Now That You Know God (4:9)

According to Paul, the result of conversion from paganism to Christ is the knowledge of God. But again we are quickly informed that what Paul means by knowledge is a personal encounter initiated by God: now that you know God—or rather are known by God (v. 9). Our knowledge of God is the result of his knowledge of us. Throughout the Bible, the joy of God's people is that God knows them. "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me," the psalmist sings (Ps 139:1). Jeremiah begins his prophecy with the certain knowledge that God knows him: "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, `Before I formed you in the womb I knew you' " (Jer 1:4-5). By contrast, the worst fate of all is to be unknown by the Lord. There are no more terrible words than the words "I never knew you. Away from me!" (Mt 7:23).

To be known by God is to be chosen and loved by him. Because he chose to know us as his own people, we know him as our God. This is the knowledge of personal relationship, a relationship initiated and sustained by God's grace.

This kind of knowledge was vividly illustrated for me one night as I was traveling by train from London to Cambridge. The man next to me pointed at the name of the author on the book I was reading and said, "He's a good bloke."

"Really?" I said. "Do you know him?" I was surprised, because the author of the book was John Polkinghorne, former Cambridge professor of mathematical physics and now the president of Queens College of Cambridge University, a world-renowned scientist and theologian; and the chap next to me on the train did not look or sound like either a colleague or a student of this great scholar.

"Oh yes, he knows me!" he asserted proudly. "I serve his table at the college." He was obviously delighted not only that he knew this famous author but also that he was known by him.

Although I have read several of Polkinghorne's books and read articles about him, I could not claim to enjoy the relationship that this chap had with him, even though he confessed that he had never read a word by him or about him.

The Galatian believers could also delight in knowing God and being known by him, even though they had not read his book. This was the knowledge of a love relationship. As Paul said to the Corinthians, "The man who loves God is known by God" (1 Cor 8:3).