In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, John gives a vivid picture detailing just how much God knows us. John recounts a story of how Jesus surprised and amazed a man named Nathanael who did not understand why his friends thought Jesus was so special. It was Nathanael’s good friend, Philip, who called Nathanael to Jesus. Nathanael had been a disciple of John the Baptizer, and Nathanael was among the throng who had witnessed John pointing out Jesus as the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
The message, "We have found Him of Whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote" (John 1:45), seemed to Nathanael a direct answer to his prayer. But Nathanael still had yet a trembling faith. He asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). But when Nathanael finally met Jesus, Jesus told Nathanael He had seen what Nathanael was doing and knew Nathanael before they had even met. Jesus could see what Nathanael was doing, even when Nathanael was nowhere in His immediate line of sight. As you can imagine, Nathanael began to understand why Jesus was so special!
Just as Jesus knew about Nathanael, God knows all about us. He knew all about us before you were even born, and He knows all about us now. God has known us, and loved us, from even before the beginning of time. Let us thank God for loving us and knowing us so well.
1. O Lord, You have searched me and known me! 2. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. 3. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-3)
God loves us so much that He learned all about us, even prior to our birth. In fact, it can be said truly that God loved us before the foundation of the world was laid, for it was even at that long ago point prior to physical time that God through His amazing and infinite love had already created the Gospel plan of salvation, specifically designed for the purpose of saving each and every one of us from our sins. As Jesus tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The Apostle Paul writes of God’s eternal love for us in Ephesians 1:3-8:
The message, "We have found Him of Whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote" (John 1:45), seemed to Nathanael a direct answer to his prayer. But Nathanael still had yet a trembling faith. He asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). But when Nathanael finally met Jesus, Jesus told Nathanael He had seen what Nathanael was doing and knew Nathanael before they had even met. Jesus could see what Nathanael was doing, even when Nathanael was nowhere in His immediate line of sight. As you can imagine, Nathanael began to understand why Jesus was so special!
Just as Jesus knew about Nathanael, God knows all about us. He knew all about us before you were even born, and He knows all about us now. God has known us, and loved us, from even before the beginning of time. Let us thank God for loving us and knowing us so well.
1. O Lord, You have searched me and known me! 2. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. 3. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-3)
God loves us so much that He learned all about us, even prior to our birth. In fact, it can be said truly that God loved us before the foundation of the world was laid, for it was even at that long ago point prior to physical time that God through His amazing and infinite love had already created the Gospel plan of salvation, specifically designed for the purpose of saving each and every one of us from our sins. As Jesus tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The Apostle Paul writes of God’s eternal love for us in Ephesians 1:3-8:
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4. even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. 5. He destined us in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, 6. to the praise of His glorious grace which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8. which He lavished upon us.
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