“Knowing the Lord” is a phrase I think of in terms of our having a progressive relationship with God occurring in our lives everyday. There can be a tendency for us to think of knowing the Lord as being only the actual moment when we became born again, after which we may rush off in a burst of doing, learning, working..., but what about “knowing”? The apostle Paul declared, years into his ministry, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). I want to declare to you that knowing the Lord is the surpassing value of our Christian life.
IT’S ABOUT REVELATION, NOT INFORMATION |
What I am about to share with you will answer the question, “Where is a good place to start in my approach to the Christian life?” Here is a great place to start, and it’s also a great place to stay. This is the foundation from which you can, in simple childlike faith, trust God to build you up in a good direction of knowing the Lord. In the Gospel of Matthew, beginning at chapter 11:25, Jesus said, “I praise Thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well pleasing in Thy sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:25-27). In these words, Jesus tells us that knowing the Lord begins with revelation.
In the epistle of Galatians, chapter 1:12, Paul wrote this of the Gospel he preached, “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” We so often make the mistake of thinking we can study our way into the Kingdom of God, as if our only goal is to: get questions answered, become convinced about our beliefs and, when we are convinced, then all must be right. Studying may be a part of it, but it’s not the heart of it. The heart of it is knowing the Lord; being born again into a living relationship with the living God.
Instead of restricting the truth of knowing the Lord to the moment of our being born again, let us understand that we have been given a relationship; a river of life. As Jesus said, “He who believes in me, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). How do we let that river of life flow? By being aware of it. Many may say, “Wayne, I am born again, filled with the Spirit, and yet, vast amounts of time go by when I'm simply not aware of God.” When we’re not aware of our living relationship with Jesus Christ, the relationship is not really availing itself to us. It’s when we are aware of Christ within that we receive the benefit. Why is that? Because when we’re aware of Christ within we’re aware of our relationship with Him and that is knowing the Lord.
HIDDEN FROM THE WISE, REVEALED TO THE SIMPLE |
It is interesting that Jesus praised His Father for hiding these things about the kingdom of God from the wise and intelligent, revealing them to babes instead. I love that about God. In this world, everything is about power, prestige, hype, glamour, glory, honor, etc. Those with the power rise to the top.
God’s kingdom is just the opposite. It’s not about rising up. As a matter of fact, it’s about coming down to the level of a little baby. The beauty is that this is available to everyone. The kingdom of God is not about human achievement. It's about the grace and love of God for all people everywhere. Do you know what the wise and intelligent people (in their own estimate) would do if they thought they alone understood these things? They’d just become more arrogant and claim ownership to God. The Bible says, “Don't be wise in your own estimate” (Proverbs 3:7).
Jesus said, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27). In order to know the Lord we first need Him to be revealed to us. It’s not simply studying about Jesus in a book. I’m so grateful that somebody had the courage to share with me many years ago that it wasn’t only about believing in God, having faith or going to a church, but about having a real, living relationship with the living God. How do we get there? Knowing that we need God to be revealed to us is step number one and it puts us in a place of dependency upon God. If we acquiesce to God; if we yield to God on this point (“I can't know You, Lord, unless You reveal yourself to me.”), we're saying we need Him and that is when we become like that little child.
Jesus immediately followed these words by saying, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” (verse 28). This isn't about understanding things or figuring things out. This is about coming personally to God and letting Him Personally give us rest. How do we do that? “Take my yoke upon you” (verse 29). The Christian life is about being yoked to Jesus. Are we yoked to an experience, teaching, person, platform or agenda? When we are yoked to Jesus we can’t be yoked to anything else. The yoke Jesus speaks about is a yoke built for two; and either God is in it with us or something else is in it with us. If we really want to experience this revelation of God; if we really want to experience the rest that comes directly from knowing the Lord, here's what Jesus said to do, “Take My yoke upon you.”
What does it mean to be yoked? Literally, in Jesus’ day, two oxen would be harnessed together with a yoke. There would always be a lead oxen, one who “knew the ropes.” The less experienced oxen would be put into the yoke, which served the purpose of making the junior oxen totally dependent upon the steering of the senior one. So, when we are in a yoke with Jesus, He steers our life. He guides us as we walk side by side with Him. It’s not a bondage - it’s a blessing. It’s not work - it is, according to our Savior, rest. “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light” (Matthew 11:29,30).
Jesus was saying “learn from Me.” Having a true knowledge of Jesus Christ is the key to the true Christian life. If our view of God is off, then everything else we believe about the Bible will probably also be off. How many have a harsh, vengeful picture of God in their mind that eventually cripples their whole spiritual life? Jesus encouraged us to begin our life with Him by stepping into the yoke with Him and learning of Him, particularly His humility and meekness.
KNOWING OUR GENTLE, HUMBLE KING |
Do you recall when Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday? As He descended the Mount of Olives on a donkey, He was fulfilling the Scripture, "Behold your King is coming to you...,” humbly, gently (Zechariah 9:9). Our Savior's birth in Bethlehem was gentle and humble. His death upon Calvary was His laying down His life for us. Even after the resurrection, Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee, cooking breakfast for the disciples who had gone fishing. Jesus was and is always, from His birth through the Resurrection and beyond, serving us and laying down His life for us. This is how we have come to have life with Him in the first place.
Jesus’ life is the pattern for our own lives. It's not about pushing ourselves forward. It's about humbling ourselves, stepping into that yoke, desiring that revelation of God, and simply saying “yes” to Jesus. We could fill our heads full of religious themes, the “issue-du-jour” or the experience of the moment. That stuff is like crumbs from the table. There could be some food in it, but it always leaves us hungry. When we come to Jesus, He says “eat My flesh and you'll never hunger again. Drink what I give you and you'll never thirst again” (from the 6th chapter of John). When we are eating crumbs off the table of teaching, agendas, issues, experiences and platforms, it always leaves us hungry and needy, because these things cannot truly satisfy our soul. That's why the need always seems present to run for the next thing, the new thing, the other thing. It leaves us more unsure and insecure instead of experiencing the rest that Jesus offers that comes through simply stepping into His yoke.
The alternative is to say, “I want to know Jesus. Jesus says that it's through revelation, therefore I need a revelation. Jesus says it's revealed to babes, so I humble my heart. I'm stepping into the yoke with Him. I'm coming to Him to learn of Him, and particularly what I want to learn right now is His meekness and humility.” If that becomes our simple heart's desire, surely we will find that rest for our soul that He has promised. And what is that rest for our soul? It is Christ Himself.
No matter how long you've been a Christian, or if you've never been a Christian, or if you used to be a Christian, those things aren't the issue right now as much as this: Do you want to know the Lord? If you do, then come to Him. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Knowing the Lord is the good foundation from which everything else flows. I've been walking in Christ for 37 years. He's so good, and I only want to know more about the beauty of being in the river of living water with God.
I encourage you today to take His yoke upon you and learn of Him in meekness and humility. Don't create your own agenda or live by someone else's agenda which will only lead to becoming distanced from “knowing the Lord.” Instead, pray this way, “I yield to You, Lord God, and I'm joyfully at Your feet so I may learn Your way.” Stay in that simple heart attitude and keep learning of Jesus, for that is where real growth comes from. It comes out of humility, which is the life that Jesus lived in order to save us. It's the saving life of Christ - a humble life - and it's the pattern for our own lives. What did Jesus say to His disciples? “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). Jesus is the pattern. He's the example. That's the knowledge of God. That's the river of life.
The beautiful thing, the wonderful thing, the amazing thing about Jesus Christ and this river of living water He speaks of flowing out of our innermost being is that it is completely satisfying and yet always leaves us hungry for more. It's not hunger in a bad way - like a gnawing hunger - it's just that we've tasted the goodness of the Lord; and, it's so wonderful, we can't wait to see what happens next. This is the divine optimism of life: living in Christ through knowing the Lord. Amen.
May God bless these words to your heart.
