TO LOVE GOD IS TO KNOW WHO HE IS

 

Also, to know God is to love Him.

 

Loving God and knowing His name are often equated. Why? Knowing His name is to know Him. This is because the name was to represent everything about the person.

 

Perhaps the greatest expression of our love for God is to understand God:

 

·       “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)

 

There is no greater thing to boast about than knowing who God isand that we are secure in His love:

 

·       Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24; John 4:23-24)

 

To know God is to know what delights and what grieves him. This is also the very thing that we esteem in our friends—their desire to know and understand us. This conveys intimate love.

 

To know about God is also to become like Him and to be transformed into Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17-4:6). By a law of the soul, we become what we esteem:

 

·       Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. (Psalm 115:4-8)

 

As we understand our loving Savior, we become like Him, as Jesus had prayed:

 

·       “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

 

To understand our Lord is to possess the most precious gift. If we are to boast about anything, it is our understanding of our Savior. However, even about this we must not boast. This knowledge is ultimately a gift from Jesus, who has revealed God to us and continues to do so. He has taken me captive so that I might meditate on Him constantly as my daily bread and sustenance. I cannot bear the worries and stresses of life without the Scriptural reminders of His love and protection. Therefore, wherever I go, I now carry reminders—memory verses—that His love might always embrace me. What a blessing to be reminded.

·       What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31–32)

 

We are safe and beloved! Knowledge of the name is also a two-way thing. God knows and treats us according to who we are, what we need, and even what delights us:

 

·       “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

 

By calling us by name, our Lord calls and provides with us according to who we are. Ultimately, we are not numbers or simply members of His Body. Instead, we are known and beloved for who we are! He loves each of us in a special way and declares, “You are mine!” How blessed to know that we belong to Him. Therefore, it is not about our performance but His (Galatians 2:20).

 

There is also eternal hope and joy in His name:

·       “Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:6–7)

 

When we know that our God reigns, even eternally, we can be assured of His peace, knowing that He will take care of us, and that all our worries are no more than passing images on a movie reel.