Most Important Thing Series

God is Good…All the Time!

“The Most Important Thing”

Job 19:17-27

There are a lot of trivial facts floating around in our world. These are sometimes called “useless facts.” While all these statements are fact, they probably won’t change your life. Here’s what I consider to be 10 facts you might not know:

1. Americans eat about 18 acres of pizzas each day

2. It’s physically impossible to lick your elbow.

3. A majority of people who hear that it is physically impossible to lick their elbow will try to lick their elbow.

4. It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

5. A duck quack doesn’t echo–and nobody knows why.

6. No word in the English language rhymes with “month, orange, silver, or purple.”

7. Each year donkeys kill more people than airplane crashes.

8. Walt Disney was terrified of mice.

9. Grapes explode when heated in a microwave.

10. Within 24 hours several kids and teenagers in Beggs, OK will be cleaning grapes from the inside of a microwave.

Some things aren’t worth knowing, but today we’re going to discover the one thing worth knowing and it’s the most important thing worth knowing. As we study the Book of Job, we’ve learned a lot about God and ourselves. Job’s tale is the most famous riches-to-rags-to-riches story in all of literature. In the middle of his suffering, Job speaks many amazing statements about God. He reveals a powerful persistence to trust God throughout his pain. In Job 19 we get a glimpse of how bad things got, then we hear Job express his undying hope and trust in God. Read Job 19:17-20. But even as bad things were, Job refused to quit. In the midst of his suffering, he made a profession of faith that is the key to the entire book of Job. Read Job 19:21-27.

In 1991 Billy Crystal starred in a movie called “City Slickers.” He played a character named Mitch who was a hard-driving urban executive whose job and marriage were falling apart. He convinced some of his city friends to take a trip to a ranch in New Mexico to learn how to herd cattle. Jack Palance won an Oscar for his role as the crusty old cowboy named Curly. In one scene Mitch and Curly are riding alone and Mitch has just poured out his heart about how miserable his life really was. Curly said: Do you know what the secret to life is? (he holds up his index finger) This. One thing. Just one thing. You stick with that and everything else don’t mean nuthin’. Mitch replied, “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?” “That’s what you gotta’ figure out.” Curly said.

Our friend Job had come to that understanding. In the midst of his agony and suffering he hung onto the One Thing he knew that was most important. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” To cut to the chase, the one most important thing in life is: Knowing Jesus Christ as your Redeemer. Job used his tears to magnify his sight, which helped him to look ahead and believe there would be someone who would redeem his life from destruction. He didn’t know His name was Jesus, but today, we know Jesus is the Redeemer who Job saw by faith. Job had a personal relationship with his Redeemer. I want to share seven characteristics of this life-changing relationship. What does this relationship with Jesus mean? It means:

1. You can know Jesus personally.

There were a lot of things Job didn’t know. He didn’t know why he was suffering. He didn’t know why his friends were accusing him. In the midst of his uncertainty, he proclaimed there was one thing he did know. Job said, “I KNOW that my Redeemer lives.” He didn’t say “I hope,” or “I think” or “Perhaps” my Redeemer lives. He was positive. I KNOW! In the Hebrew language, the first personal pronoun is intensified. It’s like Job said, “I know” as opposed to anyone else knowing the answer.

The word “know” means to know by experience. It was a word that carried the concept of intimate knowledge. In Genesis 4, the Bible says that Adam “knew” his wife, Eve, and she conceived and bore a child.” Knowing God doesn’t come from reading a book or hearing a message. It happens when you meet Jesus Christ and you begin to know Him in a personal way. Job knew God by experience–he didn’t just take a course called “Experiencing God”–he really WAS experiencing God! Can you say that? Do you have that assurance? Can you say, “I know that I know that I know my Redeemer lives?” Knowing Jesus involves knowing that He is alive.

2. You can have an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Job didn’t say “I know a Redeemer” or “I know the Redeemer.” This is much more personal. He said, “I know that MY Redeemer lives.” The word “my” may denote selfish ownership when someone says, “That’s MY car, get your hands off of it.” But the word “my” can also denote connection, like when I say, “This is my hand.” It’s one thing to say, “Jesus is Lord” and it’s another thing to say, “Jesus is MY Lord.” In the first you’re simply acknowledging Jesus is ruler over the universe. But when you say Jesus is MY Lord, you’re confessing He is ruler over your life.