Do We Really Know Jesus?

Do we know Jesus? It seems like a trivial question to ask. Of course we know Jesus. We go to church every week (or attend online services in this current situation) and we listen to sermons. We even call ourselves Christians so of course we know Jesus…right?

If we look at 1 John 2:3-5 however, we can see that this may not actually be the case. It says that we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments and if we do not keep His commandments, we are a liar.

To further elaborate on this, Matt 7:21-23 talks about those who call on Jesus who have even done many works in His name. However, In the end, Jesus denies knowing them and describe them as people who practice lawlessness.

When looking at these passages we can come to realize that the verb “to know” in these passages does not simply refer to knowing who someone is but rather it is pointing to a more intimate meaning of the word. To know in this context means that the two parties have an established relationship with each other and are well acquainted, rather than just being acquaintances.

For us to really know Jesus, and for Jesus to know us, we need to look at where we are in terms of our obedience to His commandments. Are we obeying His commandments? Have we a determination to keep his commandments or are we quite relaxed in our attitude to keeping His commandments? Have we made compromises and think it is okay to not keep all of God’s commandments?

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:9-10)

From these verses, we can understand that part of God’s love towards us is giving His words for us to keep. It isn’t a restrictive set of commands meant to cause us suffering, but rather it is God’s mercy and love towards us so that we are able to walk on the correct path and to abide in Him and His love. When we abide in Him, it means we are closely intimate with Jesus Himself. We understand His will for us and for the church and we are protected from the increasingly corruptive influences of the world. 

God is inviting us to truly know Him today. In fact, He has constantly been trying to invite us and continues to, to this day. The question is whether we are willing to accept this invitation or not. This is something we have to carefully consider, for if we keep rejecting His invitation, we will eventually end up like those mentioned in Matt 7:21-23. Jesus will reject knowing who we are when it is time to enter the kingdom of heaven.

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