Sunday, October 11, 2015

He Knows Who You Are

At the end of the Parable of the Ten Virgins it says, "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you (Matthew 25:10-12).'" Now, while there are many things that can be talked about in this passage, I want to focus on one thing that Jesus says here that may go unnoticed. At the end of verse 12, the bridegroom says, "I tell you the truth, I don't know you." Many people live in fear that God will utter these words to them one day because they haven't done enough repenting and obeying of Him in their lives. This usually arises because of a misunderstanding of the Gospel; specifically the subject of forgiveness. When you believe that God still holds your sins against you then there is an inherent fear that arises that something you did or failed to do will be held against you and on that day you stand before Him, He will say, "I don't know you." Regardless of whether you fully understand forgiveness, if you are born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ, you are not only saved, but God knows you! At the beginning of Galatians 4:9, the Apostle Paul says, "But now that you know God--or rather are known by God ..." He is talking to Christians and reminds them that they not only know God, but that God knows them. And, if you are a born again Christian, God knows you!

How do I know this? First of all, scripture tells me as I just mentioned. Second, I am confident in my understanding of the Gospel; that God knows me because He indwells me for eternity, never to leave me. But, the third reason is even more personal; something you other Christians may know for yourself, but not think about too often. If for some reason God was to ask me, "Do I know who you are?" I would confidently respond to Him by saying, "Yes, Lord. You do know me. You know exactly who I am." Continuing, I would say,"Do you remember the time I was struggling with a sin and you told me how to stop?" "Do you remember that particular scripture you illuminated for me?" "Do you remember the time I asked you about how to handle dealing with that one person and you showed me?" And I am confident He would say, "Yes, I do remember." Now, I don't expect to ever have this conversation, but I thought it necessary to explore it. I believe their are plenty of Christians that God knows, but who don't know or believe He knows them because of the things they believe. I think God wants His children to know Him, but if you don't believe the things He has already revealed to us, namely the truth of the Gospel and our identity in Christ, He can't reveal more of Himself to us. If you have never done this, I want you to try something. Ask God questions like, "What do you see through your eyes in this situation?" "What do you hear with your ears in this situation?" Then sit back and listen for Him to respond to you and give you insights that can only come from Him. In order to share things with you and give you insights to things, He has to know who you are. This will give you confidence that you have a place in His Kingdom and confidence that He will say He knows who you are.

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