Sermon Text:
Galatians 4:8-31
The greatest joy of the Christian life is not simply that we can know God, but that he knows us. God knows his people and lovingly calls us away from things that enslave us. As Paul reminds the Galatians that as his children we are known by God and we should not submit again to our sin.
Sermon Transcript:
(transcribed with AI)
Promontory Community Church exists to make disciples of Jesus who know, live, and share the gospel for the glory of God. Amen, amen. Well, I encourage you, especially throughout this week, be praying for our brothers and sisters around the world. If you want, you can go to Open Doors website, you can find a lot of information, they have lots there. I encourage you to do so, be praying for our brothers and sisters around the world.
Well this morning I'm gonna invite you to open up your Bibles, if you have one, to the book of Galatians. We are gonna continue on with our series, walking through the book of Galatians. And as you find your way there, I wanna ask you a question. What is the worst job you've ever had? And why was it so bad? Right, I'm sure actually if we walked around this room and heard all the stories, we would hear lots of different things about bad jobs, right, all kinds of horrible things you may have had to do, but I would guess that there'd be a couple of themes that would emerge, right? A couple of themes would emerge of why some of these jobs are so bad, and I'm gonna bet here that actually a pretty big one of them is how you were treated, right? In fact, a lot of the worst jobs that you've done are all about how you were treated there and probably less about the work.
Right, before entering into pastoral ministry, I had a lot of different jobs, right? Every summer through university, I'd be working a different job just trying to make money with whatever I could do, and I ended up having these two jobs that were pretty much on polar ends of the spectrum on this issue, and one, I worked as a garbage man. I was the guy in the back of the truck hauling garbage, all right? And you might think it's my worst job because of what I was doing, it's not. I actually clean portable toilets that was worse, all right? So, but I worked for this garbage company and actually I ended up having to, well, eventually leave, not because it was such a bad job, in fact it was fine, paid well. Here's how I was treated, right?
At one point on the job, I actually ended up injuring myself, hurt my back actually pretty badly. Spent about 6 weeks off, couldn't work. And so, when I actually hurt myself, I was with the driver, he was driving, I was on the back. I said, you gotta stop. I can't keep going, I gotta stop here. And so he radios in our boss, and he radios in, he says, hey, this guy's hurt, like he can't go on. And I heard my boss on the other end of the radio go, oh, that doesn't matter. He's just a day laborer, cut him loose and we'll get you someone else. Now that wasn't true. I wasn't just a day laborer, he did owe me compensation. But I just realized, OK, so that's how I am viewed. I am completely and utterly replaceable, this man does not care a lick about how I am doing.
The opposite end of the spectrum, I had another job working for a painting company. Worked for a family business. In fact, most days I would work side by side with either the owner or his two sons. They taught me. Instructed me how to do the job properly, made sure we had all the proper equipment, safety, everything was provided for, made sure we got breaks, was respected, he would treat us well. I actually got to know him pretty well because as he stood painting side by side, he'd ask me about my life, he knew about my wife, he knew about my marriage, all this sort of stuff. Why? He actually cared about me. Couple of years later I had to call and ask for a reference for something, and I thought, oh man, are you even gonna remember me? Took all of about 10 seconds for him to go, oh yeah, of course, no problem. How are you doing? Right, if right now, I say, OK, you gotta choose, go back to one of these jobs. I mean it's not even a competition. Like there's no way I'm ever going back to work for someone who saw me as an expendable resource. No, this guy actually knew me. Right, the difference is, actually this guy actually cared appropriately about me. Why would I ever go back to that job?
In many ways that's exactly what the apostle Paul is going to be asking the churches in Galatians. Why would you go back to where you were treated as nothing? Why would you not go back to the person who knows you and cares? All right, so as we open our Bibles, that's what we're reading about. Paul is pleading with the church, don't go back to your old way of life, don't go back into sin and legalism. Why? Because actually God knows you and loves you. Being known makes all the difference.
Alright, so if you have your Bibles open, please follow along with me. Galatians chapter 4, starting in verse 8. We have a longer section here this morning. It's our tradition. We stand as we read God's word. If you're unable to, please don't feel worried about sitting down. This is God's word.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods, but now that you have come, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be once more? You observed days and months and seasons and years. I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. It's always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I'm present with you, my little children. For whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it's written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh. The son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These two women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother, for it's written, rejoice, O barren one who does not bear. Break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. Now you brothers like Isaac are children of promise, but just as at the time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now. What does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So brothers, we're not children of the slave, but of the free woman.
As for the reading of God's word, you may be seated. Well done.
Alright, well we have a long passage here in front of us this morning, and it seems a little daunting at first, but it's actually less complicated than you might think. Paul really just has one point he makes at the beginning of this passage, and then the rest of it is really him pleading with them and then giving them an example for them to actually consider and work on. Right? If you've been with us for the past number of months as we've walked through this book of Galatians, you know the whole book has one goal, right? The whole book is all about one thing that we are justified by faith in Jesus, right? We are saved by trusting in Jesus alone. That's always what Paul is talking about and so even here he's reminding them, hey. How is it that you are saved? Well, you're saved by faith in Jesus, and if you were with us last week, you might remember he says not only are you saved by faith, but actually something happens when we trust in Jesus, we are actually made his sons and daughters, heirs alongside Jesus. We inherit everything with Jesus Christ.
And so Paul now is really unpacking, what does that mean, right? Don't you recognize you've been adopted into God's house, so don't turn away. Don't turn away from what God has done. There is really at its core what Paul is talking about. Don't you recognize what God has done, so don't turn back, alright? Just one verse earlier he says in chapter 4 verse 7, he says, no, you're no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, an heir through God, and so Paul's gonna pick that up. He says, don't you know your sons and daughters of God? And so he's pleading with them, this heartfelt plea to remember where they started and gives them this example to consider. How are we going to approach God? Alright?
So let's just start off at the beginning here. Paul reminds them that they are sons and daughters, right? Look back at verse 8. He says, formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. So Paul here, he's starting off and he's reminding them, hey, I want you to think back now. Think back to when you had never heard about God before. And Paul here, he's now specifically going to address the Gentiles in the audience, the non-Jewish people, right, who did not grow up under Judaism. He says, I want you to think back about what you were doing.
Now you might know if you've been with us throughout pretty much this whole book, Paul has been writing to the people of Galatia and he's saying, look guys. You're starting to go back into this Judaism. You're starting to say, hey, you need to believe in Jesus, but then you've got to do all this other stuff, right? Sure, yeah, you trust in Jesus, that's fine, but really you gotta do all these other things. And so primarily he's been writing about this sort of Jewish audience, right? Kind of saying, hey, hold on, let's understand why did God give us the law? Why do we have the Old Testament? If you're with us a couple of weeks ago, you might remember, he says actually the law imprisons us, right? It points out just how very sinful we are. Points out the problems that we have, in fact, even points out the need we have for a savior. I need a savior because I can't do it on my own, that's the whole point. And so he says, actually, the Jewish people were imprisoned under the law. And now he turns to the Gentiles and he says, and you were enslaved, right? Not to the law, but rather to those that by nature are not gods. Right, they were enslaved to their idol worship, to their practices of all manner of things.
And so here's what he's getting at. The truth is whether you've ever heard God's law before or not, whether you grew up in the church or this is your first time ever. Everyone outside of Jesus is stuck in sin. See that's where we all start. Jesus himself even teaching the crowd says truly, truly, I say to you. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. We're stuck in our sins, right, it is like having a slave master over us. And sometimes we start to forget this, we sort of think about sin, it's kind of a, ah it might not be great, but it's not a big deal, right? It's a, it's almost a neutral thing, right, it's a little white lie. It was a slip of the tongue, right, it was just a look, nobody got hurt by it. As we brush these things off and we say, well, that sin isn't a big deal. Except for the fact that sin never stays put. Sin never stays small, no, no, sin continues to grow, get bigger, in fact, dominate and enslave us more and more.
Right, it's just a white little lie. I was just doing it to spare somebody's feelings. Yeah, but now you have to carry that lie, right? In fact, I've got to remember that lie because if I go back on it, well then I'm gonna actually extra hurt their feelings, and in fact I might have to lie a few more times to protect that original lie and then I've got to actually keep track of a whole web of lies that I've now told and lived by. We're being enslaved. Right, we say oh it's just a look, it didn't even matter. It's training our heart, it's training our heart to say, well, actually that's something you should desire. And that look continues and it starts to train us how we live and what we want and what we want begins to be what we act upon more and more, it doesn't stay put. It was just a slip of the tongue. How many slips until it's just part of our vocabulary. Until that's just our attitude, until that's just how we treat people. No, it never stays put. Sin is always growing, always growing more, and what we need to recognize is it keeps us in bondage. It starts to control our lives over and over and over again, and sin is a brutal master. Not only does it lead us into the judgment of God, because God will hold us accountable for everything that we have said and done. But it holds us down and we cannot escape.
That's why Paul's writing this book. That's the problem he's trying to address all throughout. How do we get out of this? It's not by doing a bunch of good things, it's not by trying to turn our own lives around, it is by faith and trust in Jesus that is how we are saved. Jesus' death on the cross actually pays for our sins so that there is nothing holding over us anymore. Actually, the perfect life of Jesus has been given to our account. So that when God looks at us, he sees the perfection of Jesus. Sin's hold has been broken over us. When we trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. His righteousness is given to our account, and we have been given an inheritance in Jesus.
See this is why Paul, having laid all that out before them, then asks at the end of verse nine. How can you turn back to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be once more? You've been set free from all of this. What are you doing going back into it? Christian, why did you turn around and keep on sinning as if that is what we needed to do? Why do we turn around and say, well, I've got to now work for it. Now before we even get too far ahead of ourselves, remind ourselves what are they turning to? Well they've been turning to the law, law of Moses, right? And actually Paul here says turning back to the Mosaic law, it's like turning back into the bondage of sin and idol worship.
Verse 10, he says, you observed days and months and seasons and years. I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Paul's talking about all these Old Testament feasts, the festivals they kept their whole calendar that was all laid out, and he says, look, if you go back into this, if you think this is what is going to save you, you are going back into bondage. Same as if you went back into your sin or even into idol worship. And Paul's writing strongly at this moment. Because actually the heart of the gospel is at stake. The law was never meant to make you right with God. If you're gonna try and do it that way, it's the same as trying to force a piece of wood to answer your prayer. Don't make the mosaic law an idol in our lives. Right, this isn't a minor issue, it's the difference between salvation and slavery, between bondage and freedom. Paul writes strongly because he cares strongly about them.
But here Paul is saying don't do that. Stay away from that side. What is he calling us to? And so here we skipped over the beginning of verse 9 because I wanted to focus on it because it's one of the most beautiful sections. Verse 9, Paul writes, but now. But now that you have come to know God, or rather, To be known by God. Here is Paul's description of the Christian life, not only that we know God, but more importantly that God would know us. That is what the Christian life is all about.
Yes, we do know God and just to be very clear, when Paul says you know God, he doesn't mean you know some facts about God, right? This is more than just sort of information that you happen to have in your head. You can have all sorts of information about God or even the Bible that's not what he's talking about. Same as when you say to someone, well, I know them. Right, if you're saying I know my friend, what does that mean? That means you know when their birthday is. You might not even know when their birthday is. They could be your best friend in the world, but you don't know that fact, that doesn't mean you don't know them. Means you've spent time with them. You've been in their presence, you've been with them over and over and over again, you even experienced life together. You know what they are like, you know their character, you know their person.
So when Paul says you have come to know God, he's not talking about a few facts in your head. He's saying that to be a Christian means I actually know God. I've been with him, walked with him. I've actually experienced life with him, listened to his word to us. Speak to him in prayer. Do you know God like that? You spend your time with God. This is far more than a few bits of information and what Paul says here is far more important is does God know you? Right? Does God know you? See Jesus even warns when he's talking to his disciples, he says at the end, at the final day, there will be many who will say, Lord, Lord, and I will say I never knew you. More important than us saying that we know God is the question, does God know me?
So we ask, I mean, how do I know? How do I know? Does God know me? I mean, clearly that is a far more important question to be asking. How should I know Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, he says, therefore I want you to understand. No one speaking in the spirit of God ever says Jesus is a curse and no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. Again, Paul's not saying you can't literally utter those words. I just read the whole verse. Clearly I could say both. That's not the point. It's not about the words, it's about the heart.
So let me ask you Do you trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus as the forgiveness for your sins? Do you commit yourself to following after the lordship of Jesus in your life? See if you can truly answer yes to that, that is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in you. You cannot be a Christian, in fact, you cannot even trust in Jesus without God sending His Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart. That means you cannot be a Christian without God knowing you. Does God know you? In fact, we cannot be a Christian without God loving you. First John 4:19. Say we love because he first loved us. Why do we come to God and say I love God? It's because long before God set his love upon us, right? When it says God knows you, it means he loves you and in fact even loved you first. The reason you came to God is because he knew you first. God loves us first and what matters more than us knowing some things about God is that God would know us.
Here's the thing, our love for God is so often fickle. Isn't it? It goes up and down depending on our mood, depending on what goes on, right? Sometimes our experience of that love for God is all over the map. I mean if that was my confidence in my salvation was how I particularly felt at a moment, I would have no assurance whatsoever, but what does Paul say? It's not that you know God, it's that God knows you. God's love is not fickle. God's love is not all over the place. In fact, God's love doesn't change in our life. God's love is perfect. It is never wavering. No, when God sets his love upon us, he is not fickle. Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. How well does Jesus know and love those who are his, just as he knows and loves the fullness of the Father so he knows his people. He's laid down his life for us. God's love is perfect.
In fact, he knows all of us, every part of us, that we will spend all of eternity in heaven trying to understand and come to a deeper knowledge of who God is, of what he has done. We will spend eternity doing that and we will never arrive or exhaust the fullness of who God is, but on the other hand, God knows us completely. Every part of you, even the parts you don't know, God knows because he has known us. This is not God looking at us as his pet project, but as his very children. Remember, we are sons and daughters of God. God's love makes us into family. The king of the universe, the one who has created all things, who in the blink of an eye can see our ever expanding universe in the multitude of stars, millions, billions and trillions of galaxies, ever expanding beyond what we can even see. God knows each and every one of them, down to the atoms and whatever is below that, and yet he looks at you with love. God has adopted you into his family by faith in Jesus.
First John again writes. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God. So we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. For everyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord, confesses their sins and trusts in him, hear me, you have the confidence that God loves you. His love does not end, right? That word abide just means remain, it stays, it is sticking all the way. It's not random, it's not going away. Hear me when it says God knows you. It's so much more than a few bits of facts. Yes, God does know your birthday. Yes, God does know every hair on your head, but it's so much more. God has set his love upon everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ. And so hear me, this invitation to faith is open for everyone who would believe. If God is working in your heart, if you feel that stirring of the Holy Spirit, do not turn away but place your trust in Jesus. We love because God first loved us. This invitation to know God, be know be known by Him is for everyone who would trust in Him.
Do you see why Paul's writing this way? See why he's so serious about this? How can you turn back to slavery under sin? When the glory of knowing God and being known by him is what is waiting for us, do not turn back to your sin. Turn away from this and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us rest in the love of God and turn to our brothers and sisters with that same love. First John writes this way, he says he we love because he first loved us. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Right, John says, look, if God's love is resting on you, care for one another.
And in fact this is exactly where Paul goes in this passage, right? Paul, having made this call, do not turn to slavery, rather trust in Jesus then makes this very heartfelt plea with them. Right, well so much of this letter is just like dense, right? So much theology that he's packing into this. This next section is just Paul writing to them and saying, please turn away from that. Right, verse 12, he says, brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. What he means by this is, look, I'm free from the law. Be like me, free of the law. You didn't do me any wrong when you fed me food when I first arrived and it wasn't kosher. You didn't hurt me at that point, no, rather come to understand the freedom of Christ.
And so Paul reminds them of what it was like when they first met. Verse 13, he says, you know. It was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. And though my condition was a trial to you, you didn't scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Paul's like, I know I only showed up because I was sick. I didn't feel good, and so that's why I ended up in your town and you cared for me. Right, you treated me like an angel of God, even as Jesus himself. Romans 15 says, therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. Right, this is what the Galatians did. They were not ashamed of Paul, they welcomed him and God was glorified in them. They were blessed because of it.
So Paul goes, what happened? Verse 15. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? Hey, Paul cares so deeply for them, they cared for him. He doesn't want to see them fall back into the slavery of sin. What happened, guys? Well, we know people showed up who wanted to flatter them. verse 17, they. These false teachers, they make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them.
People came into the church who began to flatter them. Wow, you guys are doing great. You guys are amazing. You know, if I could just make a suggestion, right? They started speaking very well of them. I mean it's a story that's been told 1000 times over, right? People singing your praises over and over again should make you wonder, wait, what exactly do you want here? Right? See, encouragement builds others up. Flattery builds yourself up. Usually by pushing the other down. Paul warns them, look, there are hooks in their flattery, do not bite. The church exists to glorify God, not any leader in it. Be wary of any leader that seeks their own glory.
Paul writes verse 18, he says it's always good to be made much of for a good purpose, but not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I'm perplexed. Paul has one goal with them. I want Christ to be seen in you. I want Christ to be seen in you, that's what I want for your life. That's why he's reminding them of when we first met. Remember the blessing that you had in Christ. Watch out for these people who want to flatter you because you have a goal in front of you, that Christ would be made known. Don't turn again into slavery, trust in Jesus.
And hear me, again, like I said, this is no theological argument. Right, this is no carefully crafted logical sequence. No, this is just Paul, the man going, I care about you so much. I do not want to see you fall away. I do not want to see you turn away from the grace of God. Don't turn away. Hear me, we need to hear that as well. Don't turn away from the grace of Jesus Christ. But we also need to have that heart. We need to look at our brothers and sisters with the same concern, with the same love, with that same pleading heart that says, I do not want to see you turn away from Christ, but rather I want to see Christ in you. Do we care about one another that way? Paul loves this church, he is longing for them, he cares about their spiritual health, and to the point where he goes, look, I don't wanna write this way, I don't wanna talk this way. Paul's uncomfortable doing it. Are we willing to be uncomfortable with one another? So that Christ is known. Are you willing to talk to one another and say, I've noticed something and I don't want to talk to you about this, but I want to see Christ in you. So I will
First Corinthians describes the church as a body. Says that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Hear me, we're bound together. We're one body in Christ. And just like when your arm gets hurt, what's the first thing that happens? Ow. Why did this arm move? This arm didn't get hurt. That one did. Cause you're part of the same body. So when your brother or sister is hurting, you reach out. You care for one another, you care that Christ is seen in their life. Has the love of God so deeply affected your life that you would love others? See that's the source. When we come to know God's love, we want to love one another. If you have been known by God, if you've been loved by God, love one another. Let's be a little uncomfortable together.
Paul wants them to know they are known by God, pleads with them not to turn away, and then he ends by giving them an example to consider. Now, I should probably spend longer on this section than I'm going to, alright? Some of you are worried because you see how much we have left. Alright, I'm gonna go briefly. Paul basically ends by saying, hey, I wanna give you an example. Think about it this way. Alright, and he begins to tell them the story of Abraham, and if you know the story of Abraham, God promises Abraham, you're going to have a child. But if you know the story, you also know it took 25 years for that child to be born. It's a long time to wait. And in fact, Abraham and Sarah, they got a little impatient along the way. And so they said, well, alright, we're just gonna start taking matters into our own hands here, and so what do they do? Well they get Hagar, right, that's Sarah's servant, and says, well you're gonna be a surrogate wife, surrogate mother, so that Abraham can have a child. It's not what God told him to do, and it was a problem for them.
And so Abraham, or sorry, Paul, as he looks at that story goes, I'm seeing some parallels here. I'm seeing some parallels between what I see Abraham has done and what you guys are doing. Alright, verse 21, he says, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law? For it's written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman, Hagar, Sarah. The son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Paul's reading the story and he goes, yeah. One was all about what they could do, one was all about what God could do.
Verse 24, he says this may be interpreted allegorically. He doesn't mean it didn't happen. That's not what he's saying. No, in fact, he's using this, well, I mean, really it's close to typology for those of you who care, right? But regardless, he's saying, look, we can learn a lesson, OK? We can learn a lesson here. One child was about what they could do, one child was all about what God can do. Now, what happened to them? Well, the child was all about what they could do. Well, he was in slavery wasn't he? He was under bondage. In fact, he didn't receive all the promises of God. No, that was for the child of promise, child of faith. The one who was free and did inherit all the promises of God.
Verse 27, Paul quotes from Isaiah 54. He says, rejoice, O barren one who does not bear, break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has. A husband, Paul here is pulling an inception move. This is an analogy within an analogy, right? We're a couple of layers down now. The barren, the barren woman has more children than the one who is not, but here's the point. The one who trusts God will receive more than the one who tries to work for God's favor. See, that's the point Paul wants us to consider.
And so as they are wrestling back and forth, what do we do? Which path are we going to take? Will we try and work. Based on the mosaic law, or even just in our context, are we gonna try and work to be a good person? I'm a good person. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna make it to heaven. I've done enough good stuff in my life. I'm pretty moral. I'm pretty sure I could do enough to gain God's favor. To deserve heaven Hear me, if that's how you're gonna approach God, please understand you will be in bondage. Your entire life will be spent in bondage and a fruitless effort. Right, like running on a hamster wheel that goes nowhere, trying to gain traction on ice, all your effort utterly spent on what we'll never save. Do not go back into the slavery of fruitless effort of what is weak and worthless. Rather trust in the completed work of Jesus for your salvation. And what Jesus has done, not simply because you know about God, but because he knows you.
See, here's the plea. One of these leads into slavery. One of these leads into the freedom of Christ. Consider well the outcome of these two paths. Please understand this question makes the biggest difference in our entire life. What will you do with the message of Jesus? The good news that all of us can hear is that for all those who trust in Jesus, not only do we know who God is, but he knows us, he cares for us, he loves us, he saves us, he brings us into his family.
Do not turn away from that. Do not turn back into the slavery of trying to work your way into God's good books. Hear me, if you are unwilling to work for a boss that doesn't care for you, do not put yourself into the slavery of sin. Rather, run to the God who knows and loves us as his own. One path is slavery, one is freedom. Come to Christ. Look after one another because we are known by God.
Let's pray together.
Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much. Father, we have not deserved your love; we have not deserved your grace; we have not deserved the sacrifice of Jesus nor the salvation that he has accomplished. Father, we haven't deserved any of this, and yet you have so freely given. Father, I pray as we come to understand your love more and more, would it pour out of our hearts? Lord, would it pour forth in worship? Would it pour forth in care for one another? Would it pour forth in the joyful proclamation of what you have done? Father, thank you for the grace you have given to us in Jesus. May we always trust in you and in you alone for our salvation. We ask all this in your name. Amen.