S186P13 – A promise is a promise: we will know God

Jn. 17:1-3

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

The town had gotten together to watch their most famous son compete in his first World Series.  She was an out-of-towner visiting her college roommate.  She did not follow baseball, and she had no idea who he was.  As she sat in the town hall speaking with those who knew the man, a funny thing happened.  It was as if the people were competing to see who knew him best.  One man’s claim to fame was that they were best friends in preschool.  Another bragged that they played on the same soccer team all through their teenage years.  A third spent his summers with the famous player at scout camp.  The one who knew him best, however, was the brother who had spent the last 26 years calling him his best friend.

We can know God in different ways and on different levels.  There certainly is a difference between knowing of God and actually knowing him.  There is an enemy army led by Satan himself who all know who God is.  They spent time residing with him in heavenly places before their fall and have known him intimately.  Yet, their knowledge of him will not save, and our saving knowledge of him is much more intimate.  That is what Jesus says salvation is, the privilege and opportunity to come to know God.  In fact, we will reside with him eternally.  We will see his face and feel his warmth.  We will know him, and this is evidenced by the fact that He also knows us, which is the greatest claim to fame. 

There are some who will profess to have done the will of God on Earth, but He will send them away saying that He never knew them.  You see, knowing God is mutual.  There are some who exist now who will be forgotten.  It will be as if they never existed.  Then there are those who will live forever and know God fully, and He knows them.  The world also will come to realize that we know him once the Son stands on our behalf and confesses not only to know us but to justify us.  The promise here is that we will be friends of his, and He will be proud to call us his friends.  Father, thank You for desiring to know us and for inviting us to come to know You.