Knowing Him: Why Truth, Identity, and Choice Matter More Than You Think
There is a question that cuts through the noise of every self-help book, every spiritual trend, and every promise of hidden wisdom that seems to surface in every generation: not what do you know, but who do you know?
That distinction is not just a clever turn of phrase. It is the foundation upon which genuine faith is built, and it is the dividing line between a life that lasts and a life that fades.
The Foundation You Already Have
The apostle John, writing to the early church near the end of his life, offered something that might surprise us given the challenges his readers were facing. He did not open with a rebuke. He did not lead with a warning. He led with encouragement.
In 1 John 2:12-14, John writes in a poetic, almost lyrical style, reminiscent of the Psalms and Proverbs, to remind believers of who they already are. He addresses children, fathers, and young men, not to divide them, but to speak directly to where each of them stands in their journey of faith. And his message to all of them carries the same heartbeat: you already have what you need. Your sins are forgiven. You know the one who is from the beginning. You have overcome the evil one.
This is not a small thing. In a world full of voices telling people they need more revelation, more knowledge, a secret key to unlock something they are missing, John says stop. You are not spiritually incomplete. You are not lacking some hidden insight that will finally make everything click. If you know Jesus, you know the Holy One. And that changes everything.
The book of Proverbs reminds us in chapter 9, verses 8 through 10, that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and that knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. John is echoing that same ancient truth. The foundation of a flourishing spiritual life is not accumulating more information. It is deepening a relationship.
The Warning We Cannot Afford to Miss
Of course, encouragement without honesty is not really love. And so John also issues a warning that is just as relevant today as it was when ink first met parchment.
Do not love the world or anything in the world, he writes in 1 John 2:15-17. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
This can sound harsh at first glance, even confusing. After all, God created the world. He looked at what he made and called it good. The Psalms celebrate the earth's beauty. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 that finding satisfaction in work and enjoying food and drink is itself a gift from God. So what exactly is John warning against?
He is not warning against creation. He is warning against a disordered heart.
John breaks worldly temptation into three categories. First, the lust of the flesh, which is not about physical existence being evil, but about desire that runs outside the boundaries of God's design, craving what is forbidden, letting appetite become master. Second, the lust of the eyes, which is coveting, seeing what someone else has and being consumed by the need to possess it. Third, the pride of life, which is finding worth, identity, and security in status, achievement, or the praise of others rather than in God.
None of these temptations are new. They are the same ones that appeared in the garden. They are the same ones Israel wrestled with in the wilderness. They are the same ones the early church was navigating when false teachers began offering spiritual shortcuts and secret knowledge as alternatives to the simple, costly, transforming truth of the gospel.
Paul addresses this head-on in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, pointing out that God deliberately chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise, and what the world considers weak to shame the strong. The cross is a stumbling block to those looking for power and a mystery to those chasing wisdom. But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. The invitation is not to boast in what we have figured out. It is to boast in the Lord.
The Choice That Defines Everything
John closes this section with one of the most sobering and clarifying statements in the entire letter. The world and its desires pass away, he writes, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
That is the choice laid before every person. Not a complicated one. Not one buried in theological jargon. A clear, direct fork in the road.
Everything this world offers has an expiration date. Possessions rust. Influence fades. Empires crumble. Even personal legacies eventually dissolve into history. The Egyptian pharaohs filled their pyramids with treasures, certain those riches would follow them into the next life. Their tombs were emptied by strangers. You cannot take any of it with you.
But the kingdom of God, as Daniel 2:44 declares, will never be destroyed. It will endure forever. And those who align their lives with the will of God, not out of obligation but out of love, out of the transformed heart of someone who knows whose child they are, those people step into something that death cannot touch.
This is why John writes with such urgency and tenderness. He is not trying to frighten anyone into compliance. He is trying to wake people up to the reality that the choice in front of them is between the temporary and the eternal.
What It Means to Truly Know
Here is what ties all of this together. Knowing God is not a moment. It is a movement. It is an ongoing, deepening, active relationship with the one who made you, loves you, and gave everything to bring you back to himself.
You do not obey God in order to become his child. You obey God because you are his child. That shift in understanding changes the entire posture of the spiritual life. It moves faith from a transaction to a relationship, from a checklist to a love story.
The question worth sitting with today is simple: are you building your life on what passes away, or on the one who lasts forever?
There is a question that cuts through the noise of every self-help book, every spiritual trend, and every promise of hidden wisdom that seems to surface in every generation: not what do you know, but who do you know?
That distinction is not just a clever turn of phrase. It is the foundation upon which genuine faith is built, and it is the dividing line between a life that lasts and a life that fades.
The Foundation You Already Have
The apostle John, writing to the early church near the end of his life, offered something that might surprise us given the challenges his readers were facing. He did not open with a rebuke. He did not lead with a warning. He led with encouragement.
In 1 John 2:12-14, John writes in a poetic, almost lyrical style, reminiscent of the Psalms and Proverbs, to remind believers of who they already are. He addresses children, fathers, and young men, not to divide them, but to speak directly to where each of them stands in their journey of faith. And his message to all of them carries the same heartbeat: you already have what you need. Your sins are forgiven. You know the one who is from the beginning. You have overcome the evil one.
This is not a small thing. In a world full of voices telling people they need more revelation, more knowledge, a secret key to unlock something they are missing, John says stop. You are not spiritually incomplete. You are not lacking some hidden insight that will finally make everything click. If you know Jesus, you know the Holy One. And that changes everything.
The book of Proverbs reminds us in chapter 9, verses 8 through 10, that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and that knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. John is echoing that same ancient truth. The foundation of a flourishing spiritual life is not accumulating more information. It is deepening a relationship.
The Warning We Cannot Afford to Miss
Of course, encouragement without honesty is not really love. And so John also issues a warning that is just as relevant today as it was when ink first met parchment.
Do not love the world or anything in the world, he writes in 1 John 2:15-17. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
This can sound harsh at first glance, even confusing. After all, God created the world. He looked at what he made and called it good. The Psalms celebrate the earth's beauty. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 that finding satisfaction in work and enjoying food and drink is itself a gift from God. So what exactly is John warning against?
He is not warning against creation. He is warning against a disordered heart.
John breaks worldly temptation into three categories. First, the lust of the flesh, which is not about physical existence being evil, but about desire that runs outside the boundaries of God's design, craving what is forbidden, letting appetite become master. Second, the lust of the eyes, which is coveting, seeing what someone else has and being consumed by the need to possess it. Third, the pride of life, which is finding worth, identity, and security in status, achievement, or the praise of others rather than in God.
None of these temptations are new. They are the same ones that appeared in the garden. They are the same ones Israel wrestled with in the wilderness. They are the same ones the early church was navigating when false teachers began offering spiritual shortcuts and secret knowledge as alternatives to the simple, costly, transforming truth of the gospel.
Paul addresses this head-on in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, pointing out that God deliberately chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise, and what the world considers weak to shame the strong. The cross is a stumbling block to those looking for power and a mystery to those chasing wisdom. But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. The invitation is not to boast in what we have figured out. It is to boast in the Lord.
The Choice That Defines Everything
John closes this section with one of the most sobering and clarifying statements in the entire letter. The world and its desires pass away, he writes, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
That is the choice laid before every person. Not a complicated one. Not one buried in theological jargon. A clear, direct fork in the road.
Everything this world offers has an expiration date. Possessions rust. Influence fades. Empires crumble. Even personal legacies eventually dissolve into history. The Egyptian pharaohs filled their pyramids with treasures, certain those riches would follow them into the next life. Their tombs were emptied by strangers. You cannot take any of it with you.
But the kingdom of God, as Daniel 2:44 declares, will never be destroyed. It will endure forever. And those who align their lives with the will of God, not out of obligation but out of love, out of the transformed heart of someone who knows whose child they are, those people step into something that death cannot touch.
This is why John writes with such urgency and tenderness. He is not trying to frighten anyone into compliance. He is trying to wake people up to the reality that the choice in front of them is between the temporary and the eternal.
What It Means to Truly Know
Here is what ties all of this together. Knowing God is not a moment. It is a movement. It is an ongoing, deepening, active relationship with the one who made you, loves you, and gave everything to bring you back to himself.
You do not obey God in order to become his child. You obey God because you are his child. That shift in understanding changes the entire posture of the spiritual life. It moves faith from a transaction to a relationship, from a checklist to a love story.
The question worth sitting with today is simple: are you building your life on what passes away, or on the one who lasts forever?
Melvin Vandiver
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