Knowing and Being Known by God: The Heart of Relationship

What Does It Mean to Be Known by God?

It's hard to get to know someone really well. In some ways, we may never know them entirely. Friends and spouses we have known for years will surprise us by the things they say or do. The Bible talks about God knowing us and us knowing God. The word know doesn't mean simply that we understand God exists or that He knows we exist. It means that we have a reciprocal, loving, and intimate relationship with Him and He with us. Let's first look at God knowing us.

In 1 Corinthians 8:3 Paul explains, "But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." If this is true, and we know it is, then God must not know those who don't love Him in the sense Paul is describing. Again, this doesn't mean that God is unaware of a person's existence and or even what kind of person they are. It means that God is not in a covenantal relationship with them. Without relationship the lost have no intimate knowledge of God.

Think of what it was like when you first married. You both were in love and because of this you wanted to know everything you could about each other. Some relationships grow and thrive, their love deepens, they can almost read each other's minds, and their greatest desire is to make the other one happy.

Without a deepening relationship we can not be truly known by Jesus. God's covenant knowledge of us is deeper, more faithful, and more initiating than even the best marriage. This is how God knows us. We respond with love to the love He first showed us. Jesus used an even more powerful image to help us understand this intimate knowing.

Knowing and Being Known by God

Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own" (John 10:14). Why does Jesus use this analogy? Because shepherd's lived with their sheep. They were so intimately involved with their sheep that they knew each one and could tell if a strange sheep entered the herd.

The sheep knew their Shepherd as well. They didn't even have to see Him. They would follow Him just by listening to His voice. The Shepherd protected them so they knew if they could hear His voice they weren't far from Him and His protective guidance.

Now the sheep can not possibly know the Shepherd as fully as He knows them. They are animals. They can't fully comprehend what being human is like. They understand and know Him to the best of their limited capabilities. Paul speaks of a time when like the sheep we too will understand God as He knows us,

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12

We will know God as we have never known Him before. Can you imagine knowing God in relationship as deeply as He knows us? So God knows us, but do we know Him? Jesus Himself tells us how important this knowledge is.

Eternal Life Is Knowing God

In John 17:3 Jesus, who is about to face the cross, prays for us, his future brothers and sisters. He says,

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

Picture Jesus humbly interceding with His Father God for us that we would know Him. Have we ever gotten on our knees to plead with the Father to grant us that loving, close, and true relationship with Him that Christ prayed for us to have? Since knowing God is central to eternal life, Scripture repeatedly calls us to know Him more deeply. The Christian life is not merely coming to know God once. It is a lifelong process of knowing Him more deeply. We call this sanctification.

This is why the psalmist proclaims,

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10

In our hurriedness and rush of life we forget to stop, be still, and know God. In our hectic lives do we give even a thought once a day to God? Just as a marriage grows cold without unhurried time together, our relationship with God cannot deepen in the noise and busyness of daily life. We must make space to be still before the King of Kings if we want to know Him intimately.

Have you ever come home from a busy day at work to be met by your spouse at the door all excited about something they want to share with you? And what was your reaction? Did you stop, listen, show interest and care or were you irritated, just wishing to be left alone, eat and take a nap? To have that intimate knowledge of each other requires attentive listening.

God Makes Himself Known

Where does the ability to know Him even come from? According to 1 John 5:20 it comes from God Himself. Jesus gives us understanding so that "we may know Him who is true...". It's as though the shepherd we spoke of earlier went to his sheep and supernaturally opened their minds to have a relationship with him. This is how we begin the process of growing in the knowledge of God.

Knowing About God vs Truly Knowing Him

Don't misunderstand. We can know many things about God and still not know Him in a deep loving relationship. We can memorize verses. We can understand church doctrine. We can preach and teach. We can even make a show of worshipping Him—all without relationship. God wants our hearts, not just our minds.

In Matthew 7:23 Jesus says these dreaded words, "I never knew you." These so called followers did great and mighty works in Jesus' name but all without really knowing the One who was true. They only knew how to pretend.

This kind of knowing goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. In Hebrew, the word for 'know' is yada. This is the same word used for the deep, intimate knowing between husband and wife. They knew the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not to be eaten. This was a fact. But by actually disobeying God they experienced knowledge (yada) of the consequences of their disobedience. Their relationship was broken with God.

Obedience Reveals a Genuine Relationship

The reverse is true as well. A relationship with God, where we really know Him, brings obedience. Not perfection in this life, but a desire, a striving for the goal of being like Him. Don't we admire the traits of those we love that we are in relationship with? Don't we want to be like them in so many ways? Isn't it interesting that as spouses grow old together they often grow to look more and more alike. This relationship they have developed even affects their physical bodies.

Obedience is the litmus test. 1 John 2:3 tells us,

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

Obedience from the heart follows true relationship. God repeatedly tells us in His Word that He wants obedience that comes from the heart, not just lip service.

How do we "know that we know"? According to John it is quite simple. Are you obeying Him? Listen to Him and let your heart become more and more like His. Experience not just the head knowledge that Jesus died for you but the heart knowledge that He is your beloved and you are His. Watch as the One who already knows you fully leads you into knowing Him more deeply than you ever thought possible.