Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

To Know And To Be Known

“Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.” –   Galatians 4:8-11.

Want to figure out if what you do defines who you are? Try telling somebody about yourself without sharing what you do for a living. We seem to think that our job defines us, but who we are is something deeper, something we seldom offer when meeting someone. If you want somebody to really know you, tell people your life’s mission. It might be to think, live, and act with abundant faith. Another is to know God and to be known by Him. 

While we absolutely want to know an omnipotent, omnipresent God, are we allowing ourselves to be known by Him? To be known by God is a two-way street where we decide to open our hearts that we might experience Him in even the deepest, most secret places of our lives.

Yet, for whatever number of years you have spent pursuing God, and longing for His presence, do you really know God? It’s easy to fall into a trap of believing that the length of days we have been a Christian or been a faithful servant of Christ equals a depth of knowledge and wisdom we have of the Savior. Even during times of pandemics and other challenges in life, it may not result in a closer walk with Him. Fortunately, God wants us to know Him. 

The Bible teaches us that God wants us to know us. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand what we must do to get to know God on a spiritual level, and how to get to know Him better.  We must, however, always remember that getting to know God better is, as in human relationships, a gradual, and even a lifetime process that requires time, patience, and, above all, a real desire.

We should be be in awe and grateful to know God and to be known by God. God knows you better than you know yourself. He knows not just what you do, but what you think, not just your actions but even the hidden motives behind them. He knows things about you that other people can only guess at. And through His Word He wants to speak to you, He wants to open your eyes and heart, He wants to tell you who He is and who you must serve. He is trustworthy, He is kind, and He is loving, and most importantly wants you to know Him. 

J.I. Packer said, “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. Would you say that the purpose of life has to do with knowing God? Why or why not?
  2. Why is sincerely following a religion not the same as knowing and loving God?
  3. What can we do this week to know God better?

<PREVIOUS

NEXT >