Known
You’re reading along in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. You know this is written to a mostly Gentile church. You know that Judaizers (Jewish believers who insist Gentile believers must keep the Law of Moses) have been troubling the church, and Paul has written this letter to straighten them out. He doesn’t mince words. Later in the letter, in his exasperation he will write, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (chapter 5:12)
You get all this. You’ve read it before. And then you come across this:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; 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 beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? (Galatians 4:8-9)
The former bondage was to worthless idols. Now they seem to be choosing bondage to the Law. But tucked in there is this: “…now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God…” So which is it? To know God? Or to be known by Him? “Knowing God” makes sense—they’ve been idolaters and now they know the true Living God. But “known by Him”? Surely He knows all of us, through and through. It seems like Paul is saying they just now popped onto God’s radar.
So you need to do a little word study on what “known” means. You start with the cross-references in your Bible, and employ a concordance (electronic or print). You find it’s a common word, but you narrow down to two short lists of passages that seem relevant. One set of passages talk about knowing God. And you observe that knowing Jesus Christ goes hand in hand with knowing God:
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. (John 1:18)
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? (John 14:8-10)
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3 ESV)
Wow. Clearly this is an important topic. Knowing God is eternal life! There’s one more on this list, and this one seems to be pretty sobering:
No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)
The passages on your other list talk about being known, by either God (the Galatians verse you started with) or by Jesus (in a couple of his parables):
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’’ (Matthew 7:22-23)
The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ (Matthew 25:10-12)
But your objective isn’t to develop lists. Time to give some thought to what we’re being taught, and what we should do about it. You think these are (at least some of) the key points:
We have to know God—this is vital, and it’s fatal not to know Him. That’s got to mean it’s possible to know Him. One of the most important things about Him is that He is the only true God.” Every other “god” is false.
It’s Jesus who makes God known to us. He flawlessly shows us, in his own life, who God is, what He’s like.
Genuinely knowing God results in a changed life for us. If we just keep on in the same old sinful pattern, that says we don’t know Him. (You make a side note, that John’s statement must be talking about an ongoing pattern of sin, since he’s already said that if we say we don’t sin we’re liars, in chapter 1:8-10. This might need to be studied further.)
It’s possible to have an external-only relationship with Jesus. Saying the right things about him, doing good things—but be faced with the stinging words, “I never knew you.” Odd that he says he didn’t know them, rather than they didn’t know him. He has all the power of the Almighty now (Matthew 28:18), so of course he knows all of us. He must be talking about having a deep relationship, knowing one another as close friends.
You sit back and ask yourself, “Has the question from Paul’s Galatian letter been answered? Is it knowing God, or Him knowing us?” You conclude it must be both, and that’s why Paul’s wording seems strange.
And you think, “Isn’t it amazing to think about being known by God, in a close relationship. Being known by Jesus. Knowing them in return. Believing we are therefore linked to eternal life.”
Love, Paul
(* all scripture quotations from RSV, except where noted)