"And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments."
1 John 2:3
Part 2
Yesterday:
“And hereby.”
All through 1 John, there are little spotlights that light up the truth about our relationship to God. We need to pay close attention to these.
“We do know that we know Him.” (a)
Can we know for sure that we are born again? John says we can know!
Today:
“We do know that we know Him.” (b)
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
What does it mean to “know” God? That is a fair question. Obviously, in our human relationships, there are different levels of knowledge that we have toward each other. Some people we know by their faces as we see them in their day to day lives. Others we know by name and carry on broad conversations about the weather or life in general. Then still there are a few that we know who also know us and we interact with them and their families. In our lifetime, there are two or three people that we share more in-depth knowledge with. We may call them our “best friends,” our spouse is our “soul mate.” When the Bible speaks of “knowing” God and Jesus Christ, what does it mean? What level of knowledge?
Our knowledge of God must be more than a theoretical familiarity with Him. It’s more than knowing “about” God. If someone could memorize the entire Bible, he/she would know plenty of facts about God, but this is not “knowing Him.”
Knowing God:
“‘It includes all the impressions on the mind and life which a just view of God and of the Saviour is fitted to produce.’ It includes, of course, love, reverence, obedience, honor, gratitude, supreme affection. ‘To know God as he is’ is to know and regard him as a lawgiver, a sovereign, a parent, a friend. It is to yield the whole soul to him, and strive to obey his law’”[1] (Barnes).
To know God is to have your life transformed from the inside out. It is to give our all to Him. We serve for His glory. No, we are not perfect this side of heaven, but we love Him and His Word. To our God who has given us life, we give our lives back to Him. It is all about His way and His will.
What does this word “know” mean, “we know that we know Him?” Come back tomorrow and let’s talk more.
Quote: “If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face”[2] (A.W. Tozer).
[1] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] A.W. Tozer quote is from his devotional book, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine. Downloaded: Monday, July 20, 2020. From: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/obedience.