God knows you personally

The bible tells us that if we love God, then God will know us. That is an incredible statement.  We can take confidence in knowing that God knows who we are, and what we are going through.  The other side of this being, that if you do not love God, then you are unknown to God. That is the scary side to be on.

I Corinthians 8:3 (NIV)  But the man who loves God is known by God.  (KJV) But if any man love God, the same is known of him. (NKJV) But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. The Him being capitalized means God.

If you want to be in the minority remnant of people that God knows, and don’t know how to obtain that, or what does God mean by “love God”, the apostle John puts it this way: John 14:23 22) Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  Now, to us gentiles, Christ will make himself known unto the world through us, by the Holy Spirit that lives in us.

The apostle Paul tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God.  The simple definition of faith is: taking God at his word, or believing what the bible says.

John 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.  The last person we know of that saw Christ was the apostle Paul.  When Christ called him on the road to Damascus, Paul spend no greater than three years being taught mysteries that had never been revealed in scripture before.  Christ gave Paul a new message to give to the gentiles. Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Romans 8: 6 – 10 6) For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  The gospel:  believing that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, and that he died, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, was raised up from the dead on the third day, and now he lives. Believing this is the power of God that brings forth salvation and eternal live. As stated above in Romans 8:10, by believing in Christ Jesus, your body is dead because of sin, and when the Holy Spirit of God enters us, then we now live with the righteousness of Christ. We also have been raised from the dead so to speak, but yet we still live in our same old sinful bodies, yet the life that we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20.

Romans 16:25  Now to him (the Holy Spirit) that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.  The fact that Christ would have to be born of a virgin, die for our sins, be resurrected, allowing the Holy Spirit of God to indwell himself inside all those who would believe, was planned out even before God created the earth and those upon it.  It is also a fact that was never reveal to us by God until it was revealed to the apostle Paul.  Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I Corinthians 2:6 - 8  6) Howbeit we speak wisdom amoung them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of the world, that come to nought: 7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:  8)Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Satan and all his demons would never have allowed Christ to have been crucified, had they known, that through that act, now the entire earth could be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit of God just by believing.  Before this act, Satan thought that by destroying the Jews, he could remove Gods presence from this world.  Now it is an impossible task. 

The Gospel

There is a very informative story in the book of St. John that I feel most people just read over and never get the full meaning of it. As the story goes, there is a group of gentiles that came to Jerusalem because of the celebration of Passover.  While they were there, they tracked down Jesus and wanted to visit with him.  Jesus had always instructed his disciples not to go to the gentiles, but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Mathew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: and again when a gentile woman from Canaan came to him pleading for help for her daughter, Mathew 15:24 - 26 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25) then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26) But he answered and said, It is not meet (good) to take the children’s (Jews) bread, and cast it to the dogs (gentiles).  Just hours before he was to be crucified, he didn’t see the group of gentiles that came to see him, but told the story of how salvation would now be coming to the Jews and gentiles alike.

John 12: 20 – 27  20) And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 21) The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.  22) Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 23) And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26) If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 27) Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

Here Christ is talking about himself.  Before he can bring true salvation to the human race, he must first die.  If he dies then he shall raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit and go to the father and through his death, salvation will come to the Jew and gentile, bringing forth much fruit.

Romans 6: 5 – 6  5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 5) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

In these two verses in Romans, Paul elaborates on how Christ death served as the seed dying and being planted, and if we consider ourselves dead in Christ, we are the fruits that come from that seed.  We now consider ourselves dead in Christ, then we also shall produce much fruit for God.  If we are dead, then we are free from sin, and now live by faith in God, and sin has no more has dominion over us.  This is the grace of God.  Once we believe in Jesus, according to the Gospel, I Corinthians 15: 1-4  1) Moreover, bretheren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: 2) By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4) And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:  This is the gospel put in simple terms that anyone should be able to understand it.  The gospel that saves the lost and brings grace to those who believe is: Christ died and rose from the dead the third day.  That’s it, Christ did it all.  There are no works that can save us, nothing we can do, but believe this gospel and allow the blood that Christ shed and presented before God on our behalf, to cover our sins.  When we do that, then God covers us with Christ righteousness, then we are presentable to God.