Do You Know Yourself As Well As God Knows You?
Introduction:
A. How well do you know....
1. Your wife/ husband, children, etc.?
a. Do you know what they like, and don't like?
b. Do you know what their favorite color is?
c. Do you know what their favorite food is?
d. Do you know how they will react in different situations?
2. How well do you know yourself?
a. You would think that we would/should know ourselves completely, but do we?
b. Sometimes it is said that others know us better than we know ourselves, and sometimes it is true.
B. God definitely knows us better than we know ourselves.
1. Consider what He said about Abraham - Genesis 18:19.
a. God said He knew Abraham.
b. He said He knew that Abraham would command his children, and his household so that they would: keep the way of the Lord; do justice, and judgment.
c. That the Lord may bring upon him that which He had spoken of Abraham.
2. God knows us just as well!
a. He knows everything about us.
b. He knows what we are going to do in life.
c. And, He knows whether or not we will do the things He would have us to do so that He can bring upon us the things that He has spoken of us.
Let's consider just how well God knows us.
I. He knows what kind of people we are, and what kind of people we will be, or can be.
A. He knew what Abraham was like, and what he would be like.
1. He said...
a. "For I know him..." = he knew what Abraham was like.
b. "...that he will" = he knew what Abraham would be like.
2. What else did He know about Abraham?
a. He knew Abraham was not perfect. He knew he had lied, and would lie, about Sarah being his sister (Gen.20).
b. But, He also knew Abraham would obediently make the greatest sacrifice God could ask him to make (offer his son, his only son, the son he loved) (Genesis 22).
B. We can see how well God knows us by examining the things Jesus knew about people He met while here on the earth.
1. He knew what kind of man Peter would be (John 1:42).
a. He renamed Peter Cephas, which means a stone.
1) Peter was going to be one who could be counted on: unmovable, unshakable.
2) Peter, however, had to grow into his name.
(a) When he tried to walk on the water he lost his faith.
(b) When Jesus was arrested he denied him 3 times.
(c) Later on he would allow the peer pressure of his fellow Jews to cause him to withdraw from gentiles.
b. He knew what kind of man Peter would become.
1) He became one who would be a great gospel preacher.
2) He would write 2 of the N.T. letters.
3) He would even die a martyr’s death for the faith.
2. He knew what kind of man Nathaniel was (John 1:47).
a. He said Nathaniel was a man in which there was no guile.
b. Guile = deceitfulness. Nathaniel was an honest man. He was not going to try to deceive you into doing or believing something.
3. God knows what type of people we are, or can be.
a. Jesus chose unlearned fishermen, and tax collectors as His apostles, because He knew what kind of men they were, or could be.
b. We may be "common folk," and may not think we have all that much to offer; but God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we can be.
c. We can be....
1) Evangelists - I Corinthians 1:21.
2) Teachers - II Timothy 2:2.
3) Benevolence workers - Galatians 6:10.
4) Edifiers - I Thessalonians 5:11.
5) Unmovable stones - Revelation 2:10.
II. He knows what kind of influence we can be on others.
A. Again, consider what He said about Abraham (Gen.18:19).
1. "He will command..."
a. His children.
b. His household
c. After him (future posterity).
d. He was going to have a great influence on a lot of people, and for a long time to come.
1) Isaac was faithful to God all of his days, for God, speaking to Jacob, after Isaac was dead, spoke of Himself as being the God of Isaac (Jacobs father) (Genesis 46:1-3).
2) Jacob, Abraham's grandson, was also faithful to God, as was his son Joseph (Abraham's grandson).
e. And, God knew that Abraham would command them...
2. To...
a. "Keep the way of the LORD."
b. "Do justice, and judgment."
c. It is praiseworthy for it to be said of anyone that they:
1) 'Kept the way of the LORD.'
2) 'Did justice, and judgment.'
d. But, for it to be said that they would command their family, and household to do so...and for God to be the one who said they would do this...is very impressive.
B. God knows that we can have a great influence on others.
1. Our children.
a. We influence them by teaching them - Ephesians 6:4.
b. We influence them by the way we live - II Tim.1:5.
2. Brethren.
a. I Corinthians 11:1.
b. I Timothy 4:12.
3. The world.
a. Matthew 5:13.
1) Salt preserves, and when we set godly examples for the world around us God can use us to help preserve lost souls.
b. Matthew 5:14-16.
1) We need to live godly lives (letting our lights shine in this world of darkness) so the world may see our good works, that God may be glorified, but also that we may help those in darkness to see their way out of it.
c. If God says we are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, that ought to tell us just how much influence we can have on the world around us.
III. He knows whether or not we will live in such a manner that He can bring upon us the things that He has spoken of us.
A. He says here in Genesis 18:19 of Abraham...
"He will command his children, and his household.... that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
1. God had made several promises to Abraham.
a. Make him a great nation.
b. Give him the land of Canaan.
c. Through his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed.
2. But, in this verse, it is implied that Abraham, and his descendents needed to do these things so God could bring these promises on Abraham.
a. Abraham's descendants did become a mighty nation.
b. They did receive the land of Canaan.
c. All nations were blessed through Abraham's seed (Christ) (Galatians 3:16).
B. God knows whether, or not, we will live in such a manner that He can bring upon us the things that He has spoken of us.
1. God has made many promises to us.
a. Forgiveness of sin - Ephesians 1:7.
b. Eternal life - Titus 1:2.
c. New body - I Corinthians 15:51-54.
d. Home in heaven - John 14:1-3.
e. A crown of righteousness - II Timothy 4:8.
f. A crown of life - Revelation 2:10.
g. An inheritance - I Peter 1:4.
h. A rest that remains - Hebrews 4:9.
2. But, we must live in such a manner that He can give these things to us.
a. Obey the gospel (believe, repent, confess, baptized).
b. Live godly - I Peter 1:15.
c. Faithfully unto death - Revelation 2:10.
3. Will we receive these things?
a. God knows if we will receive them, for He knows all things.
b. We can also know if we will receive them - I John 5:13.
Conclusion:
A. God may know us better than we know ourselves, but He tells us we can know if we will receive all the blessings He has promised.
1. We do not need to live in fear, and doubt of whether or not we will go to heaven.
2. We do not need to fear death, wondering where we will spend all eternity. We can know that after this life we will spend all eternity in heaven with God.
3. We do not just have to "hope," we can have confidence in the fact that when Jesus returns we will hear Him say...enter in.
B. But, we can only have that confidence if we have done what God says we must do.
1. Obey the gospel, and be washed in the blood of the lamb.
2. Live godly every day, for the rest of our lives.
C. Do you have that confidence?