Being Known By God (Bible Tag 17)

being known god's character god's love

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Corinthians 8:3

To be a child of God is to be known by God. Christians often study what it means to "know God" (as in J. I. Packer's famous book Knowing God). "Being known" is also worthy of study.

Being known by God satisfies our most profound and most enduring need for recognition and provides us with a stable identity. When we realize that God knows us, we can start to get close to him. Through this interaction, we give his heartbeat the power to help us find our identities. Because we are rooted in His love, we can love well in our relationships. When we love, we show that God knows us.

That they may all be one, just as you,
Father, are in me, and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
so that the world may believe
that you have sent me.
John 17:21

Knowing we are known will show how we reflect God in the world. This concept shapes the very nature of how we live, love, move, and exist and how we bear witness to the gospel. Knowing how God sees and loves us in all of our uniqueness, is fundamental to our existence.

To the world, we are known by our jobs, marital statuses, roles, cultural contexts, ethnicities, strengths, talents, spiritual gifts, religious affiliations, tribes, and hobbies. Those are wonderful aspects of ourselves, but they are only a small part of the complex tapestry of who we are and how God created us.

Many of us are also known for things that have happened to us that are painful and damaging, leaving us feeling isolated and unidentified. We have lived with hurtful labels about who we are and lies about our worth and place in the world—these are the labels we have spoken over ourselves or that others have branded us with. They exist as marks or scars barely visible but are constant reminders of our old wounds, complicated stories, and challenging battles.

God knows our hearts, our heart desires, the decisions we've had to make, the things we are ashamed of, and the heartbreaks; He knows our souls. God's great love for us is simple and profound. God loves each of us and speaks goodness and delight over us, not because we earned it. We are worthy of love because we are His children.

Being a Christian is not about doing good it is about having a relationship with God. Consider Jesus meeting the woman at the well, and her response is, "Come see a man who told me everything I ever did." Not that Jesus gave her a chronological list of all the events in her life, but that he spoke the truth about who she was, He knew her and He loved her.

We are completely known: understood, exquisitely treasured, and safely held inside God's arms.

When Jesus came, he entered our lost and forsaken state, or as a human, He understands what it is like to be tempted. He understands what it's like to be hurt. He understands what it's like to struggle in our humanity. So we can trust him that he understands how we feel. We don't have to be afraid that he's so disappointed or surprised by our sin that he's ready to cut us off. He is aware of our situation.

The Holy Spirit brings us into union with Christ by instilling faith in us, and uniting us to Jesus. When you are united to Christ through the Holy Spirit, that union is eternal. We are a part of everything he has done for us. Our sins have been removed; we cannot surprise God with our sin, we cannot taint his redemption.

What is Your View of God?

Some of us have painted another picture of God. We grew up with many loving and well-intending people who taught us early on about a god who cannot have anything to do with us because of our sins. We were taught a delusion that a vengeful god is waiting for us to do something wrong so he could pour out his wrath on us. This angry god must be appeased, but we cannot appease this false god because we are far too flawed.

I loved each of my children when they were in my womb. When I held each in my arms, that love exploded. There is nothing any of them can do to change that love. How much more does God love us? Christ revealed God's genuine character as love, characterized by grace, forgiveness, worship, and affirmation.