Now That You Know God

How many understand today that God is in the transformation business? How many understand today that the gospel message of Jesus Christ leads a person away from the old and into the new?

This morning we continue our journey through the book of Galatians and we are going to be looking at the transformation that comes with knowing and following Jesus. My sermon title today is “Now that You Know God” And it comes straight out of the text we are going to study.

The gospel message of Jesus, when accepted and applied to your life, will CHANGE your life forever!

What Christ did on the cross changed the reality of this world forever! His death and resurrection opened the door for people to die to sin and come alive in Jesus. It gave us the opportunity to be forgiven of our sin and to be raised to new life!

When a person makes the decision… when a person declares “I have decided to follow Jesus,” They step into a new redeemed reality by calling on the name of the Lord. Their life has now changed… their purpose has now changed… their outlook regarding truth has now changed.

Let’s consider a few examples before we get to our main text.

Consider some of the first people Jesus called to follow Him.

Peter and Andrew were casting a net into the lake doing what they knew to do best. They were fishermen. When Jesus called, they became fishers of men.

James and John were fishing in a boat with their father. Again, they were doing what they had always done… until Jesus arrived. He called them to follow and they left all they knew behind… including dear old dad in the boat… and followed Jesus.

Matthew was a tax collector before he followed Jesus. Tax collectors did not have the best of reputations. And speaking of reputations, Paul, the author of the book we are studying, was previously known for his passionate persecution of the church before he knew Christ.

What I want you to see is the change. Want I want you to see is the transformation. The old life… that was then… Now that you know God… THIS IS NOW.

Here’s the deal… God gave Jesus to the world that we might be moved… that we might be transformed from what was to what He has in store for us. What was = a life of sin. What God has in store is life redeemed!

Jesus did not die so that believers would remain as they were. He died to transform those who would call on His name. He died so that our spiritual reality could be changed forever. Now that you know God, your life has changed! AND IT’S A GOOD CHANGE!

And church… I want to point something out today. If your “then” looks just like your “now,” if you claim to know Christ but a change has not taken place… then maybe it’s time to take an honest look about our claim of having a relationship with Jesus.

JESUS DOES NOT LEAVE YOU AS YOU ARE. Come as you are, but do not go as you came!

Consider the life of the adulterous women. Jesus commanded her to go and sin no more after He stood in the gap for her.

Consider the story of the women at the well. Jesus exposes all her sin, and she testifies of this truth… TO HER ENTIRE TOWN! They follow her and find Jesus.

Consider the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, he cheated people out of money before meeting Jesus… but after Jesus, he committed to paying back what was fraudulently taken with interest! Are you seeing a pattern here?

Key Point: When the gospel message is accepted and applied, YOUR LIFE WILL BE TRANSFORMED. Now that you know God… you know of His redeeming power.

In our study today, Paul is wrestling with the Galatians regarding the absence of change, or rather the reversal of the change that happened in their lives. They accepted the gospel but they were returning to the same old chains that once bound them tightly.

These “chains” can take on all kinds of names… in their case, they were turning back to traditions and religious motions that were meaningless after what Christ did at Calvary.

For us… these chains might be addictions, immorality, old habits, cultural ways, and the list could go on and on. Church, god set us free from those chains, not so that we would return to them, but so we would never be bound by them again!

So this morning, as we look at Galatians 4, there are three truths I want to show you that we need to remember that come with knowing God!

When You Know God, You Know God’s Freedom

Paul points out the “that was then, this is now” reality to the Galatians and He begins on the point of having freedom in Jesus. Let’s read Galatians 4:8-11

Galatians 4:8–11 NIV

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Formally… but now. In the old life… but now you have been given new life. And in this case, the people were “turning back to those weak and miserable forces” that had enslaved them!

Before they received Christ, many of the Galatians worshipped idols or beings they thought were gods. Even those who did not were still enslaved to Satan and sin.

Now that they knew God, they also knew of His freedom… yet they struggled in letting go of the old life. They we returning back to to that which had enslaved them.

God desires to set our hearts and lives free from the “weak and miserable forces” that had us bound.

Listen to me… there is no life to be found in the sin-filled secular culture that surrounds us. Sin will NEVER lead to life… only death. Sin will only weigh you down with chains of bondage and burden. The weight of sin is a crushing weight. It is a weight we cannot remove on our own.

Jesus took on that weight for us. Jesus died for our sins for freedom sake. He did not die so that we could return back to the same old garbage that weighed us down.

Consider the disciples I spoke of in the introduction. None of them would have experienced what Christ had to offer if they had chosen not to follow Him.

Yes, it meant they had to give up the old life. Yes, it meant they had to walk away from all that they knew. That was the only way they had ever known.... But all of that changed as they followed Jesus.

Before Christ, we are slaves… slaves to sin and as Paul points out in the passage, slaves to those who by nature are not gods. Slaves to a system, to a limited and corrupted way of thinking. Slaves to a world that without Jesus, will perish in its sin.

Jesus Himself spoke of this slavery in John 8:34-36

John 8:34–36 NIV

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

When a person comes into relationship with Jesus Christ, a transformation takes place. They are moved from being a slave to sin and into a new reality of being a son or daughter of God having a permanent place in the family! Spiritually, When Jesus sets a person free, THEY ARE FREE INDEED!

Today God desires to set hearts free! Today God desires to break the chains that bind you! Today God desires to see you walk away from the weak and miserable forces and into His power and joy-giving presence! And the key to seeing this become your reality is knowing God!

When we come to know God, we get to experience a level of freedom only God can deliver! Nothing in or of this world can even come close!

What is it that you need set free from today? You know the name of that chain… in you desire to see that chain broken… then it’s time to know the name of the chain breaker. His name is Jesus and He is here to set you free!

When You Know God, You Know God’s Truth

Let’s continue to read on in Galatians 4:12-16

Galatians 4:12–16 NIV

I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

This is an interesting portion of Scripture for sure. Paul is pleading with the Galatians to come back to the gospel message… the message that was preached to them while he was ill.

We know that Paul suffered from a physical illness or complication of some kind. he described it as a thorn in his side, something he had prayed for God to remove multiple times. But it was through this illness that God reminded Paul that His grace was sufficient. God was able to move despite Paul’s circumstance.

Paul preached to the Galatians and they received his message… the message of truth. And now Paul fears the Galatians have rejected him for the delivery of truth.

But when the truth was first presented, they accepted it. We know this for the statement Paul made in verse 9. NOW THAT YOU KNOW GOD...

It is IMPOSSIBLE to come to know God without first accepting His truth. Seem like too absolute of a statement to be true? Watch this:

The truth that must be accepted is that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. All share the same need for a Savior. Before a person calls on the name of the redeemer, they first need to understand they need to be redeemed.

Truth is what leads us to God. Truth is what causes us to question the “weak and miserable forces” we used to serve. Truth is what begins the journey from then to what God has for us.

Truth wakes up our faith… Truth redirects our attention. Truth leads us to make a choice - the choice whether or not to follow Jesus.

Paul delivered the truth to the Galatians and now there appears to be resentment toward him regarding his ministry. Had Paul done something wrong? No… the Galatians were moving from relationship with God to religious motions. They were turning from freedom.

And church… freedom and truth cannot be known without knowing God. Jesus said in John 8:31-32

John 8:31–32 NIV

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If you hold to my teaching - Jesus teaching was truth. Thus, if you hold to His teaching you are holding on to truth.

THEN you REALLY will be disciples - knowing and holding on to His truth meant you knew Jesus. And that truth will set you free.

The way of the Lord is the way of truth… truth that leads to freedom. If a person rejects God’s truth then they have also rejected God’s freedom.

When you know God, you know His truth… there is no other way of knowing God!

Choosing to remain in His truth is how we continue to walk in His freedom. If we stray from His truth you can bet the bondage will return. God revealed His truth to us that we might be led back to Him. A person will either accept this or deny it but… it will never change from being true.

When You Know God, You Know God’s Purpose

Lastly, Paul closes out his plea with a reminder of purpose. Galatians 4:17-20

Galatians 4:17–20 NIV

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Someone was trying to lure the Galatians away. Someone was passionate in their work… passionate in their sowing falsehoods among these people. Paul desperately desired to see the Galatians remain in relationship with Christ… but another group desired for the passion or the zeal of the Galatians to be pointed their direction.

Paul said is great to be zealous - to show great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. but that zeal, that passion had to come with the right purpose.

Paul is reminding these guys to remember the purpose… it is great to be passionate so long as we are passionate about the things and purpose of our God!

There exists today a lot of things a person could be passionate about… but nothing is more worthy of our passion than the PURPOSE God has given us.

When we come into relationship with God, His purpose becomes our purpose. His plan should be lived out in and through our lives - PASSIONATELY - for His glory!

The passion expressed by those trying to win over the Galatians was for selfish gain - they desired for the people to be passionate for them!

Yet Christ desires for us to be passionate about the purposes of God. If we know God, we will be about His desires.

Go back to John 8 one more time. Jesus is talking to a group of people who claim to know God yet they did not love Jesus… they did not accept His message as truth. And Jesus calls out their claim for what it is. John 8:42-45

John 8:42–45 NIV

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

Jesus had come to earth from God. GOD SENT HIM. Jesus was consistently about the Father’s busines… yet those who claimed to know God did not recognize the purpose of God being lived out by Christ.

Their rejection of Christ as Savior was an ultimate revealing of them not really knowing God!

Now that we know God, we know His purpose. We know His plan. His desire is to see all come to repentance. His desire is for all to come back to know Him.

He gave Jesus to pay the price we could not pay. He made the way for us to know Him, to know His truth, to experience his freedom, and to live out His purpose. And the only way for us to know Him today is through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

God will use those that know Him for His glory. God will use those that know Him to spread the good news. God will use those who know Him to shine His light in the darkness… and those who know Him will PASSIONATELY follow God in His ways.

God’s purpose becomes the purpose of those who know Him!

Closing

The Galatians were slipping in their relationship with the Lord and were therefore experiencing the negative effects of such behavior. They were turning back to enslavement, they were turning back to deception, and they were misdirecting their passion.

Here’s the deal. The devil wants to enslave you. The devil wants to deceive you. The devil wants you to place your passion in things that draw you away from the Lord.

This letter to the Galatians was written to set the record straight… IT WAS A WAKE UP CALL. And there are many today who need this kind of call spoken to them as well!

God desires to break the chains that bind you… but you must have a desire to know God.God desires for you to know and accept His truth… but you must have a desire to know God. God desires for you to be passionately about His purpose… but you must have a desire to know God.

Through knowing God, we can experience a change, a transformation that takes us from a position of certain death to a promise of eternal life. Through knowing God, what was then will look COMPLETELY different from what is now…

Are you willing and wanting to walk in freedom? Are you ready to accept and apply His truth to your life? Are you ready to passionately be about the purposes of God? Then it’s time we choose to know God! It’s time we give our lives to Him and be transformed through the redeeming power of Jesus!

Knowing God comes through repentance and forgiveness of our sin. knowing God means we give all to Jesus.

PRAYER - Salvation

Knowing God means rejecting what the enemy desires for us.

Maybe the enemy is trying to lure you back into what used to enslave you.

Maybe the enemy is trying to bend your ear through deceptive words or false teaching.

Maybe the enemy is trying to misdirect your passion for purposes that are outside of God’s ways.

IT IS TIME TO SHUT DOWN THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENEMY. NOW THAT YOU KNOW GOD, you need to recognize the enemy for who he is - and deny him access to you life. Remember… YOU KNOW GOD and HE KNOWS YOU! And if God be for us, who can be against us?

I want to pray against the chains. I want to pray against the deception and I want to pray against misdirected passion and purpose! Let’s get free in Jesus’ name!