Known by God

INTRODUCTION

SCRIPTURE: Formerly, when you did not KNOW God, you were ENSLAVED to those that by nature are not 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 WORTHLESS elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

STORY: Table and canvas with books to test the strength.

PROPOSITION: Jesus is GREATER than anything the world has to offer.

INTERROGATIVE:

TRANSITION:

POINT 1: Too WEAK

The first thing that we have to understand is that whether you are trying to earn your salvation by your own good works OR just self gratifying in sinful things…both are a result of trying to be your own savior and lord. The thing that sticks out to me is that Paul tells us that both of these things are WEAK AND WORTHLESS. Everything that you put first in your life as the meaning and drive that you have that isn’t God is not powerful enough to save you or give you lasting meaning and purpose! Nothing SAVES or SUSTAINS you except Jesus.

Even being a RELIGIOUS person can become a trap. SATAN IS COOL WITH YOU KEEPING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, AS LONG AS IT’S DONE IN A SPIRIT OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. If you’re doing good so that others will notice you, lift you up, and affirm how great you are that is a BIG sign that you might be RELIGIOUS not in RELATIONSHIP (We will get to that in a minute). And many times being RELIGIOUS can be more deceiving than not being religious because the non religious person KNOWS they are far from God but the religious person does not!

Only God can be God. The hard part is is sometimes these things are good things that we turn into god things which DISTRACT, DERAIL, and DIMINISH your faith. But why?

POINT 2: Don’t turn BACK

Paul makes it clear that these things when made into gods in our lives we are actually becoming enslaved by evil spiritual forces. So the warning for the Galatians and to us today is DONT TURN BACK. Because they are weak and worthless we don’t entertain them as options. When we turn back we are exchanging the real thing for a counterfeit. Don’t exchange REAL for FAKE.

There is something in here that I didn’t realize at first when I read these verses the first time but became something important in my mind that Paul was saying…turning back. Turning back means you are returning to something that you once left…isn’t it crazy that we have EXPERIENCED God and His grace, goodness, love, mercy, salvation, etc. and yet it is so easy to turn back to the things we now KNOW are powerless but we return to them ready to shackle back up in the chains. God wants you to EXPERIENCE His goodness not EXCHANGE it. It reminds me of the Israelites in the desert. And isn’t that when we are the most tempted? When we are in a dry season in our walk with God where we feel betrayed, abandoned, or far from God because of our feelings so we do exactly what Israel did and we beg to go back to our slave master that used to rule us.

POINT 3: Be KNOWN

The word KNOWN used here is the word ginosko (to know intimately and on a personal level) not oida (to know factually) or orao (to know through perceiving something). There is a difference in knowing OF Jesus and KNOWING Jesus.

Knowing God and being KNOWN by God have totally different meanings. You can know many things ABOUT God and not KNOW Him. That’s exactly what happened to the pharisees during the time that Jesus was alive. They knew a lot about God but they didn’t have a relationship with Him. They knew the facts but DIDN’T know the Father. Don’t get caught up in performing. God doesn’t want you to only DO for Him without DWELLING with Him. (Example of Abe and Willow) If you walk with the Lord long enough you realize that when you are your healthiest spiritually is when you are SERVING others out of your SURPLUS. What does that mean? When you spend time with God whether that’s going on prayer walks, meditating and studying some bible verses, spending time in a bible study with friends, worshipping in the car on the way to school, and you are experiencing the PRESENCE of God you are filled with the POWER of God to carry out the PURPOSES of God in your life.

APPLICATION:

REFLECT: What idols are you in most danger of serving?

REMIND: How does God knowing you reassure you today?

REPLACE: What do I need to replace to position myself with God?