Seriously Knowing God
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2
Galatians 4:9
March 10, 2024
A couple of years ago I received a message on our answering machine which stated I needed to respond immediately to this message because there was a warrant for my arrest. And I needed to resolve it right then or by the end of the day, I’d be arrested.
You know what my first thought was?
“I don’t think I’ve done anything worthy of jail; or did I?”
For a moment, it scared me, and then I did what everyone does, I checked Google for scams and learned this was a scam. I received a bunch more calls, never responded and the good news is . . . . I’m still here!
People using counterfeit means to steal our money and identity. It’s crazy. Whether it’s via text messages, the internet, email - - - there’s a lot of counterfeit, fake people out there. Scammers using our personal information to try to steal money from us.
And even in the days of Jesus, we discovered there were a lot of false Jesus’ out there too. Jesus warned us to beware of wolves in sheeps clothing.
And if we’re not serious about who Jesus is, if we don’t know our Shepherd, then it’s easy to get duped and by into what’s not right according to God.
We can learn about God by reading theology, but theology is not a replacement for knowing God. I can have the greatest knowledge and intellect about God, satan has that, but if I don’t know Him, then I really can’t have a relationship with Him.
As we look continue to look at what it means to be serious about God, one of the most important aspects is to simply KNOW God. It seems like it should be so simple, yet there are times when it doesn’t seem that way.
It’s knowing who God is and who God is calling me to be. It’s knowing what He wants from me. It’s knowing how I can relate to God and experience His presence, His grace, His power, His mercy, His strength, His encouragement and so much more. I want that! I so desperately crave it!
Because if we don’t know God, if we don’t even know what God expects of us, then how do we know what’s right and what’s wrong? How do we know what God’s calling us to do? And how to best serve Him?
Hopefully, you get some of that on Sunday morning, but Sunday morning is only 1 out of 168 hours of the week, which is only .6% of a week. What are you doing the other 99.4% of the week to know God?
How much time is spent on social media vs. Jesus?
How much time is on ESPN vs. Jesus?
How many hours are you playing games vs. Jesus?
How much time on pinterest vs. Jesus?
Not that any of those are bad! It becomes a matter of what our heart treasures. There’s nothing wrong with playing a few games or doing mindless stuff. Seriously, we need a break, but where does God fit into your day?
Every moment of everyday should be focused on honoring and glorifying God. That should be built into the very fabric of who we are. Because everything we do, is done for the Lord.
Think about how well we know our loved ones . . . We know them because we talk to them, we engage them, we hang out together, we eat together and we play together and we go on vacations together.
How much time are you spending with God? So that you would really know Him. That’s about as simple and straight forward as I can ask it.
We can see how easily the world distorts the truth. The counterfeiters were present in Paul’s day. Look at what he said to the church in Galatia - - - -
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel --
7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. - Galatians 1:6-7
Then, in chapter 4, Paul adds - - - -
9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,
how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
In 1 John 2, John wrote - - - -
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. - 1 John 2:15-16
And finally, John tells us - - - -
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1
I want to make one specific comment and then a more general comment about all of those scriptures . . . . In Galatians 4:9 - - - - Paul said - - - -
9 But now that you have come to KNOW God, or rather to be KNOWN by God,
I love what Paul’s saying. You see, in the Greek, the image Paul wants us to understand is that this knowing comes from experience.
It’s having a personal and experiential knowledge of God and God has that same personal knowing of you.
That’s what it’s all about folks. That can be all I really need to say . . . but you know I won’t! God wants us to personally know Him because we experience Him.
God knows you and you are to know God.
It’s such an intimate picture of our relationship with God. He intimately knows you and you are to intimately know Him.
In general . . . . . the point Paul and John are making is not that we can’t go and enjoy life, but watch out and be careful who’s leading you. Is it your desires and wants, or is it the pull from those who don’t know Jesus . . . . or the pulling from those who are trying to deceive you.
There are the counterfeiters, the false prophets, the wolves in sheeps clothing, there is the master of lies, and they’re all out to deceive us.
OR is it a calling from Jesus? And the only way we really know what’s what, is when we know Jesus and have the confidence that we can test the spirits; and know what’s true and what’s not.
And the ultimate source of our testing comes in the word of God. That’s our ultimate source. That’s why it’s so important to know who God is calling us to be.
We face this counterfeit religion and spirituality on a greater scale today than ever before. We have so many more avenues to find information. Whether it’s true of false is another question.
So many people have made up their own religions and cults, that can sound attractive, but are ultimately false and can destroy us.
So, it’s interesting that you see this thought way back in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. There’s a difference of opinion about who wrote it and when. But I’ll stick with Solomon during the time when he was king.
The very first words from Solomon are these - - - -
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
The Hebrew word for VANITY refers to a “mist, a vapor, or mere breath.” Something that’s fleeting or elusive. That’s the basis of this book. And Solomon’s uses this expression 29 different times.
Solomon tried to find pleasure in life in all different ways. He had wives and concubines, wealth, buildings, the arts, a huge army. He had success everywhere, but still there was something missing. Hence, life is filled with VANITY! It’s a fleeting mist.
Instead of doing the work of knowing God, we seek shortcuts. We might say -
We find our happiness in buying whatever it is that we treasure.
We find it in the food we eat. We find it in our social status.
Or ---- ---- we say things like ---
‘Pastor Michael knows the Bible better than me, so I’ll let him read it for me.’
‘I’m not a good reader, so I’ll watch The Chosen.’ But do you know what’s accurate and what’s not?
‘I don’t know how to pray, so I’ll just skip it. God knows what I need anyways.’
It’s like taking a pill, so I never gain weight, my stomach firms up, and my muscles get bigger . . . I get smarter and preach better sermons, notwithstanding become a better husband, father, brother, friend and pastor . . . pickleball player and disc golfer.
And these are all things I want to be better at, yet, there’s no magic pill. It’s hard work in doing everything. Yet, the results are far more rewarding.
Solomon lamented all the different ways he went about trying to enjoy life. He had it all, but there was no joy. There was temporary happiness. That’s when we buy that new car and feel happy, but when the first payment comes, the happiness fades.
It’s when we buy a new piece of jewelry and after awhile, it just becomes one of many other pieces of jewelry.
That can go on and on. We misplace our need for God with seeking the temporary things in life. We hope they will fill us and make us happy, but they don’t. They continue to leave us empty and the only thing that will fill us . . . is God.
God uses the words in Ecclesiastes to remind us that faith is not built on formulas, or morality, nor money, nor any human standard. Faith is built on God.
The wisdom of the world? Vanity.
Money? Vanity.
Human morality? Vanity.
Even works righteousness is VANITY.
God used Solomon to call us back to God and stop relying on ourselves.
What God calls us to do is repent from the illusions we’ve built by turning away from them and turning to Him.
Listen to what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2 - - -
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine . . .
4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house.
I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Yikes! That’s terrible! Now, please understand this . . . . none of what he did, other than the concubines and slaves was bad, if done in moderation. But when you make this your chief goal, it always turns out bad, because in the end it leaves you empty.
What does it accomplish? I believe an even bigger hole in the heart which longs for a true relationship with God.
God wants people who seek God and God alone. Who base their faith on God’s Word in the community of God’s people.
Ultimately, in Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon concludes - - - -
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
And that takes us back to some of what we’ve spoken about earlier in this series. It’s the words of the psalmist in Psalm 119. We are told over and over again - - - to follow God’s laws, statutes, commands, precepts, rules and more.
They’re not meant to limit us. They’re not meant to take away the joy of life. Instead they’re meant to give us life and hope.
When we know God and we trust that God knows us, we can live life with that seriousness about who He is. We don’t need to be reminded of who He is, because we know! We trust, we believe He wants for the best of us. His desire is not to harm us, it’s not to condemn us. It’s to save us, to redeem us, to give us an abundant life.
When we’re serious about God . . . I truly believe we will experience the joy and power of that relationship because we will not have counterfeit gods, or follow false prophets.
We will have the ONE true God. Yes, it takes work, but to know God, and trust God with who I am is the greatest gift. When that’s happening, you can face anything, because good or bad, you know that God is with you . . .
. . . which allows you to be strong and courageous in any situation. You won’t be in despair, because your trust is in God and not in yourself.
That happens when we’re serious about following God. It’s not rocket science, it’s pretty simple AND it starts with a relationship. You and Jesus. Do you have that? If not, let’s talk!!
