One of the saddest verses in the Bible is found in John 1:10. It says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.” Jesus Christ came to this world – the world He created and loved enough to die for, yet just as in today’s world, the same was true when Jesus walked on the face of this earth – most people didn’t know Him, and many hated and disliked Him.
The greatest privilege we have as Christians is the blessing and honor of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The more we spend time getting to KNOW Him, the better our lives will become.
Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:2 – 8, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice how often in these seven verses, the topic of KNOWING Jesus Christ comes up. First, he says that the way to grow in grace and peace is “IN THE KNOWLEDGE” of God and Jesus Christ. The he tells us that EVERYTHING we need to live the life God wants us to live is provided to us “THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE” of Him. And, lastly he tells us that by adding these important attributes to our faith in Jesus Christ, we will increase our “KNOWLEDGE” of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing Jesus Christ and growing in our personal relationship with Him is CRUCIAL to success as a Christian, yet thousands of people claim FAITH in Him, and stop there rather than growing in their relationship with Him. In order to TRULY KNOW Him, we MUST ADD to our faith after salvation, by reading and studying His Word, spending time talking with Him, and applying what we learn to our lives. There is a HUGE difference between just knowing about GOD and PERSONALLY KNOWING Him.
John gives us a CLEAR test to see if we TRULY KNOW GOD in 1 John 2:3-4, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”. That puts it pretty PLAIN and SIMPLE….Do You KNOW Him?