I. INTRODUCTION
A. To be successful in business, it has been said that it is not what you know, but who you know. Regarding spirituality, let us amend this to say it is not only who you know, but who knows you.
1. This thought is expressed in Galatians 4:9 – “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God…”
2. The shift in emphasis in this verse suggests that being known by God is even more important than knowing God. Knowing God is necessary, but that knowledge does not benefit us until He knows us.
B. Presently, let us consider the great blessing of being known by God and how we may become known by Him.
II. THE BLESSING OF BEING KNOWN BY GOD
A. Let us understand what it means to be known by God.
1. God is omniscient, which means that He is all-knowing (Heb. 4:13; 1John 3:20). Therefore, in one sense He knows every soul who has ever lived.
2. However, there is a different and deeper sense in which God knows those whom He accepts and approves.
a. There is a difference between knowing who someone is and knowing someone personally.
i. For example, consider Peter, who denied knowing Jesus (Matt. 26:69-75). Surely everyone in Jerusalem at that time knew of Jesus of Nazareth, but Peter was denying having a friendly relationship with Jesus.
ii. We often use the term “know” in this way (example: you know who the President of the United States is, but you do not know him personally).
b. We must seek to be known by God in this personal sense.
i. This means that God recognizes, accepts, and approves us into fellowship with Him.
ii. We must seek to follow the example of Abraham, of whom God said, “For I have chosen (literally known) him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice…” (Gen. 18:19).
c. This is also the sense in which the world failed to know Christ, for John says that “the world did not know Him” (John 1:10), meaning that they did not recognize, accept, and approve Him as the Christ.
B. To be known by God is the greatest blessing that man can ever know.
1. It is an immeasurable privilege to be known by the Master of the universe.
a. In a kingdom, every citizen knows the king, but only the highly privileged are known by the king and accepted into his fellowship.
b. Therefore, it is an indescribable privilege to be known by “the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16).
2. To be known by God is to have access to the one who is the source of all blessings.
a. He is “the Father of lights” from whom comes every good thing and every perfect gift (Jas. 1:17).
b. Moreover, He is the source of salvation (Acts 17:22-31). If He knows you, then you are no longer a slave of sin without hope in the world (Gal. 4:8-9; Eph. 2:11-22).
C. To be known by God gives one a lasting legacy that the world cannot match.
1. Despite our best efforts in this world, the world will quickly forget about us after our lives end. However, God does not forget those whom He knows.
a. God says to His people, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you” (Isa. 49:15).
b. Long after the world has forgotten all of us, God will still remember every soul who has been faithful to Him, for, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matt. 22:32).
2. Therefore, it is much better to be known and remembered by the eternal God than to be known by finite men.
a. Even if you leave a lasting mark on this world so that you will be remembered, what of it? Those who seem so important and powerful in this world will soon amount to nothing, but the unseen God will remember His people forever.
b. How foolish it is for anyone to choose the approval of men over the approval of God (John 12:37-43).
III. HOW TO BE KNOWN BY GOD
A. In order to be known by God the Father, one must first know His Son.
1. We forfeited the relationship we had with God when we separated ourselves from Him and died in sin (Isa. 59:2; Eph.2:1-3).
2. However, because God is rich in mercy and great in love (Eph. 2:4-7), He has sent His Son to reconcile us to Him.
a. To be reconciled is to have friendly relations restored.
b. Jesus made our reconciliation possible by dying on the cross, suffering the penalty of sin in our place, and establishing peace between us and God (Eph. 2:14-22).
3. Now through Christ, “we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him” (Eph. 3:12).
a. This access was impossible when we were lost in sin, for our holy God cannot abide sin in His presence.
b. However, in Christ we may “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16).
4. Notice how we must have a relationship with the Son in order to have a relationship with the Father.
a. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me” (John 10:14. He also said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 14:27). Also notice 2Timothy 2:19 – “The Lord knows those who are His.”
b. Later, He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one come to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him” (John 14:6-7).
B. To be known by Christ as one of His own, one must do as God has commanded.
1. Those who fail to do the will of the Father will hear that fearful proclamation at the Judgment, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:21-23).
a. Those who act lawlessly have disregarded the authority of God that is given to Jesus. They act on their own accord without consulting the will of God.
b. Such lawless persons will never be recognized by Jesus because they have never properly recognized Him as Lord by keeping His word.
2. Conversely, Jesus has said that those who confess before men that He is Lord and Christ will be confessed by Him to the Father in heaven (Matt. 10:32-33).
a. By confessing that they know (recognize, accept, approve) Jesus, believers in Christ will be known (recognized, accepted, approved) by Christ.
b. To have the Son of God confess His acceptance of His believers before the Father is to guarantee the Father’s acceptance of them (1John 2:1-2).
3. This truth is also expressed in the following Scriptures:
a. “But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” (1Cor. 8:3)
b. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
c. “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” (1John 2:17)
IV. CONCLUSION
A. God’s plan of salvation for your soul can be summarized in two short points:
1. Come to know God through Christ Jesus.
2. Become known by God through Christ Jesus.
B. Are you known by God, or will the Lord say of you, “I never knew you”?