Being an unknown!
I have a question for you: Have you ever felt as if the world does not know or understand you. You feel like an outcast that just does not seem to fit in. As a Christian this can certainly be the case for sure. And there are many who will say that to be an unknown or to be an oddity in today’s secular society can be a real detriment to your success and well-being. The more well-known, popular, and accepted you are by society the greater benefits it is going to provide for you in life.
How we may see the world, as Christians looking through the lens of God’s Word, can be realized as a stark contrast from the way others view things from a worldly perspective. For you and me to march to the beat of a different drum than the culture carries with such actions the possibility of severe repercussions. The feeling of rejection and being ostracized can be the heavy cost which the world exacts on us as people of God.
Why are we to expect this type of treatment? We read these words in 1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” The world desires to reject God and His ways because it runs counterproductive to what sinful mankind wants to do. If you have no connection to the Lord, then there is no reason to have to follow His directives or abide by His will.
Jesus was rejected by the world because He brought a loving, sinless presence the world had never known before. His actions and witness were a condemnation on sinful man and a revelation of how far humanity had strayed from the perfect world the Creator had set in place. It was also proof of just how much God loves us by sending His Son to save us from the penalty of death and hell we rightly deserve as sinners. The Father poured out His wrath on His beloved Son, so that you and I might one day live in everlasting glory.
The world may not truly know you or me. The world may reject who we are as Christians and people of God. But remember dear saints that is OK. because the Lord God Almighty knows who you and I are; we are His children and those whom Jesus gave His very life to save. I can tell you without any doubt that you and I are very well known by the only One who really matters: God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pastor McCarty