Known: He Knows Your Heart Lesson 1

What Question would you ask the magic machine?

If you had a magic machine where you could type in ANY question about your life and it would give you the correct answer, what would you ask?

Some possible examples:

· How many chicken nuggets have I eaten in my life?

· How many gallons of Mountain Dew have I consumed?

· How many pounds of fingernails have I clipped?

· How many times have I said the word “the”?

God knows everything about you.

One of my favorite things about God is, He actually knows the answers to all these questions.

· He knows how many freckles you have.

· He knows how many seconds you've spent watching Netflix.

· He knows what you had for dinner four years ago.

· He knows the second you were born and knows the second you will die.

· He knows every text and Snapchat you’ve ever sent, and He screenshots everything (not in a weird way, but he sees and knows everything).

Check out this passage about God:

Psalm 139:1–4 NIV

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

Omniscient = God is all-knowing

We have a big word for this idea that God knows everything. It is the word “omniscient” (all-knowing). It means that God knows everything about everything and everyone at every point in history. There has never been a thing that God hasn’t known.

For some people, this is scary. They can’t imagine that God has seen all of the bad things they’ve done. I don’t think it should be scary, but it should be something we think about. Before we do something that we know we shouldn’t, we should remember that God is watching.

Someone once told me, “When you’re about to do something wrong, pretend that Jesus is sitting right there next to you on your couch, in your car, etc. Picture him next to you, like you guys were hanging out, then ask yourself, would I do this if Jesus was right here hanging out with me tonight? Because in reality, HE IS …”

He is also omnipresent (He is present everywhere), but that is a different sermon for a different night.

If you wouldn’t do something if Jesus was sitting right next to you on the couch, then you shouldn’t do it, because He is right there next to you, watching and asking you not to do it.

So in some ways, the fact that God knows and sees everything is a little intimidating, but it can also be incredibly relieving.

Have you ever made a bad impression on someone and never got a chance to fix it? Have you ever disappointed someone or hurt someone, and you really were sorry, but you didn’t get a chance to say so? Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do, and that person still didn’t believe you?

The relieving thing about God knowing everything is, we don’t have to try to argue our case before God, and explain everything that happened, or try to convince Him of how sorry we are. He already knows. So if you’re innocent, if you’re sorry, He knows.

Another good thing about God knowing everything is, it means that we’ve never disappointed God.

You have never disappointed God, because God already knew.

YOU HAVE NEVER DISAPPOINTED GOD, BECAUSE GOD ALREADY KNEW.

Being disappointed means you thought something was going to happen and you got your hopes up, and then something else happened. God isn’t like that. That can’t happen to God because He already knew from the beginning of time what you would do. He didn’t get his hopes up thinking you were going to do something, and then you let him down. He already knew.

There have been times when I’ve fallen pretty hard in sin, and I’ve started to ask, “God, do you still love me?” “Am I still called?” “Am I still saved?” But then I remember, God knew from the beginning of time that I would commit these sins, and He still chose me and still called me. He still saved me all those years ago, knowing I would fall into this sin.

On the cross, Jesus knew all the sins of the world, and yet He still chose to die for us.

He isn’t surprised by our sin, and He isn’t disappointed in us. He loves us in spite of our sin.

He isn’t mad at us. He’s madly in love with us.

Look at this other verse that talks about how God knew us, knew our sin, and still called us.

Jeremiah 1:5 NIV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

God knows all about you. He knows all the good, but he also knows all the crud. God knows all the crud in your life. And a lot of time, our crud stinks.

To make this clear, I brought a little example.

Visual Lesson: Kitty Litter & Tootsie Rolls

Kitty Litter Illustration

Did you guys know that even though God knows about our sin, our sin still stinks?

To fully leave a lasting picture in your mind of just how bad our sin stinks, I brought something in. I can’t believe I’m doing this, this is nasty, but I want you to remember this.

[Put on some gloves. Pull out the kitty litter box. Begin to dig around in it.]

Sin stinks. It is nasty. Stinky. [Say this while lifting out a few "turds" with the shovel.]

But what’s crazy about God is He doesn’t see our crud like we see it. He sees it with heavenly eyes.

As much as these turds stink, do you know something shocking? I saw a video online that these little guys are actually totally sterile and safe, and can be eaten, if needed for survival. They don’t smell too good, but they are actually edible.

[Let the drama of the illustration unfold]

I have to let you in on a little secret—these aren’t really cat turds. They are Tootsie Rolls, but you all judged them by their appearance.

Have any of you ever felt judged by your appearance? Or maybe you’ve judged someone else by their appearance, instead of by who they really are.

IDENTITY

In this series, we’re talking all about something called “IDENTITY.” Your identity is who you are on the inside, regardless of your outward appearance. Identity may be a confusing term, so let’s define it a little.

IDENTITY MEANS “WHO YOU ARE” / “THE REAL YOU.”

IDENTITY MEANS “WHO YOU ARE” / “THE REAL YOU.”

Your identity isn’t based on your outward appearance. It isn’t based on your successes or your mistakes. It isn’t even defined by you—it is defined by God, since He made you.

We will learn more about this throughout the next few weeks, but the cool thing about God being all-knowing is that He knows the REAL you. He looks past your choices, your sin, your appearance, and sees your heart.

Look at this verse:

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God doesn’t look at what others look at. He isn’t impressed by the things that people are impressed by. He looks at the heart.

So you don’t have to go on trying to convince God of where your heart is. You don’t have to try to impress Him. He knows—but you also can’t fool Him.

You can fool everyone else by coming to church, taking notes, worshipping with your hands held high, going to the Christian club at school, etc. You can make everyone else believe that you’re in love with Jesus, but God knows your heart. He knows if you’re faking it, or if it’s real.

God knows your heart, because he created your heart.

GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART, BECAUSE HE CREATED YOUR HEART.

And here is another thing—yes, God already knows what is in your heart, but you still need to open it up to Him.

Even thought God knows your heart, he still wants you to open it to him.

EVEN THOUGH GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART, HE STILL WANTS YOU TO OPEN IT TO HIM.

If I saw my son take a cookie that he wasn’t supposed to take, I already know what he did, but I still want him to come and tell me. That’s what a relationship is like.

God knows your heart, He knew your sin before you ever did it, and He still loves you, and wants you to open your heart to Him tonight.

So tonight, where is your heart? Does God have your heart? Will you open your heart to him?