Sunday With Pastor John Piper: What Does 'I Never Knew You' Mean?

UPDATE:  HEAVY, EPIC RAINFALL IN THE SOUTH, MIDDLE TENNESSEE... NOT OVER TILL SUNDAY

PASTOR JOHN PIPER answers a question I've often grappled with: What does it mean when Jesus says, 'I Never Knew You?' It's a humbling and sobering answer.

I would answer it a little differently.  I would say,  Christ can only know us as sinners in need of Him.  Then we repent of our sins  and ask Him for forgiveness.  Jesus came to save the lost. We are all lost and in need of salvation.  But it's only those who know they are lost and own it who are saved. If you don't know you're lost and need a Savior, then there is no need for you to seek him, except maybe at the last minute.  It's often too late.  Scary.

Remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son who takes his inheritance to a foreign country, squanders it on wine, women and song, then ends up in poverty, feeding pigs and eating slop. It's only then he comes to his senses and decides to go back to his Father and ask for a job as a servant so he can eat.  When the Father sees his lost son from a faraway distance,  he joyfully embraces his wayward boy because the son repents.  And the rest is glorious salvation history.  The Father clearly knew his   wayward son. We don't ever have to be perfect to be known by God,  only to know we need The Father and humbly as him in, or back into our lives.

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