"Does God Know You?" Lesson 139

Lesson 139: “DOES GOD KNOW YOU”?

Today while listening to the radio, I heard the announcer address the men in is audience saying; “men, women love roses so remember to MENTION them once in awhile”. Amusing? Yes, when we are talking about roses that fade and die after a few days of bringing light into your life. But what about Jesus? He is THE light of our life! We know others love Him so we MENTION Him once in awhile! For some we have to mention Him in order for others to recognize that we actually know Him. For some “the way” we mention Him causes doubt that we have ever known Him. We should be more excited from receiving Jesus into our lives than the joy we experience when receiving a dozen roses from a loved one. He is the god who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were (Rom. 4:17).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
If we stay totally filled with God’s Holy Spirit He will bring us from glory to glory. Just like seeing our reflection in a mirror, we reflect the glory of God to others (2 Cor. 3:18). Do we need to get out the Windex and clean our mirrors? This man called Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed (1 Pet. 2:24). This is something to shout about! Christ died in our place, suffering the penalty God set upon our human sin (Isa. 53:4-6), Justified us by His grace (Rom. 3:24), became our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), the One that had no sin was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21) and we were redeemed by His Blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). We sinners do not have to die for our sin but can trust Christ’s sacrifice for us and we have no fear of death or judgment. This is the good news of the gospel that we are to proclaim and rejoice in (1 Cor. 15:1-8).Christ died and was raised again for us so that we, through faith in Him, might be delivered from eternal condemnation and might live eternally in His presence (Rom. 1:4, 4:25, 1 Cor.15:20-23, Acts 17:31).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
God is not an impersonal force like gravity, exerting influence in some mechanical, automatic way. He has personal characteristics just as we do. God is living, working in His world and relating to His people. He is aware of what is going on, relates to you through His Bible and He knows YOU! He created man in His own image (Gen. 1:27) and formed you in your Mother’s womb so you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:13-14, Isa. 44:2). The meaning of God as your Father is shown in His personal concern for you, His protective watch care over you (Ps. 17:7-8, 57:1), in redemption (Col. 1:13-14), nurture (Isa. 28:26) and discipline in your Christian life (Job 36:10-11). God’s love is revealed in His actions (John 3:16, 1 John 4:8, 16), expressed through His mercy in forgiving sinners and in rescuing or blessing those who do not deserve His attention (Rom. 5:8).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
He knows you because you are one of His sheep and as the Good Shepherd the Son of God has laid down His life for YOU (John 10:15). Jesus said that the Father gave Him the sheep so that He might give them eternal life. He knows His sheep and they follow His voice (John 10:11-30). Believer’s hearts affirm Jesus is the clearest picture of God the world has ever seen. Christians see in this one proper name, Jesus, a conjunction of God and man. The preexistent heavenly Christ emptied Himself and became like YOU for your sake (Phil. 2:1-18). He is Emmanuel, “God is with us” (Matt. 1:23). The earliest Christian confession was ‘Jesus is Lord’ (Rom. 10:9). Lord (Hebrew-adonal, Greek-kurios), was the term used in reverence to God when the Jews quit pronouncing the holy name Yahweh. Lord shows Jesus’ worth as equal to God and our relationship to Him as His devoted servants. Why is He Lord? Because God exalted Him in the Resurrection (Phil. 2:6-11). Does He know that you know Him as Lord?
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
God will recognize you as His if you endure hardship like a good soldier and remain faithful to the gospel. Present yourself as a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth. The Lord knows who are His and those are the ones that confess the name of the Lord and turn away from wickedness. Flee the evil desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:1-24). Jesus tells us if we obey His commands we will remain in His love. He told us this so that His joy would be in us and that our joy would be made complete. Then He calls the ones that follow His commands “His friends” (John 15:10-14). What a privilege to be called the friend of the Savior! Jesus called John, “the disciple whom He loved” because John made an extra effort to always be close to Him (John 21:20).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
The Bible teaches in various terms that we will be known by our fruit. Make a tree good and its fruit will be good so says Matthew 12:33. This means that what a man stores up inside him, such as the Word of God, will overflow from the heart and out of the mouth. This also means that God cannot be fooled with your outer appearance. Jesus’ parable of the fig tree where it appeared green and fruitful from a distance, revealed on closer inspection, that it had no fruit. Jesus withered the tree and said; “may you never bear fruit again” (Matt. 21:19). There are several interpretations of this parable, but it reminds me of the Church of Sardis; “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Rev. 3:1-2). It is to God’s glory that you bear fruit, much fruit so that you show you are Jesus’ and He knows you (John 15:8). The Great Commission is for us to go and spread the gospel world-wide (Matt. 28:19-20) and find that this gospel is bearing fruit and growing (Col. 1:6). We cannot do this unless we are known by God since it is He that choose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last (John 15:16). If we do not remain in the Father and bear fruit we will be pruned and/or cut off (John 15:1-6) and when withered, thrown away and burned in the fire.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!
Just like the rose, this world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God, the one that God knows, lives forever (1 John 2:17). Does He know you well enough to free you from sin and make you to be a kingdom and priest to serve Him? Will you be given the right to eat from the tree of life and not be hurt by the second death? Will you receive the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it? Will you be dressed in white, walk with God and have your name in the Book of Life? Will you be kept from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world? Will you have the privilege of sitting with Him on His throne or will you hear the dreaded, condemning words; “Depart from me, I never knew you” ( Matt. 25:12, Rev. 20:15). Our theme song should be; “oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me”, being eager to make our calling and election sure and receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:10).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13)!