to be his friend.
When the Bible speaks of God's knowledge of us, that knowledge is personal.
And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. (Exodus 33:17)
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. (Jeremiah 1:5)
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:14, 27)
God knew you, just as he knew Jeremiah, long before you were born or even conceived. God thought about us and planned for us. Jesus contrasts the Good Shepherd with someone who cares for sheep only for profit. Whereas a hired hand tends sheep for money, the shepherd does it for love. Jesus is not merely doing a job; he loves us and cares for us, and ultimately gave his life for us. J.I. Packer reminds us that God's knowledge of us "implies personal affection, redeeming action, covenant faithfulness, and providential watchfulness, towards those whom God knows."
I'm here this morning to tell you that God knows you by name. He desires a relationship of love with you. Before creation, before your birth or even conception, God has always loved you, even during your rebellion against him.
God knows what you're going through in your life right now.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Jesus said that God is aware of everything that happens to sparrows, but you're far more valuable to him than sparrows. God knows everything that happens to you; you need never fear trials and difficulties. God has intimate knowledge and infinite love for you.
God has always taken the initiative in his relationship with us. He came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He came to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. He came to the disciples, and to Paul on the Damascus road. He has come to us as well. God has taken the initiative to pursue a love relationship with you, even though he knows all your faults. But your worst blemishes haven't deterred God from loving you. He loves you because he's chosen to love you.
God desires a love relationship with you that is, as one author puts it, "real, personal, and practical." And more than anything else that you might do, God wants you to love him in return with your entire being. In fact, he created you for that purpose.
In a verse that was written for Christians – it's not an evangelistic verse as we often use it – Jesus says:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts. He wants to have fellowship with us, and he wants us to open up to him. By rights, lukewarm Christians should be standing at Christ's door, begging for forgiveness for their half-heartedness and their apathy. But look at the picture that is painted here. No other love is like Christ's love!
The nail-scarred hands of Jesus are knocking on the door of a calloused Christian, whose heart should be warm with worship night and day. But it's not. So the disappointed but long-suffering Jesus patiently knocks on the door of a tepid Christian, saying, "I'm seeking you out. I am extending myself to you. I'm knocking at your door. I'm taking the initiative." And he says, "Open the door."
God knows you and is seeking out a relationship of love with you. I sense Jesus is knocking on the door of your hearts this morning – some of you sense it. He's inviting you to dine with him, to fellowship with him, to know him better. Are you going to open that door?
Adapted in part from Our God Is Awesome by Tony Evans
