THE CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST

THE CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST

To cry out in protest to God is a useless defense, isn’t it? The will of God is to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. And those who haven’t done so cry out in horror. Then the Judge speaks again in Matthew 7:23 and we see the condemnation of those without Christ: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” 

“Profess” is an interesting word; the Greek word for it (homologia) means “to openly proclaim.” Here Christ openly proclaims that He does not know them. That same word is used in Matthew 10:32, where Jesus says, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” If you’re not willingly, openly proclaiming Christ here on earth, then He will not openly proclaim you in heaven. Instead He says, “I never knew you.”

Now we come to one of the most important concepts in all of Scripture, represented by the word “know.” From time to time you might find me repeating this concept because it’s so critical. What does it mean for God to know someone and not know someone else? We know that doesn’t mean He’s not aware of people. We know He’s not saying, “I don’t know who you are.” He knows who everyone is. He numbers the hairs of everyone’s head; He knows when a sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29–30). He knows everything there is to know.

So what does Christ mean when He says, “I never knew you”? Second Timothy 2:19 gives us the key: “The Lord knows those who are His.” What does that mean—what is he trying to say? The word “know” in Scripture implies a unique love relationship. In Amos 3:2 God says, “You [Israel] only have I chosen [lit., “known”].” Now is Israel the only nation God knew about? No, He knew about every nation. What was He saying? He was saying, “I have an intimate relationship with Israel.”

In the Old Testament the concept of a man and a woman coming together in a relationship that produces a child is spoken of as a man “knowing” his wife. For example, Genesis 4:17 says, “Cain had relations with [lit., “knew”] his wife.” We don’t assume he knew his wife in the pure sense of just knowing her—that’s obvious or he wouldn’t have married her in the beginning if he hadn’t known her in that way. It has to be more than that. The verse goes on to say, “She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch.” In other words, to “know” refers to the most unique human love relationship possible.

You may remember that the Bible says that Joseph had not known Mary (cf. Matt. 1:18, 25). That’s what shook him up so much when he discovered Mary was pregnant. He had a choice of either stoning her or putting her away properly because she was pregnant and he had never known her. The word “know” in a human realm implies a unique love relationship between two people. In terms of God’s relationship, the same thing is true. Paul says in Galatians 4:9 that believers are “known by God.” The beauty of our intimacy with God is that it’s likened to a man knowing his wife. And that’s what we see in Scripture: God refers to Israel as his wife (cf. Hosea 1–3) and the church is seen as the bride and Christ the bridegroom (cf. Eph. 5:25–32).

We have an intimate love relationship with God. It’s illustrated beautifully for us in the words of Christ in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own.” As I read this passage, I’m going to substitute the word “love” for “know.” “I am the good shepherd, and I love My own and My own love Me, even as the Father loves Me and I love the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I love them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (vv. 14–15, 27–29).

Do you see the beauty and intimacy of the love relationship we have with Jesus Christ? In Romans 11:2 the apostle Paul says, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” God predetermined a love relationship with you if you’re a Christian. In the counsel of God, by the sovereign act of His will, He foreordained that you should be a child of God (Eph. 1:4). You have a predetermined love relationship with God just as Israel did, and still does. The intimacy of that love relationship is so beautiful that God speaks of it in the most magnificent of human terms: the consummation of love between a man and a woman. When God says, “I know My sheep”; when Christ says, “I know you,” that means you and I have an intimate love relationship with them. What a glorious thought!

But to these who do not have that love relationship, He says, “I never knew you.” They had no such predetermined love relationship. They had no such relationship as a sheep and a shepherd or as a bride and a bridegroom. To be outside that special love relationship is to suffer His judgment, “Depart from Me.” What a tragedy! Christ reiterates those harsh words at the time of judgment in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”

How sad it is that the final picture of judgment is a tragic picture of sadness. The unbelieving of all the ages are brought before God, Jesus Christ reiterates the condition for the kingdom, to do the will of God, and they cry out, those who have been separated, “But we’ve done all these things in Your name.” But the Judge speaks finally and says, “You’re condemned because we never had a love relationship.”

Christianity is not a formality. Christianity is not a religion—it is a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have that love relationship? Do you know that same Christ? 

I close with this illustration. There was an actor at a drawing room function who was asked to recite something for the audience. He stood up and being gracious to his audience said, “I’ll recite anything you would like me to recite.” No one suggested anything at first. But an old preacher who happened to be there, sitting in the back of the room, stood up and said, “I’d like to hear you recite the Twenty-third Psalm.”

Well, the actor was a little shocked at that, but he had made himself available to recite anything that was requested, so he did what the man asked. He happened to know the psalm, so he said he would recite it. He repeated the Twenty-third Psalm with complete eloquence—it was a masterful interpretation. His diction was beautiful. When he finished, the entire room of people erupted into spontaneous applause. 

The actor, figuring he’d get back at the old gentleman for suggesting he recite something from the Bible, said, “Now, sir, I’d like to hear you recite it.” The old gentleman hadn’t bargained for that. But because of his love for Christ he stood up and repeated the Twenty-third Psalm. His voice cracked, it broke, and it wasn’t very beautiful. The interpretation wasn’t really that good either. When he finished there was no applause, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

The actor, sensing his own emotion, stood up and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I reached your eyes and ears, and he reached your heart. The difference is this: I know the psalm; he knows the Shepherd.”