1 John 2:3-6 – It’s All Who You KNow
Of course most of you know that country legend Johnny Cash died early Friday morning. Famous for such songs as “I Walk the Line”, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring of Fire”, the 71-year-old entertainer died of complications of diabetes, just 4 months after his wife, June Carter Cash, passed away. His climb to success was not perfect – he struggled with a drug addiction in the 60’s. Yet, through the influence of his wife, he found Christ in 1968.
You know, I can give all kinds of details of Johnny Cash’s life, but I never met the man. I can say all that I have read and watched over my lifetime about the Man in Black, but I can’t say that I ever really knew him. I don’t even know someone who knew him. I know the facts, but I don’t know the person.
Many people who come to church are in the exact same position. Oh they could say that they know what the Bible says. They could say that they know who Jesus was or is. They may even say that they met Jesus once. But they cannot honestly say, “I know Jesus. I know God. I currently have a friendship or relationship with Him.”
If we were honest, we all could look back over our lives and see that there have been times when the rules and religion aspect of our faith was stronger than the relationship in it. That is, haven’t we all stumbled and lost our focus at times? Haven’t we worried more about what people would say rather than what God would think? Haven’t we all been caught up with doing things for Him instead of spending time with Him? Have we not all lost our focus at some time or other and thought, “If I just do this, Jesus will love me more”?
The descent from relationship to rules is fairly common. Some shake out of it, but some put themselves into some box and never shake free of the slavery. From bondage of sin to bondage of rules is not a step-up. Yet because its easier to gauge your faith by how well you follow a set of rules, instead of how well you keep in step with where the Spirit wants to lead you, the natural tendency is to stick with rules. And sooner or later, our “faith” becomes not knowing God, but knowing the tricks of the trade. Instead of knowing a person, it’s knowing the laws and rules and taboos.
Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at knowing God and being led by the Spirit. I’m working my way through a book that impacted me a lot several years ago, and I want to share its biblical truths with you. It’s called Experiencing God, written by Henry Blackaby, who pastored out in Saskatchewan for many years. In this book, the author leads us to know God better by letting Him speak to us and use us. I hope that the next few weeks will be profitable for us.
Today, I’d like us to look at 1 John 2:3-6. This passage speaks of knowing God, and walking as Jesus did. Read 1 John 2:3-6. This passage seems to indicate that obedience is a sign of a genuine faith in Him. Apparently, walking where Jesus leads us is proof that we know Him. But, just thinking about this passage, sometimes it’s hard to know where God is leading us. Sometimes God’s will is as clear as “yes” or “no.” But often, we are not sure exactly what God wants us to do. Sometimes the preconceived rules and laws don’t fit in neatly with a walking, talking relationship. So what do we do then? How do we walk with God? Since obeying Him is a proof of our faith, what do we do if we aren’t sure of His exact will for us?
These are tough questions, so let’s proceed with caution. Let’s stand on the truth of the Bible, what the Bible says about who God is. The better we know who God is and what he is like, the better we can walk with Him. The first truth about God that will help us walk with Him is that 1) God is love. 1 John 4:8 does not say that God loves. It says that He is love. Whatever love is, that’s what God is. His very nature is love. He will NEVER act toward you in an unloving way. Everything He does to you and for you is out of love.
So, even when He is chastening and correcting you, it’s because of His love for you. Hebrews 12:6 – “Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Another verse reminds us of His love: 1 John 3:16 – “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” That means, no matter what this world throws at us, we can be confident of His love for us.
Henry Blackaby writes: “Your trust in the love nature of God is crucial. This has been a powerful influence in my own life. I never look on circumstances without seeing them on the backdrop of the cross. That is where God clearly demonstrated once and for all time His deep love for me. My love relationship with God determines everything I do. No matter what the circumstances are, His love never changes.” Because He always acts in love toward me, I can be confident of this: His will is always best. That means God’s commands are for my good, not my frustration. They are to help me, not to hurt me or ruin my enjoyment of life. When God tells me to do something, it is meant to bring me life, not steal life from me.
This runs contrary to what the world thinks of God’s commands. But it doesn’t matter. Because God loves me, what He wants for me is the best. The more we trust Him, the more we will see His will for our lives is good for us. Then we’ll obey Him. Then we’ll see His love and goodness. And we will trust Him all the more.
Now, the 2nd truth about God that will help us walk with Him is that 2) God is all-knowing. Theologians call this “omniscient”. That means that He knows everything. In fact, 1 John 3:20 says: “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” And Hebrews 4:13 says: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” He possesses all knowledge – past, present and future. Nothing is outside His knowledge. Therefore, His directions are always right. When He gives you an order, you can believe that God has already considered every single factor.
Because our knowledge is limited and our vision into the future is non-existent, sometimes we don’t understand His ways. We don’t see what He’s doing. We just don’t get it. So trusting Him when it doesn’t look reasonable is very hard. But as we walk with Him, we get to look back upon our lives and see His hand moving. I can look back at hard times in my life, and see that they were for my good. I wanted nothing else than to be rid of them, at the time. But as I look back, God really knew what He was doing all along. He could have chosen an easier route for me. He could have made things go more simply or more smoothly. But because He did it the way He did it, it worked out better for me.
Don’t let your lack of knowledge or insight turn you away from trusting Him. Trust in Him anyway, because you can believe that His directions for your life flow from His omniscience and His love for you.
The 3rd truth about God that will help us walk with Him is that 3) He is all-powerful. Theologians call this “omnipotence”. Jeremiah 32:17 says this: “"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Ephesians 3:20 says that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. His power has no limits.
This matters to us because it means that if God tells you to do something, He’ll make sure it can be done. It means He will enable you to accomplish His will. It means that He won’t lead you anywhere that His power can’t keep you. Does that mean that we will never fail? Does it mean that we will never mess up? Does it mean that we will never grow tired? No, none of these. It means that if God tells you to do something, He will make sure that you have enough strength to do it. The Bible says He can keep you from falling. So when we fall, the problem is not God’s; it is ours. It was that we ran out of our strength, but most certainly God did not run out of His. In fact, often times, the best way to find God is when we run out of our own strength, and there He is, eager to help us.
So what do these mean? His love, His omniscience, and His omnipotence? How do these affect us? How will knowing these help us to walk as Jesus did, as our scriptures said at the beginning? Why does this matter? Well, picture the life of faith, the walking with Jesus, the spiritual journey – picture it as a little kid perched on a diving board. He knows that to do what his burning heart is telling him to do, there must be a leap into the unknown. He knows there are some risks and some fears building up to this leap into the unknown. What will this child do? What would you do, if you felt this burning in your heart to take a risk, to leap out into the unknown?
Well sometimes, God does call us to just that. To take the leap, not knowing for sure where it will take us. But the neat thing is, if God is calling us to jump off the diving board, then He’s going to be there, waiting for us, in the water, with His arms open wide. Now, because He is love, you can believe that His will is always best. Because of His amazing love for you, it is best for you to jump into His arms. And because He is all-knowing, you can believe that His directions for you to jump into His arms are right and good. And because He is all-powerful, you can believe that He is strong enough to hold you when you obey Him.
But understand… you still have to jump. In order for your trust in Him and love for Him to grow, you still have to jump. And that’s where most folks, even Christians, stop. And we step back off the diving board. We admit it’s too hard. And we get content to just learn about Him. And we miss diving straight into the arms of the One who loves us most.
I hope that over the next few weeks in going through Experiencing God, we’ll do more than stand off, watching other people take leaps of faith. My prayer is that we dive right in to a life of knowing God, following Jesus, and walking in the Spirit.
