Three Movements The movement from non-follower to disciple to apostle The movement from non, to unreal, to real disciples The movement from ignorance to knowledge to abiding relationship

We all start out in the same place, as non-disciples or non-followers of Jesus. This manifests itself in a general opposition to the movement of God in our lives -our inability to effectively follow Jesus because of the ongoing effects of sin in our world – but there is another aspect that I’d like to alert you to this morning. Prior to encountering Jesus, we not only evidence an inability to follow Him, but Scripture asserts that we show a general ignorance of God.

The word ignorance simply means a lack of knowledge or unawareness of something or someone. The apostle Paul indicates that at some point in our ancient history, “although [our predecessors] knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). In response to this rebellion against Him, “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts … they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:24-25).

Because “they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind” (Romans 1:28). “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.” (Ephesians 4:18-19) Prior to encountering Christ, it’s not only that we are unable to follow Him, but that sin has blinded us to the knowledge of God. The tragic consequence is that we spend our lives separated from the life of God; the One from whom all good things are generated; the One from whom all blessings flow.

God does not leave us in this ignorant and separated state. “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20) Part of Christ’s incredible redemptive work was to give us understanding of God, so that we can know Him and in knowing Him, give Him appropriate glory, honour and praise. Jesus came to free our from our blindness of God, showing us very clearly who He is and what He has done for us.

After yet another difficult teaching of Jesus, we learn that many of those who had been following Jesus, now chose to no longer follow Him. As the crowd dispersed, Jesus looked to his disciples and questioned “You do not want to leave too, do you?”. In response to this question, Peter quipped “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). We can often look at this exchange and marvel at Peter’s profession of faith – he knows Jesus at the Holy One of God.

“Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:23-24) The spirit uses the precise same term that Peter uses in John 6! Whereas the crowds – and even the disciples to a great extent - who followed Jesus did not see Him in all His fullness as “God made flesh”, the evil spirits clearly saw Christ for who He is.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23) What is the difference between the demons, Peter, and those who Christ labels evildoers in this passage? There is an enormous difference between knowing “of or about” Jesus and the type of relational knowledge of Jesus that Christ commends in scripture. In the case of the impure spirit and the evildoers of Matthew 7, their acknowledgement of Christ does not result in doing the will of God.

How does the knowledge of God result in doing His will? This is done by entering into a master-disciple relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship that involves the submission of our own wills. It requires a re-orientation of one’s life, not merely a mumbled “belief” in Jesus as Messiah. Christ himself indicates that it involves intimate relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Scripture might question if knowledge of a person is possible without intimacy. Jesus terms this sort of relationship “abiding”.

John 15:1-11: The Vine and the Branches The word abide means to stay or dwell within, so the idea here is that we would find ourselves dwelling with Christ – our lives would be located in Him and He in us through His Spirit. We are to be so intimately affixed to Jesus that we receive all we need for life through Him. In this way not only is our joy filled to overflowing, but we are enabled to experience the type of life promised in John 10:10 – life to the fullest! Like the toll booth operators, name recognition isn’t enough to imply knowledge of that person; intimate relationship is vital. It is through such intimate relationship with Jesus that our wills are bent to His; it is by humbly seeking to follow Him that we find ourselves doing His will.

Some Questions Do you know “of” Jesus or do you really know Him? If Christ were to stand before you today, how would He respond to your call of Lord to Him? Would He say “I never knew you”? Are you abiding in Jesus? Do you find yourself fed and strengthened through your relationship with Him or do you find your needs met elsewhere? Are you living life to its fullest? Do you find yourself bearing inexplicable fruit – is he using you in unexpected ways to see His will done?