Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matt 7:22-23)
the american problem included reference to this verse, and I have continued to meditate upon it because it is such an unexpected declaration from the mouth of Christ. The phrase that is perhaps most surprising is, “I never knew you.”
How can it possibly be the case that the omniscient God would not know someone whom He had created? Even more strange is that the people whom God does not know are, by outward appearances, big-hearted, humane, philanthropic people. Some of them are preachers! Apparently, the problem is not trivial, because Jesus referred to “many [who] will say to me on that day…”
“I never knew you.”
There seems little question that these good people (a.k.a., “Christians”) were, and are, missing something central and supremely important. Jesus did not sacrifice himself on the cross so that we could get all busy and productive. The Lamb of God did not go to the alter so that we could become little saviors of the world. By way of his suffering and death, he became a high priest who passed through the heavens. The purpose for having done so is clearly stated by the writer of Hebrews: “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”1
A.W. Tozer wrote, “The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence,”2 and in so doing, characterized his contemporaries the same way that Christ did many years ago. It is little wonder that “I never knew you” could be true if we have never been in His Presence. Perhaps it is time to go to prayer and introduce ourselves, not to his teaching, but to Christ himself.
2 A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications, Inc, Harrisburg, Pa, 1948.
