Reasons for knowing more about Jesus

George Muller said on one occasion about Jesus, ‘I, by His grace, know Him, and find in Him such satisfaction and I know there is in Him such love to me that my soul is satisfied with Him.’ Obviously, that is a comment that describes profound Christian experience. Yet it also describes normal Christian experience.

The difference between knowing Jesus and knowing others has been explained in different ways. It is possible to know about someone and not know them. When we get to know them, we discover their imperfections. In contrast, when we get to know Jesus, we discover his perfections. And the more that we know him, the greater our awareness of his perfections.

The first reason is because eternal life means to know Jesus as well as the Father. We are familiar with what Jesus said in his prayer recorded in John 17:2: ‘And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ This statement tells us of the dignity of Jesus as equal with the Father.

It is important to note that this petition in the prayer indicates that both the Father and the Son are known through their saving activities. I think that is the point of the clause at the end of the verse addressed to the Father – ‘whom you have sent.’ This means that the knowledge of Jesus that we are thinking about is not the kind of knowledge that Adam had in Eden.

The second reason for knowing Jesus is that the role of the Holy Spirit is to ‘take of the things of Christ and reveal them’ to his people. There are lots of descriptions given about the work of the Spirit and often they depend on the persons in whom he is at work. For example, with regard to the unconverted he will convict them of their sins, and he will enlighten them about the way of salvation. But after they have become believers, he then shows them more about Jesus. This work of the Spirit enables us to understand if he is at work in us. All we have to do is ask ourselves are we appreciating more and more what the Bible says about Jesus. A person who is led by the Spirit delights to experience the things of Christ.

A third reason for knowing Jesus is because we cannot know God apart from him. When he was here on earth, he revealed the Father and the accounts of how he did so are recorded in the Bible. Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. He is the way to God, he teaches truth about God, and he gives to his people the life of God.

Perhaps we can think about it in this way. God is big, therefore the one who teaches about him fully must be big also; and we know that Jesus, as the Son of God, is equal with the Father and knows everything about God. Yet we are not on the level of God. We need to be taught by a human, and Jesus is also a man who can teach us about God through human words and illustrations and examples. It is extraordinary to read in the Bible how Jesus took ordinary ideas and used them to depict truth about the Lord.

We should remember that this role of Jesus is not confined to what he does with his people still living on earth. The amazing reality about the eternal world is that Jesus will engage in this role forever. It has been suggested that the phrase ‘the Lamb shall lead them to fountains of living waters’ is a reference to Jesus teaching us about God because he is often called a fountain in the Bible. Learning about God will be eternally refreshing and satisfying. Yet Jesus is able to do this forever because he is God and man.

In passing, we can observe that there will be no problem with class sizes in heaven. We know that teachers would struggle if they had a class of a hundred pupils. Yet the size of the class that Jesus will teach forever is that of a number that no one can count. Billions will learn from Jesus about the heart and plans of God.

A fourth reason for knowing Jesus is that others died in order for us to have this knowledge. They were willing to give their lives in order for us to have the opportunity of knowing about Jesus. The Saviour sent out his original apostles to tell the world about him, and apart from John they all lost their lives in doing so. Paul, whom God used to take the knowledge of Jesus to numerous places and also to write most of the New Testament, suffered a martyr’s death because he wanted people to know Jesus. Peter was crucified upside down for the same reason. That has been the story of the church in all ages, including our country in the past, and it happens in numerous places today.

A fifth reason for knowing Jesus is that a Christless Christianity is a sham and that goes for Christless evangelicalism as much as anything else. Being orthodox is a mark of true Christianity, but it can exist without heart religion. How does a person know that he has a heart religion? One answer to that question is that he thinks lovingly about Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible.

A sixth reason for knowing Jesus is that we must love him intelligently. After all, there are many different groups that speak about Jesus and they may do so incorrectly. We know that cults like Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons say wrong things about Jesus. So do liberals within the church who only regard him as a good example. Knowing Jesus through fellowship with him will enable us to speak the truth about him. In addition, love for Jesus will lead his people to know as much about him as possible. And knowing his greatness will lead them into loving service of Jesus.

A seventh reason for knowing Jesus is that he is the theme of the Bible. We cannot fully understand the Bible without considering what it says about him. The Bible is not primarily a history of Israel or a list of commandments. Rather, as he told his disciples after his resurrection, when speaking about the Old Testament, he is everywhere in its pages. In the Bible, the story of Jesus brings God very near to us.

An eighth reason for thinking about Jesus is the number of names that he has in the Bible. I have no idea how many names he has and it could be a good exercise when we go home to try and list as many of them as we can. He is the advocate, shepherd, bridegroom, Messiah, Shiloh, Son of David, Son of Man, redeemer, friend of tax-collectors and sinners. We are familiar with a verse from one of John Newton’s hymn:

Jesus, my shepherd, husband, friend,
My prophet, priest and king;
My way, my life, my death, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.

A ninth reason for thinking about Jesus is the number of activities he engages in for us. The different names of Jesus that we have just mentioned all bring us to think about his workings for his people. We know that he is our prophet, priest and king, and there is great comfort for us when we think about those roles. As our prophet, he instructs us; as our priest, he sympathises with us and meets our needs; as out king, he governs us and protects us.

Or we can think about his activities as the creator and the re-creator of all things. What power he reveals in those actions! Along with revealing his power and wisdom, we recall that those actions are the consequences of his love. When he referred to his Father’s house, Jesus revealed that he would prepare there a place for his disciples to live forever. While it is only a picture, it is a picture of a great reality, which is that Jesus is making a permanent home for his people. And homes are only made by lovers.

The Bible also highlights that his people are united to him. There are several illustrations of this. Jesus is the shepherd, they are his flock; Jesus is the Bridegroom, they are his Bride; Jesus is the vine, they are his branches; Jesus is the cornerstone, they are his building; Jesus is the head, they are his body. Those descriptions of union with Jesus challenge us to know him very well.

A tenth reason for getting to know Jesus better is that such a goal keeps us from backsliding. All backsliding occurs because we put something else in place of Jesus in our hearts. We don’t have to engage in outward sins to be a backslider in God’s eyes. Focusing on Jesus prevents backsliding.

An eleventh reason for knowing Jesus is that it brings life to church activities. A series of sermons on the Ten Commandments that does not mention Jesus is no different from a set of lectures by a rabbi. Fellowship gatherings become alive when the participants have something fresh to say about the Saviour. Prayer meetings became places of power when we recall his promises about prayer and his favourable actions in heaven with our prayers. And we can apply this to all areas of church life.

No doubt, there are many more reasons for thinking about Jesus. If and when we think of other reasons we should share them with one another.

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