Does God Know You?

Does God Know You?

In the previous post I asked, “Do you know God?” While that is an extremely important question, “Does God know you?” is even more important. Of course, if you can accurately answer the first question, the second question is moot, for those that know God are also known by God. This is a most comforting knowledge: if we are are born again, God knows us and always has our best interests in mind, even when we might question it.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
 Nahum 1:7 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose.
 Romans 8:28 (ESV)

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,
  how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.
 Romans 8:32

If you really know God, God also knows you. It does not follow, however, that if God knows you, you also know him. Knowing God comes as you grow in your relationship with him. We grow in our knowledge of God as we grow in our intimacy with God.

The Extreme Danger of God Not Knowing God

God is omniscient. God knows everything. If God knows everything, then he obviously knows you. Knowing this, you may assume that God does know you. Hebrew and Greek words, the languages that most of the Bible was written in, like English words, may have many meanings and nuances. So, yes, God does know you. But in what sense?

Do you know your neighbors? “Yes,” you answer. If I ask you to describe them and tell me how good a neighbor they are, you may be able to tell me. But then, when I ask you what their favorite colors are, their favorite television programs are, what are the things they are most afraid of, and many other questions that only they would know, you would respond by saying, “Well, I really don’t know them that well.” They, in turn, might tell me they don’t know you at all.

There is a sense in which knowing someone has a much deeper meaning. That would include the knowledge of being able to pick up subtle signals. It includes knowing how a person will react to certain stimuli, knowing certain patterns, and how to avoid upsetting the person in question.

And sometimes it happens when a person whom we have known well for years has a sudden personality change or betrays us with a heinous action, we might respond with, “Who are you? I don’t even know you.” When that happens, you know something is seriously wrong.

Here, then, is the extreme danger: Someday you will stand before God. That day is described in the book of Revelation:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Revelation 20:11-12 (ESV)

There will be those that will protest their condemnation and sentence of eternal damnation. To this Jesus says:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
  Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Does God Know You 

Does God know you? Are you sure? How do you know?

These questions need to be answered before you breathe your last breath. If you answer “Yes” and are correct, you will immediately go into the presence of Jesus Christ when you die. If you say “Yes” and are mistaken, you will immediately find yourself in what is commonly called Hell. If you answer “No,” you will most likely also end up in Hell.

Not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. In fact, we are not guaranteed another second. We are never more than one breath away from death and eternity. That is why we must seek the Lord while he may be found. The prophet Isaiah instructed his contemporaries to, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6). It is still good advice. And the best part is that if you seek out God, you will find him. Seeking is the same as searching. It requires seriousness and diligence. But the promise of God is sure: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8).

There are those, strangers to both grace and to God, who will tell you Gospel preachers delight in threatening sinners with Hell. I dare say they cannot produce one example. It simply is not true. We take no delight in the thought of any person dying without having been saved from the wrath to come.

I ask again, “Does God know you?” 

In Contrast…

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

This statement from the mouth of Jesus (John 10:27, KJV) stands in stark contrast to what he said in Matthew 7 (quoted above). To those who are not his sheep he says, “I never knew you.” Here he says about his sheep, “I know them.” What does he say about you?

There is much that can be said about and learned from sheep. That is not my purpose in this post; however, there are three thoughts in Jesus’s statement worthy of meditation:

• My sheep hear my voice
• I know my sheep
• My sheep follow me.

Three simple thoughts that can keep your mind busy for a long, long time. Do you hear his voice? Or are you so busy living life that the noise of the hustle and bustle of everyday routines and commitments drown him out?

I know my sheep. Are you one of his sheep? How do you know? What is your proof? What does it mean from Jesus’s perspective?

My sheep follow me. Do you follow Jesus? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Have you taken up your cross? Do you have a cross to take up? Is your thought life like Jesus’s? Does your speech sound like something Jesus would say? Do the TV shows and movies you watch reflect that you follow Jesus? How about the way you dress? Your attitude toward you employer? Your job?

These are the things I have had, and in some cases have, to work through.

Does God know you? I hope he does. If he doesn’t, seek God with all your heart until you find satisfaction and pleasure in knowing that he does.