Dear Ones:
What is the greatest goal, the highest objective, towards which the whole tenor of our lives should be directed? There is a hymn which puts it so clearly before us: “My goal is God HIMSELF, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.” But then you ask, “Am I to base the whole of my life on a hymn?” And the answer is “no,” but upon the word of God, the revealed will of God.
In what is called the “High Priestly Prayer,” made by the Lord Jesus, and recorded in John 17, we read: “And this is eternal life, that they might KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” (v.3) To receive from Christ eternal Life, is to be placed, not only in contact with Him, but in living union WITH the Son of God, by the Spirit. It is at this point of beginning that KNOWING God truly begins. It is not just a question of knowing the “truth,” but of knowing the essence and power of the “Life.” Truth leads to Life, for there is no Life, and the experience of it, without truth.
In Paul’s letter to the believers at Philippi, he wrote: “…I count all things but loss for the excellency of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things…that I might KNOW Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” (v.8,10) Paul’s objective was not just an intellectual grasp of the truth of Christ, but the experiential knowledge of His resurrection power, the very power of Him, “…dwelling in the heart by faith.” Where then does “service” come in? It is as we follow Christ in communion with Him, and serve Him in the will of God, that He brings us into a greater knowledge of Himself.
How do we get there, that is, to that place of knowing Him? The old hymn helps us out again, giving us the answer: “…’Tis HIS to lead me there – not mine, but His — at any cost, dear Lord, by any road…So, faith bounds forward to its goal in God, and LOVE can trust her Lord to lead her there; Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard, till God has full fulfilled my deepest prayer.”
Dear Father, enable us to see and to grasp that our highest calling is to KNOW You, first of all on this earth, but one day, fully in heaven. “Now, I (we) KNOW in part; but then shall I (we) know even as also I (we) am known.”(1 Cor. 13:12) Give us to know, and grasp, our union with Your Son, He in us, and we in Him. May His joy be fulfilled in us, and the love with which you loved your Son, BE in us. Then others will see the reality of Your life in us, and come to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad