Chapter Seven: The Importance of Knowing Him

“In everything they (the Apostles) did, they thought of God and lived in constant devotion to Him. This spiritual state was their unceasing prayer.” - St. Basil The Great

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

IN THE HOLY Gospels we read account after account of people that knew all about God. They could quote Scriptures, sound religious, pray, do great missions work, and even have a life full of good deeds. In extreme cases, some of them had faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and attempted to follow Him as a disciple. But the sad end of all these people was the reality that they did not know God intimately. For each of them, their journey ended. In some cases, terrible circumstances. We can fool everyone around us and even sometimes fool ourselves, but we cannot escape God. He knows our very hearts. Christianity comes down to knowing Christ intimately which is eternal life. St. John the disciple who once laid on Jesus’ bosom recorded the prayer of our Lord when he said: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Judas was a disciple of Jesus that followed in his Master’s footsteps for three years, forsaking all worldly goods and even healing the sick in His Name. He was a full-time preacher doing the work of an Apostle yet in the end he sold Christ for money and then committed suicide. What a tragic ending.

Simon was a famous individual in his town. He had the admiration of all people with his supernatural abilities. When he heard the Gospel he repented, became a disciple, and was water baptized. When St. Peter came laying hands on believers to confirm them with the Holy Spirit he received this also. Yet he desired more. He wanted his old life of being famous and offered money to the Apostles to gain the power to give the Holy Spirit. And according to Church tradition Simon Magus became a false teacher, leading multitudes astray from Christ. “The ecclesiastical writers of the early Church universally represent him as the first heretic, the Father of Heresies.”

The Holy Scriptures are replete with examples of those who “partook of the heavenly gift” but in the end fell away. What was the reason for these people to end so badly in their walks with God? Jesus said many are called in this life, but few are chosen for the next.

The answer can be found in intimately knowing and following Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the only one that can assure us of eternal salvation in the end and grant us all the blessings in that relationship here and in eternal glory. In the words of a famous chorus our cry should be: “You can have all this world. Just give me Jesus.”

Jesus Is Still Knocking

“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” Could He say this to you today? “I have been with you for such a long time in this life, yet you are still not really getting to know Me.” Oswald Chambers, a famous devotional writer, penned this:

“Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.”

Jesus is still waiting for you to come into a more intimate knowledge of Him. Are sins holding you back or a lack of commitment? We see a picture of Jesus patiently knocking on the door waiting to be let in at the Laodicean Church. His heart is that of love, as He desires to sit down with them and share an intimate meal and fellowship: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Our mind races with hundreds of reasons why we should not answer the knocking door. Shame, regret, insecurity, failure, lack of assurance, unworthiness all haunt us. Distraction steals our attention from the One most worthy of receiving it. Yet the One that knows our very heart and mind still knocks! “Intimacy does not begin with us. It begins with God. He has invited us into His loving, eternal relationship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Progressing in Knowing Christ

“God does not want us to know Him second-hand through others. He invites even the youngest believer to know Him personally. Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God and Jesus Christ personally. This was the greatest passion of Paul’s life and must be our greatest passion too. One who desires to know God intimately will have to listen to Him always. Jesus said that the only way man could keep himself spiritually alive was by listening to every word that proceeded from God’s mouth. He also said that to sit at His feet and listen to Him is the most important thing in the Christian life.”

Sitting at Jesus’ feet and being in His Word is a progressive choice we make everyday to spend more time with God. St. Paul gives us a sense in his life that knowing God was a journey through blessing and even suffering: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own” Getting to know Christ better is not an automatic process; it takes real effort. We should desire to truly know God, not for what He can give us but for His very Person and Character. “Asking of God no gift more urgently than His presence, the gift of Himself.”

Abiding in Jesus

I have had in the front of my Bible over the years quotes that have helped me to gear my mind back to what really matters. Over and over, they have been a reminder and conviction to spend personal time with the Lord and remember it’s all about Him.

“Never let your ministry become more to you than Jesus Himself and your walk in intimate fellowship with Him.”

“Nothing is important but JESUS and abiding in Him.”

“The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be. Help me to tear it from Thy throne, and worship only Thee.”

“Oh, to be nothing, nothing! Only to lie at His feet. A broken and emptied vessel. For the Master’s use made meet.”

“And then to rest forever.”

To abide with the Lord means to be held, kept continually, and to dwell, remain, be present. But how does this work out in our daily lives?

“Let it be your first care to abide in Him in undivided fervent devotion of heart. When the heart and the life are right, rooted in Christ, knowledge will come in such measure as Christ’s own wisdom sees fit. Oh, let us be content to possess Christ, to dwell in Him, to make Him our life, and only in deeper searching into Him, to search and find the knowledge we desire. Such knowledge is life indeed.”

“The rest is in Christ, and not something He gives apart from Himself, and so it is only in having Him that the rest can really be kept and enjoyed.”

Can you say that you are abiding in Christ to a place where all is at peace and your heart is completely at rest in Him? Our busyness and striving can at times divorce us from this peace and sense of His presence. We must treat abiding as an activity to be sought for and persevere until we get into that place where He is all to us.

It is remarkable how patient Jesus waits for us. We all carry on with our important activities even in His very Name but neglect the Person of God whose Nail-pierced Hands reach out for our fellowship.

“The place on Jesus’ breast is still vacant and open to any who are willing to pay the price of deepening intimacy. We are now, and we will be in the future, only as intimate with God as we really choose to be.”

Longing after God

The Psalmist David with passion cried out, “O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You.” How did David gain such an intense longing after God Himself? If we look at his life we see intense struggles, difficulties which brought him to an end of himself. These events allow for an emptiness that he should fill with God Himself.

It should not be only in our dire need but also in our abundance and times of peace that we earnestly seek the One who is the giver and sustainer of all life. Longing for God should be our vision and goal, for once we have tasted of deep, intimate fellowship with Him, all other things are empty and void.

“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; To seek Him, the greatest adventure; To find him, the greatest human achievement.” In the light of eternity, to know God in great intimacy is the highest honour and reward.

“Let thy desire be the vision of God, thy fear the loss of Him, thy sorrow His absence, and thy joy in that which may take thee to Him; and thy life shall be in great peace.”

Finding God in the Desert

As I pursued reading the early Church Fathers, I was fascinated with a group of believers who left from the cities to go to barren deserts and caves to seek God. These lovers of God felt the unreality and loss of the worship of God. The symbols perhaps became more important than the reality they pointed to. This genuine seeking for God led a group of pilgrims to ascetic living, of whom we now call the Desert Fathers.

At times they were hard to understand but the very core of their desire was to simply be in union with the Holy Trinity alone. Though one might say such a selfish endeavour to isolate one’s self would not be godly or bear fruit, it is interesting to note that many of the lives of these hermits produced significant, lasting, eternal fruit. It was when they were able to know the Lord deeply that they became useful to others.

Streams of people would come to seek counsel and ask for prayers from these holy men. Being set apart towards the Lord alone allowed them to be a special gift to the body of Christ in their day, and their wisdom continues to affect the Church as a whole.

St. Anthony, one of the first Desert Fathers, made this statement: “Now I no longer fear God, I love Him, for love casts out fear.”

When I read this statement at first, I was confused. How could such a holy brother disregard the importance of the fear of the Lord. Yet the more I meditated on his words I realized that through ongoing, intimate abiding with Christ, he came to see and go into the very heart of God in union. And what did he find? Love. He experienced a level of the bridal love of Jesus that he could not help but love Him back.

Have we come to a place where we sense and understand the love of God? Has that love driven us to love Him intensely? “The whole life of a man is but one single day for those who are working hard with longing.” Days turn into weeks, weeks 406 into months, months into years, and years into a day. If we seek Him we will find Him and then never let Him go!

Becoming Like A Child With The Lord

Throne, fame, position it all doesn’t matter, it’s knowing the Lord like a child we should seek after. Jesus is greater than heaven, He is heaven.

Be like a little child, cry to the Lord like a little child. He is Lord, He is God but also call Him Dad (Father).  Though we have theology degrees and great understanding of God intellectually we still need to be a baby before God, like a little child saying, ‘Daddy.’ Those who lead in the Church need to especially seek to be as a little child, calling Him Abba (Father). 

We are ignorant, empty, fools and blind in our own understanding and methods to lead the Church. We have to say to the Lord, “You are everything Lord, show us the way.”

Charles Spurgeon said with the same heart: “Abba, Father! He that can say that, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach.”

Without Intimacy with Jesus

“Without intimacy with Jesus, even your good works can become evil: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. What is Jesus saying? The key is, ‘I don’t know you.’ There has been no intimacy; someone is doing an awful lot in His name without really knowing Him. This means that we can become so wrapped up in doing good, in programs, in helping others, that we lose touch with Jesus.”

Keith Green wrote in his song First Love:

“In those times of our first sweet communion Nothing got in the way. I heard Your voice everyday When I first trusted You.”

Have you lost your first love with Jesus? Spend some time in quietness and contemplation. Perhaps go to your knees and simply say to the Lord, “I miss you.” He longs to fellowship with you again.

I close this chapter with moving words from Thomas A Kempis who was a lover of Jesus:

“How dry and hard you are without Jesus! How foolish and vain if you desire anything but Him! Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world? For what, without Jesus, can the world give you? Life without Him is a relentless hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you. He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him loses more than the whole world. The man who lives without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, whereas no one is so rich as the man who lives in His grace.”

“It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and great wisdom to know how to keep Him. Be humble and peaceful, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout and calm, and He will remain with you. Choose the opposition of the whole world rather than offend Jesus. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love. Let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake.”