Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
These three verses have continued to run through my mind for some time now, literally a couple of months, as I continued to think about the magnitude of what is going to happen. To me, these have to be some of the saddest verses in the entire Bible. I thought about the people that will be literally standing at the gates of Heaven, fully expecting to get in, only to find out that their name isn't listed in The Book of Life. An earthly lifetime of anticipation, only to hear the eternal heartbreaking news.
Then I began to think about how this could happen. How does someone get to the gates of heaven fully expecting to get in, only to hear King Jesus say "I never knew you"? As I was thinking about it one day, I realized something: He didn't say "I used to know you" or "I once knew you". He either did or didn't know them. I also realized He did not say "Depart from me for you never knew me". The people standing at the gates of Heaven obviously knew Him because they were calling out to Him, "Lord, Lord". Not only did they know His name, they knew enough about Him to prophesy, cast out demons, and do miracles in His name. So how did they know Him, yet He didn't know them? I believe it comes down to this: Truth and honesty! You might be thinking right now "Ok... And your point is? And where is faith in all of that?" Hang in there with me for a minute, and I'll try to explain. Over time, I began to see what I believe is a deeper truth.
Galatians 4:8-9 (NLT)
8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?
There was clearly a time when they knew God, but God didn't know them. Galations 4:9 says, “So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you)...”
James 2:19 (NLT)
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
It was clear to me that knowing Him and Him knowing us are two very different things. So I began to dig in and work through it in my mind, step by step. I began asking myself what it looked like to not only know God, but also for God to know me.
The first steps were rather clear and easy to see, but as I began to go deeper into it and what defines or rather initiates my relationship with Him, it got “real”. The first couple steps were obvious. I must know the Father, and the only way to know the Father is through His Son.
John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
So the next question I asked myself is how do I know His Son? Well that seemed easy enough too. Jesus is "The Truth" and God can't lie, (Titus 1:2) so He has undoubtedly been honest with me. The next questions are where it started to get personal. God is honest with me, but am I honest with God? God clearly desires to have a relationship with all of us, but do we desire to have a relationship with Him? A quick yes would likely be our most natural response, with no further questions asked. But based on Jesus’s response, there will undoubtedly be many who thought they were in a relationship with Him only to find out that the relationship never started. Never started? Yes! That is the only possible option because He "never" knew them.
Since God undoubtedly desires to have a relationship with all of us, what is it that turns a one way desire into a two way relationship? I wholeheartedly believe it’s truth and honesty! It is only through complete honesty with myself and with God that I am able to acknowledge who I really am (a sinner), which opens the door and allows me to accept Jesus (my Savior) for who He is and always will be. I can't accept The Truth, until I confess the truth! Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
I never really thought about this verse in great detail before and always quickly passed over the "I have not come to call the righteous" part of the verse. Maybe it's because I knew I was a sinner, but I remember always reading it in a way that the "righteous" did actually exist, and Jesus was just focused on talking to the sinners. But when this verse came to mind as I was working through this, and I saw it from a completely different perspective. He alone is our Righteousness! So how can someone be righteous without Him? They can't be! We are all sinners! If He called on the righteous, He would have only been calling on Himself! Thankfully for us, our Righteousness came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28) The “call" was to the repentance of all sinners, because the only One that is truly righteous was the One that was actually making the call!
Perhaps the "righteous" Jesus did "not come to call" on weren't actually righteous. They just thought they were. Perhaps this will be the people standing at the gates of Heaven, who talk about what they did “for” Him because they were never honest about who they were “with” Him. John 14:6 continually came to mind throughout this process and over time I realized something: The Way, The Truth, and The Life when rearranged reads...
The Way to Life is The Truth!
Father,
Thank You for Your willingness to send Your one and only Son to pay our debt which we could never pay. Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to come down to the world You created and willingly give up Your life so we could have life. Thank You for calling us, loving us, and taking the time to know us. Thank You for being The Truth so we can tell the truth. We love You Lord! Amen!
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
These three verses have continued to run through my mind for some time now, literally a couple of months, as I continued to think about the magnitude of what is going to happen. To me, these have to be some of the saddest verses in the entire Bible. I thought about the people that will be literally standing at the gates of Heaven, fully expecting to get in, only to find out that their name isn't listed in The Book of Life. An earthly lifetime of anticipation, only to hear the eternal heartbreaking news.
Then I began to think about how this could happen. How does someone get to the gates of heaven fully expecting to get in, only to hear King Jesus say "I never knew you"? As I was thinking about it one day, I realized something: He didn't say "I used to know you" or "I once knew you". He either did or didn't know them. I also realized He did not say "Depart from me for you never knew me". The people standing at the gates of Heaven obviously knew Him because they were calling out to Him, "Lord, Lord". Not only did they know His name, they knew enough about Him to prophesy, cast out demons, and do miracles in His name. So how did they know Him, yet He didn't know them? I believe it comes down to this: Truth and honesty! You might be thinking right now "Ok... And your point is? And where is faith in all of that?" Hang in there with me for a minute, and I'll try to explain. Over time, I began to see what I believe is a deeper truth.
Galatians 4:8-9 (NLT)
8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?
There was clearly a time when they knew God, but God didn't know them. Galations 4:9 says, “So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you)...”
James 2:19 (NLT)
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
It was clear to me that knowing Him and Him knowing us are two very different things. So I began to dig in and work through it in my mind, step by step. I began asking myself what it looked like to not only know God, but also for God to know me.
The first steps were rather clear and easy to see, but as I began to go deeper into it and what defines or rather initiates my relationship with Him, it got “real”. The first couple steps were obvious. I must know the Father, and the only way to know the Father is through His Son.
John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
So the next question I asked myself is how do I know His Son? Well that seemed easy enough too. Jesus is "The Truth" and God can't lie, (Titus 1:2) so He has undoubtedly been honest with me. The next questions are where it started to get personal. God is honest with me, but am I honest with God? God clearly desires to have a relationship with all of us, but do we desire to have a relationship with Him? A quick yes would likely be our most natural response, with no further questions asked. But based on Jesus’s response, there will undoubtedly be many who thought they were in a relationship with Him only to find out that the relationship never started. Never started? Yes! That is the only possible option because He "never" knew them.
Since God undoubtedly desires to have a relationship with all of us, what is it that turns a one way desire into a two way relationship? I wholeheartedly believe it’s truth and honesty! It is only through complete honesty with myself and with God that I am able to acknowledge who I really am (a sinner), which opens the door and allows me to accept Jesus (my Savior) for who He is and always will be. I can't accept The Truth, until I confess the truth! Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
I never really thought about this verse in great detail before and always quickly passed over the "I have not come to call the righteous" part of the verse. Maybe it's because I knew I was a sinner, but I remember always reading it in a way that the "righteous" did actually exist, and Jesus was just focused on talking to the sinners. But when this verse came to mind as I was working through this, and I saw it from a completely different perspective. He alone is our Righteousness! So how can someone be righteous without Him? They can't be! We are all sinners! If He called on the righteous, He would have only been calling on Himself! Thankfully for us, our Righteousness came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28) The “call" was to the repentance of all sinners, because the only One that is truly righteous was the One that was actually making the call!
Perhaps the "righteous" Jesus did "not come to call" on weren't actually righteous. They just thought they were. Perhaps this will be the people standing at the gates of Heaven, who talk about what they did “for” Him because they were never honest about who they were “with” Him. John 14:6 continually came to mind throughout this process and over time I realized something: The Way, The Truth, and The Life when rearranged reads...
The Way to Life is The Truth!
Father,
Thank You for Your willingness to send Your one and only Son to pay our debt which we could never pay. Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to come down to the world You created and willingly give up Your life so we could have life. Thank You for calling us, loving us, and taking the time to know us. Thank You for being The Truth so we can tell the truth. We love You Lord! Amen!