226. Knowledge of the Son of God
Ephesians 4:13 …and of the knowledge of the Son of God…
The equipping of the saints builds up the body of Christ until we all attain to the knowledge of the Son of God. In eternity this promise will be fully realized: we will know the Son even while we continue to learn about the Son for all eternity. This knowledge is virtually inexhaustible.
Complete knowledge of the Son is impossible for human comprehension while on earth, since humans are corrupted by sin, death and the devil, by the ignorance of the flesh, and by the deceits of the world. How great, wondrous and beautiful the Son of God is! Knowledge of Christ, who He is and what he has done, how much He loves and what His death and resurrection means for us, is beyond our full comprehension; but knowing Christ is possible as soon as we believe Him.
We know Christ immediately but we grow in that knowledge. What happens to us is that over time we know Him better; and He becomes to us better and better all the time. The more we hear and believe the Gospel the deeper His love, the more amazing His grace, the more beautiful He looks, the wiser He appears, and the brighter He appears until finally Christ becomes all in all. When it dawns upon by the revelation of the Gospel that Christ is all we ever need for life and happiness we realize that we need nothing more. The more we know Him the less we need and desire anything else.
The promise is that we know the Son well enough for this life; and we have the promise that in eternity we will know Him completely and see Him most clearly; and we will feel His liquid love pouring over us all the time. But for now “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowingChrist Jesus my Lord.” It is wonderful to know the Son; it is more wonderful to know Him better and better; and it will be most wonderful to know Him perfectly even as I am known.