I don’t believe I have ever met anyone who hasn’t heard the name of Jesus Christ, I’m pretty sure that we’re speaking of the same person when His name arises, I don’t think anyone has ever named their child Jesus Christ Smith or Jones. From that point on though, if they decide to continue in the conversation, things can start to get a little fuzzy, so to speak.
For us He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, God’s Messiah, and our only way to the Father is by salvation in Christ, but not to many pepole, in fact, if Matthew 7:14 is correct, and it is, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” To them to most He is just a name and no more.
The cults of the world that establish their form of salvation upon works pretty much make up every religious organization upon the planet, they always have, and their basic tenet has never changed, you must do something to appease the wrath of who they say God is, whether it is a god of their own making, or for some that do not know Him, even Jesus Christ. Most people do not know Christ personally for two or more reasons, they do not spend any real time in the Word of God, seeking His face for His glory, and then contemplating Him throughout the day, and they believe what they have been told by the person that stands behind the pulpit each Sunday without verifying his words against the Scriptures.
Their knowledge of Christ is limited because they choose it to be, because He is not precious to them.
The Word of God is more than just a collection of stories and accounts from the past, it shows us the character of the Most High, it shows us the mind of God, as least as much as we need to know to serve Him effectively and in the praise that He is due, but it does not always offer us the one thing that only we can supply, the desire to know Him. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) God does not force virtue upon any man, but He will not turn away those who truly desire to know Him and serve Him, but there is a caveat, so to speak, He must not be second to anything in our lives, our total affection must be for Christ and no other.
Here is the point that emphasizes the opening words of this letter to you my friends, here is why so many have heard His name, but do not know Him, they will not make Him the highest priority in their lives. Many that sit in the pews each Sunday morning, or at least listen to the message, get an uplifting emotional feeling, and then they pass through those mental erasers called doors as they leave the building. Worship is not a word that is associated with many churches today. Those who desire to be known of God must seek God in a full-time, devotional way that is hindered neither by self nor anything in this world, He must be all that we desire, He must be first in all things.
Those to whom He will reveal Himself to He will do so by His Holy Spirit, He will not do so in any other way, and He will only do so to those that He has chosen. Knowing the name of Jesus Christ does not gain any man entrance into the kingdom of God, having a close, personal relationship with Him does, and only those who have given their lives to Him can know Him as Lord.
