Coming to the end of a year,
a question often arises. Do we look back before looking forward, or do we face
only the future closing the door on the past? To answer that question, we must
ask another. Is the fear of pain from the past too great to consider when
thinking about the new year? Let’s conjecture that looking back helps prepare
us for the future and helps us see and experience both joyful and hard times
with balance, with peace. How can these be?
Consider what John said in John
1:10. He spoke of Jesus, the “true Light,” when he said, “He was in the world,
and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” The Son
existed before He created the world, and yet the world did not know Him. Still,
God did not count that against humanity completely. He desired to have a
relationship with each person, who though sinful was loved by Him. God’s desire
for a relationship led Him to plan a way for each person to receive complete
cleansing from sins and renewing of a right relationship with Him. This plan is
God’s provision of salvation from sin’s penalty by the pure sin sacrifice of
Jesus, His Son, the Light John spoke of in John 1.
John said more in verse ten.
He said, “The world did not know Him.” This word “know” comes from the Greek
word ginosko. It means to realize
something through personal experience. If you recall meeting a person
unfamiliar to you, first you may have seen the person, but not known the
person’s name. Next you would have heard the name of the person, but not met the
person. The following step in an experiential relationship of knowing a person
was being introduced to the person or meeting and introducing one’s self to the
person. The next step of knowing this new person was to look purposefully for
the person where you expected him or her to be, like at school or the shop. The
following step would be to call the person to get to know him or her better. Later
you may have planned together to go jointly somewhere. As you spent more time
together, you learned of the person’s likes and dislikes. You strove to give
him or her what he or she liked. Finally, you committed with your heart, mind, body,
and soul to be best friends, husband and wife, or some other close relationship.
This is what ginosko means. It means
a gradual, experiential knowing someone.
Moses taught this same understanding
of our verb “to know” to the Hebrews when he returned to Egypt and led them
from Egypt to the Promised Land. The word he used was yada. Yada has the same meaning. Moses showed the Hebrews the power
of his God when he proclaimed the plagues over Egypt. Next, he showed them the
cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night telling them it was God’s presence
protecting and guiding them. The Hebrews learned to recognize and expect God in
those ways. As Moses set up a tent of tabernacle wherever they encamped, the
people learned that meeting with God is real. He is as near as your own being
and as far away as the heavens. They saw Moses’ face glowing from being in the
presence of God’s glory. Moses continued to make God known to the Israelites
throughout His forty years as their leader. By the time the Israelites entered
the Promised Land, they knew God and covenanted with Him that He would be their
sole God and they would be His people. The Israelites came to know God
experientially, too.
This understanding of “knowing”
is what John meant when he said, “The world did not know Him (Jesus).” Through
the Old Testament period, the Jews had the commandments of God, which were to
lead them to Him to have a relationship with Him. Still, the Jews often strayed
from a relationship with God. They sinned, and He disciplined them. The
Israelites enemies captured, scattered, and/or took some of them into
captivity. Their national land size decreased. The Israelites worshiped other
gods. Finally, during the 400 years before Christ’s birth, silence reigned over
the land when no prophets of God spoke for Him to the Israelites. “The world
did not know Him.” John was right. Even the Jews did not know Jesus. “Jesus came
to His own (the Jews), and they did not know Him,” John said in verse eleven.
We each need to consider our
first question and answer it for ourselves. Do we look back before looking
forward, or do we face only the future closing the door on the past? Knowing
God is not just an intellectual action. It is a response of faith and
acceptance of Christ, the One who made God known. When we consider our first
question, we must decide if we know God through Jesus Christ. Can you hear His
questions?
“Did you know Me when happiness came to you this year? Did
you seek Me to thank Me for what I did for you and for being in a relationship
with you? Did you seek to use the blessing I gave you for My purposes or did
you withhold it?”
“Did you know Me when the dark abyss knocked at your door? Did
you seek Me and My will or did you turn your back on Me doubting My love for
you?”
In each of these situations,
you can do God’s will. What is His will? That we know Him, love Him, and show
our love of Him by our obedience to Him. That we glorify Him, not ourselves or
what we own, will do, or will become. Oswald Chambers surmised that if we
follow God’s will and experience pain, then we are being pulled by other things
and God. We are torn in two. Chambers says that comes from lack of trusting God
to take care of us. Pain, also, comes to grow us. God allows pain to occur. Sometimes
we grow more when walking through pain. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the
water in the storm, he immediately climbed from the boat and walked on the
water toward Jesus. While he kept his eyes on Jesus and not the storm-tossed
waves, he walked. When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he sank. (Matthew
14:22-33)
God allows storms to grow
us. We have a choice in how we will approach each storm. Will we trust God and
walk while keeping our eyes on Him, or will we take our eyes off God and
flounder? How well we know God, ginosko,
determines the answer to this question. If you only know God when someone
points out what He did, then you might succumb to the storm. If you know God as
your personal Savior and have a deep, personal relationship with Him through
regular Bible reading and studying, praying, and listening to Bible teaching
and preaching, then you will grow stronger in the Lord as you walk with Him. A
close relationship with God includes loving Him and doing His will. Paul said
in Romans 8:28, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” From this close relationship with Him, trust grows. When
trust grows, then the peace of God, given through Christ becomes part of a
person’s life through the joys and trials. Jesus spoke of this peace He offers
in John 14:27 when he told the disciples He would soon go prepare a place for
them. He said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
As we consider the new year coming, we return to our first
question. Do we
look back before looking forward, or do we face only the future while closing
the door on the past? Are you afraid to look back at this year when looking
ahead to 2019? Do you only consider the future and slam the door on the past
because you don’t want to face it again? If you know God, you do not have to
fear the past or the future. You do not have to make resolutions to ensure the
upcoming new year is better than this year. Instead, trust God to take care of
your new year and your pain from this year. Allow yourself not to be self-sufficient,
but to trust in God. How do you do this? How do you trust God with your year
and your life? Get to know Him, really know Him. Knowing God starts as an
intellectual exercise, but it must go beyond the mind to the heart and soul. Oswald
Chambers said, “Belief is a deliberate act of my will, not an
intellectual act, where I deliberately commit myself to God and obedience to
Him.” (My Utmost for His Highest,
December 22nd) Truly knowing God is a deliberate act of your will. Jesus told us to love the
Lord with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Once you begin truly knowing God
through seeking Him with your whole being and through belief in Jesus as your
Savior, then you trust Him more and receive the peace He gives to every
believer.
When you get to the start of
the new year, looking back helps you recall where you walked with your eyes on
Jesus and where you did not. It helps you gauge your relationship with God so
you can grow closer to Him with each day of the new year. Looking back at the
last year helps you see where you had peace because of knowing God. It helps you see where you did not have peace
because you tried to manage in your own strength. You can experience peace in
the new year when life is stormy and when calm. Knowing and trusting God
through Jesus Christ gives peace for all situations.
Are you ready to slam the
door on this year thinking next year has to be better? The new year can be better
if you seek the Lord to know Him with your heart, soul, and mind, and obey Him.
Knowing and trusting God does not mean you will not experience storms. It means
you can live with peace during the storms.
Knowing God grows trust and
gives peace.
