Deuteronomy 7:9, 11 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations…Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
All life, and a good life, begins with knowing God, that is He is faithful to His promises and keeps covenant and mercy. Know = believe. Believing is knowing. Knowing involves an intimate relationship which engenders an absolute trust. We know who God is, what His character is like, and what He thinks about us. We know Him so well that we can gladly follow Him and keep His Word and that He won’t disappoint. We know how He loved us: He sent His Son.
God chose us, loved us, and redeemed us (vv, 7-8). Therefore, because of God’s love, we respond by knowing (believing) Him. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to want to obey Him. We obey Him by abiding in Him. Abiding produces fruit. The goal and purpose of our life is to know Jesus better and draw closer to Him. We do this by spending time with Him, getting to know the depth of His love.
Therefore, because of the Gospel, we love Him and do what He says. We can only live well by obeying, we can only obey by loving, and we can only love Him by knowing Him better every day. Developing this loving relationship never stops, even in all eternity. He knows us and loves us eternally: we respond by knowing and loving.