Being Known by God

Father, sometimes it worries us to think that you are unchanging, that you just don't change.

But Father, help us to understand this mystery of who you are.

And Father, we get a glimpse of it with this idea that you are unchangingly faithful.

That when you accept us as your son or daughter in Jesus, by faith in Jesus, that you never let us go.

Nothing can stop you from letting us go.

We thank you, Father, that you are a great God, that you are faithful, that you desire to know us and have us know you.

And so, Father, bring your word home and bring this truth home to us this morning.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, one of the challenges in courtship and in marriage is you meet somebody and, you know, you become interested in them.

And then you start to get to know them.

And that's the challenge.

Because as you get to know them, you start to realize there's things about them which you hadn't quite realized before.

And sometimes you find that endearing and wonderful.

Sometimes you find it shocking and upsetting.

And sometimes you just find it a little bit irksome.

And part of the whole process of developing a relationship is how you manage those things.

As you know, some of you maybe have dated somebody or you started to become friends with somebody.

It doesn't have to be romantic.

And then after a while you realize, no, I don't really think this is going to work.

I don't really think we can be friends.

This particular habit or this particular aspect of their personality, I just can't quite manage it.

People are angular, if you know what I mean.

In fact, it's one of the differences between imaginary friends and real friends.

Imaginary friends, I don't know, they always laugh at your jokes.

They always just go along with what you want.

Real friends don't always laugh at your jokes.

And sometimes they can be very irritating.

You know, one of the marks of the fact that God is a real God and not just an imaginary God,

a make-believe God, is that we Christians believe that the true God that does exist has spoken to reveal himself.

And he's revealed himself to us through his word.

And so what that means is that when we read his word, because he's not a make-believe God, an imaginary God,

there's times when we read his word and we go, ooh, really?

Really?

You say that?

And we cringe.

Now, you might think I'm being a little bit extreme.

And if you're a guest here, you're thinking, gosh, I know I shouldn't have come to an Anglican church saying such mean things about God.

That would never happen to me.

I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn to Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

And we're going to read verses 8 and 9.

And if you don't think that, imagine that you are going to, on Monday, tomorrow,

you're going to gather all of your co-workers together, and you're going to read this verse to them slowly,

these two verses slowly, all your co-workers.

The atheist, the agnostic, the spiritual person, the Muslim, the Buddhist, you're going to read this to them.

Galatians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9.

Galatians 4:8

1.

Formerly, friends, when you did not know God, whoa, just don't go any further.

When you did not know God.

You're saying, the Muslim says, you're saying I don't know God?

The Buddhist says, you're saying I don't know God?

The spiritual person, you're saying I don't know God?

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

But now that you have come to know God, that's he's talking to Christians.

Or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world

whose slaves you want to be once more?

Now, depending on your personality type, some of you might be saying, I'd love to read that text to my co-workers.

My boss.

My boss's boss.

And others would be saying, well, George, maybe you have a little bit of a point about sometimes there's things in the Bible

that just sort of make us get a little tiny bit uncomfortable.

Because for many of us, this would be a very, very, very awkward text to read.

In fact, you know, some of the times I say, well, if you know, if you actually know the original language or something like that,

it, you know, it says this or that, it softens this or makes it.

Actually, that doesn't happen here.

In fact, actually, even to make it more blunt, it actually literally says, when it says in verse 8, in my version of the Bible, it says formerly.

Literally, it says, however, then.

And however, then in the original language is emphatic.

In other words, if we were to try to be translating it more literally, it would just look tacky.

But you would bold it and make it all capitals because it's supposed to jump out of the page.

However, then, when you did not know God, and then you'll notice in verse 9, but now, and it's a direct contrast.

So, in fact, actually, the text is making a very, very, some very, very stark claims.

We're going to camp here for a second just to get our minds around it because you never know when somebody's going to ask you about stuff like this.

So, if you could put up the first point, Andrew, that would be very helpful.

And here's the claim that the text is making.

The true God exists and there are no gods.

The true God exists and there are no gods.

And some of you might say, well, George, how does that fit in?

I mean, Paul wouldn't have known about Hinduism and he wouldn't have known about Buddhism

and he wouldn't have known about Islam amongst three things.

How would that have worked?

Well, just sort of one tiny little thing.

He probably actually did know a little bit about Hinduism because the church that was sort of the sending church for Paul was Antioch

and there's archaeological evidence that there was some contact.

There might even have been people of what we now call India in the congregation.

So, actually, he might very well have known a little bit about Hinduism and Buddhism.

But the fact of the matter is, is that the ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism,

either that all is God or that everything isn't God but the God is sort of in everything,

those actually were already Greek philosophers that thought about that.

So, Paul was familiar with it.

And Islam, of course, didn't develop for almost 700 years afterwards, so he wouldn't have known that.

But it would have some similarities to a type of radical Judaism, so he would have been familiar with that.

So, in fact, and here's where things get very uncomfortable.

And if you're guessed, you're going to be maybe a little bit shocked.

And hopefully, as we talk it through, you still might be very shocked,

but at least you'll maybe understand why we would say such a shocking thing.

The fact of the matter is, is that even in the presence of a billion Hindus and a billion Muslims,

this text would say that Allah is not a God.

And the Hindu gods are not gods.

They're not by nature.

They're not real.

That's what the text is saying.

The true God exists, and there are no gods.

Some of us might be thinking, that's really, really a very, very, very big claim.

And it might be all right, George, for us to talk about this right now,

when we're all sort of together.

But I'm also a little bit confused, George, because aren't a lot of people of other faiths,

and even those who have no faith at all, they don't believe in any God whatsoever,

aren't a lot of them a lot better than Christians?

And the answer would be, yes, they are.

But Christianity doesn't make any claim about people being better.

Read the text again.

And this is the problematic thing, because, George, you know, you're saying that they're enslaved.

But surely, don't you think they live better lives?

Like, some of you might even be thinking of, I don't know, a Christian,

and maybe an atheist, and you'd say to yourself,

George, I'd rather have the atheist as my boss, because they're a better person.

So, I don't know how they're enslaved.

Well, let's listen to the text again.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,

how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world,

whose slaves you want to be once more?

The text is very clear, making a big claim.

If you could put up the next point, that would be great.

Here's a way to start to understand it.

We will always be enslaved by what we worship,

unless we worship what we were created to worship.

You know, it's interesting.

As I was writing this, I had in the back of my mind a regular conversation partner that I have,

who's always trying to embarrass me in public.

And, but occasionally he gives me, I mean, it's sort of odd.

I mean, one week he can try to embarrass me in public by saying something in a really loud voice about,

so you worship a God who likes to kill people and cause people to holy war.

The whole restaurant, all of Starbucks goes quiet, you know.

And then the next week he'll say something sort of positive to me.

But, you know, in a sense, he would agree with that, up until the comma, he would agree,

we will always be enslaved by what we worship.

In fact, he'd probably say to me, George, if you just stop there, you hit it right,

they hit the nail on the head.

You hit a home run.

You hit a home run.

We will always be enslaved by what we worship.

In fact, not just my friend who's an atheist.

Many, many people who wouldn't necessarily call themselves atheists or agnostics,

they just say, you know, all religion, you know, it just enslaves you.

You know, like, why waste your time on Sunday morning going to a church, paying money?

Like, why don't you just sleep in, go to a nice restaurant for brunch,

and then just hang out all afternoon and watch some football games and drink a few brews?

Like, why bother yourself with anything big or mighty like that?

You know, it just enslaves you.

It just bends your life out of shape.

Just bends your life out of shape to serve this.

And Christians, you see, this is a, I think it's a very Christian statement.

We will always be enslaved by what we worship unless we worship what we were created to worship.

You see, at the very heart of the Christian faith is not just that the Christian faith is just like

what gives us a little bit of meaning in our life.

It makes us happy, gives us a sense of purpose.

And, you know, when we talk like that amongst our non-Christian friends,

they might think it's weird because they might think, you know,

like, why don't you get your meaning and all, I don't know,

like just from being centered, doing a little bit of yoga,

I don't know, volunteering occasionally or, you know, whatever.

It seems a bit odd and it leaves you to take odd positions on things like abortion.

But, you know, at the end of the day, if we say,

well, it just gives me some peace, it gives me some purpose.

And they say, well, you know, for some it's rock climbing, you know,

for some it's yoga, you know, for him it's church.

You know, for me it's a few beers, watching football all afternoon.

Like, whatever, you know, cranks, you know, whatever turns your crank,

like, that's all we say.

But Christians actually make a very, very, very deep claim.

We make a claim that we are creatures in a created order,

that there is a God who does exist,

and that God who does exist chose to create out of nothing.

And when he made human beings,

he made us to be in his image and likeness.

And he made us to know him and to be known by him

and to have fellowship, communication, community with him.

That's how he made us.

He made us to look out to him,

to love him, to be grateful to him,

just to rejoice in who he is,

just as in a sense, you know,

if you have a really, really great friend

and you just sort of rejoice in who they are and your friendship.

Like, you know, not all,

but you just have this sense of joy,

of having a really good friend

or, you know, somebody really important in your life like that.

And in a very real way, but to the nth degree,

because God is eternal, that for all eternity,

just sort of rejoice in God.

And God made us to sense,

to get our meaning in relationship to him,

to get our direction in relationship with him,

to have our sense of worth in connection to him

and to get our satisfaction in connection with him.

God made us to be the type of creature

that always looks out or goes out

to have meaning and hope and purpose

and satisfaction and direction.

And when, in Genesis 3,

we raised our fist at God

and said that we want to be equal with you at least,

and we turned our back on God,

when we did that,

it didn't mean that we stopped being human.

It meant that our backs are turned to God,

that we become far from God,

that we become lost, in a sense,

in our own imaginings apart from God.

But that part of us,

that we were made to look for somebody

or somewhere or something

or some idea or some principle

that will give some meaning to our life,

some purpose to our life,

some direction to our life,

some shape to our life,

some grounding to our life,

that part of us that continues to look out,

continues to look out.

It doesn't go away,

but what it means is that we will now look everywhere other than God.

To have meaning,

to have a sense of purpose,

to have a sense of direction,

to have a sense of being grounded,

to have some type of satisfaction,

of hope,

that will have to be now somewhere other than God.

And if you think about it for a second,

if we were designed in such a way

that we would find that in God,

and now we go somewhere else other than God,

that's actually being bent out of shape.

And the fact of the matter is,

is that much of what we give ourselves to

and find our meaning in

is even less than human.

Friends,

every single person you meet today,

it doesn't matter if you go for a walk down Rideau Street

and you meet the most broken down street person

that you've ever seen,

or if by chance you're walking down the street

and you get a glimpse of a billionaire

or you get a glimpse of the prime minister,

every single human being

will last longer than Canada,

will last longer than the United States.

Canada will come to an end.

The United States will come to an end,

unless Jesus comes first.

But human beings survive death.

Canada is not made in the image of God.

Every human being is made in the image of God.

The person will last longer than the nation,

the ideology.

And that doesn't even count the fact

that so many of us,

what we do to find meaning in our life,

even, you know,

we find meaning in our life from having gadgets,

but they're all less than us.

Like, why is it that we find meaning

for something that we make,

which is less than us?

I talk in my blog about,

if you look at it this week,

about, you know,

whether Hinduism and all

and the Buddhist type of idea,

you know,

and that in the Bible.

And at the heart of it is

all of these ideas

see ultimate reality

as fundamentally impersonal.

But in our day-to-day lives,

if something is making

more and more impersonal,

if we serve impersonal things,

that makes us less, not more.

And whether it's ideas

like Marxism or capitalism

or whatever,

if that becomes what drives us

and what motivates us,

we're giving ourselves

to something that's less to us.

And if we're giving ourselves

to that which is less than that,

us,

how can it not bend us

out of shape?

You see that the Bible here,

which is on one hand

talking about something

which is very, very, very,

very, very, very counterculture.

Let me tell you,

the counterculture in Canada

is not countercultural.

Galatians 4, 8 and 9

is profoundly countercultural,

which is why we would feel

so profoundly awkward

about talking about it

with our boss

and our boss's boss

and our co-workers.

But when you think about it,

there's profound wisdom.

We might be uncomfortable about it,

but there is profound wisdom.

If you could put up

the next point,

the not-by-nature gods

enslave people,

the true God,

died a slave's death

to redeem

and free us

from slavery

to not-by-nature gods.

You see,

what the Bible is saying here

is, like you might wonder,

is the Bible saying that

there's not other gods?

Like, that's a bit

of a more complicated thing.

The Bible sort of says

that they're not by nature gods.

In other words,

on one level,

they don't exist as gods.

But even this word

elementary principles,

there's three different ways

that can be translated in English,

all of them valid.

Elementary principles

and elementary powers

or elementary spirits.

If you look at Bible translations,

all three of them

will be present.

And the idea

in the original language

encompasses all three.

And, you know,

sometimes if you think about it,

what we give ourselves

to are principles,

ideas, capitalism,

Marxism,

queer theory,

like gender,

we give ourselves

to principles,

our ideas.

We also give ourselves

to fundamental forces.

We give ourselves

to sex

or our tribe

or we give ourselves

to power.

We give ourselves

to fundamental

sort of powers

in the world.

And the Bible also says

that sometimes

those things

which are worshipped

as idols or gods

are in fact demons.

That they're in fact

they're demons.

and in all of these cases

if we give ourselves

to them

and they're not

the real God

and we were made

to worship

and to know

the real God

to find our meaning,

our hope,

our satisfaction,

our grounding,

everything in the real God

who truly exists,

who creates all things

and sustains all things.

He's not a God

who made all things

and then went away.

He's a God

who made all things

and then sustains everything.

Every second of existence

is sustained

in existence by God

not by itself

but by God

and we were made

to know that God

and to worship that God

and if we go

either towards principles

or powers

or spirits

we are bending ourselves

and this idea

that is now

sort of being revealed to us

and is very profoundly

uncomfortable

to us as Canadians

this is not

it's so funny

that the way

we automatically

try to think of God

is that when we think of God

we think of him

like an elemental power

or an elemental principle.

We think of him

as an abstraction

which is what a principle is

or we think of him

as connected to a power

whether it's the power

that race holds

or the power

that money holds

or the power

that just our desire

for power holds

or we think of God

in terms of almost

really ways

that would be

the best way

to think of demons

as that God

is going to be a God

who just wants to

control us

he just wants to

enslave us

he wants to demean us

and we automatically

in our fallen state

tend to project upon God

these categories

because that's what

we're looking for

in the time

all in the world

all in the world

all in the world

and so when we hear

this thing about

the true God

we automatically

start to try to

think of him

in terms

of these categories

but they're not

by nature

God's enslaved people

but when we think

of God

how is it that

God has fundamentally

vindicated his word

and justified his word

and revealed who he is

he does it

through the cross

about a year ago

I was having a conversation

in a Starbucks

of all places

and I

and the person

was going on and on

about how

you know

God kills people

and it's just

it's going to hurt

like she

she was going on

and the other people

were all listening in

but this one person

was taking the lead

and talking about

how God relates

to people

and I

had one of those

Holy Spirit moments

somebody must have been

praying for me

keep praying for me

when I said

you know the God

that you believe in

kills people

puts people

to death

but the God

that I believe

in the real God

doesn't put people

to death

but dies for people

and all the person

could do

because they had

intellectual integrity

was say

I never thought of that

and then I had

a very brief

one minute

explanation

about how

Christians believe

that God

the Son of God

I didn't quite

use these words

I was more articulate

and hopefully more

at their level

but I just said

the very center

we believe that

God's Son

took on human flesh

and died on the cross

to free you

the not by nature

God's enslaved people

the true God

died a slave's death

because that's what

the crucifixion is

a slave's death

why

did Jesus come

why did he

become

like a slave

a servant

and die

a slave

or servant's death

he did it

to redeem

and free us

from slavery

to not by nature

gods

that's what Jesus did

you know it's

very interesting

I learned

this week

at synod

one of the speakers

was comparing

the final words

of Jesus

before his death

and the final words

of Buddha

before his death

the final words

of Buddha

before his death

was

strive without ceasing

the final words

of Jesus

before he died

it is finished

not I am finished

but it is finished

my task

to come

to die

a slave's death

to redeem

those enslaved

by not

by nature

gods

my task

my mission

has finished

some of you might say

okay

George

help me out

with something here

I thought God

knows everything

so how can it say

that he knows me

like I thought God

knows everything

how can it say

he knows me

look again at verses

8 and 9

you might have noticed

that 8 and 9

are important verses

and if all you remember

afterwards is 8 and 9

and not my points

then I have

the Holy Spirit

done a good work

in our midst

listen to verses

8 and 9 again

formerly when you

did not know God

you were enslaved

by those that by nature

are not gods

but now that you

have come to know

God

or rather

to be known

by God

if you could put up

the first point

the next point

that would be very helpful

when by faith

we receive the gospel

we become known

by God

as his treasured

child forever

that's what the text

is saying

when we by faith

receive

we receive the gospel

we become known

by God

as his treasured

child forever

if you go back

later on

and those of you

were here last week

and I didn't put to sleep

and you remember it

we talked about how

you know

it's so interesting

when you give your life

to Jesus

like when I

when I became a Christian

I didn't know

an awful lot

all I had

was this sense

that

there must be

something more

and that when I was

in the presence

of real Christians

who were singing

God's praise

and then I

saw them afterwards

I sensed that

there was something

more

and I knew

there was something

more

and I knew

it was connected

to Jesus

and I knew

I had to have

Jesus in my life

and I had a strong

long battle

before I surrendered

all I had

was this sense

that if I reached

out to Jesus

he would take me

and that there

was something more

and you all have

your own different

stories

but one of the

wonderful things

is that we

we just have

in my case

I just have this

sense that there's

something more

and you reach out

to Jesus

and he reaches

down to you

and takes you

and then you

start to realize

as you read

his word

all that happens

when he takes

you by the hand

like I didn't

really have

any sense

that when I

reached out

to Jesus

that when he

took my hand

what he was

doing is saying

George

this seals

the exchange

the doom

you deserve

was on me

the destiny

I deserve

is now on you

the shame

that is on you

is now on me

being able

to be in a sense

fully open

to God

is now on you

all the things

that you've done

wrong

that you deserve

punishment for

that's now on me

my perfect life

of obedience

that now

clothes you

I didn't know

those things

when I put out

my hand to

Jesus

I learned

them afterwards

maybe some of

you are just

learning it now

and one of the

other things

I didn't know

is that when I

put my hand

out to Jesus

and he reached

down and took

mine

I become

known by God

and not only

do I become

known by God

I become

God's

known by God

and his

treasured

child

and this is

something that

will exist

forever

just pause a

little bit

before I explain

a little more

about no one

you know

it seems

very very

unkind

and uncharitable

to say that

there are no

other gods

that exist

but this is

why it's so

important to

the gospel

to grasp

this

if there

are other

gods

or other

powers

that really

exist

that are

like God

that are

true rivals

to God

then one of

them could

elbow God

and he'll

let me go

one of them

can make an

accusation about

me to God

and God

will let me

go

one of

them can

grab me

themselves

and pull

me out

of God's

grips

and God

will let

me go

but when

we understand

that there

is in fact

only one

God

and there

are no

other

gods

then when

the Bible

says

that we

are known

by God

and he

will never

let us

go

nothing

can make

him

let us

go

because

God

has

no

rivals

he

has

no

rivals

this

if you

go back

and you

read

Galatians

4

and you

see all

this

language

about

the

son

you

understand

that

maybe

part

of

how

to

understand

how

it

is

that

God

can

know

everything

but

now

it

says

that

he

knows

us

in a

particular

way

because

now

what

it's

talking

about

it's

a

different

type

of

idea

than

just

mere

knowledge

it's

knowing

us

as

the

son

who

inherits

everything

which is

what we

talked

about

last

week

it's

personal

knowledge

in fact

if you

could

put up

the next

point

here's

the claim

I

cannot

know

God

unless

he

knows

me

first

I

cannot

know

God

unless

he

knows

me

first

what's

going on

in this

idea of

personal

knowledge

and God

knowing us

first

in some

way

imagine

imagine

you're

going to

this

church

for a

year

and

in

this

church

you

start

to

hear

a lot

about

this

other

person

a lot

of

different

people

they

talk

about

this

person

a lot

and

they

just

talk

about

him

or

her

and

they

tell

you

lots

of

stories

about

him

for

instance

he's

not

here

but

we

could

probably

all

tell

you

10

Daniel

Gilman

stories

he

wouldn't

mind

me

using

him

as

an

person

and

you

might

actually

say

who's

that

person

that's

Bob

that's

Bob

really

oh

gosh

that's

Bob

and

you

might

feel

like

you

know

them

because

you've

heard

so

much

about

them

but

you

don't

really

know

them

right

you

just

know

a

whole

lot

of

stuff

about

them

you

don't

know

them

and

then

maybe

you're

in

lineup

for

coffee

with

Bob

and

you

just

say

hi

and

and

it's

one

of

those

times

when

you

say

hi

to

Bob

there's

a

little

bit

of

a

click

or

you

have

a

sense

of

a

connection

between

the

two

of

you

and

then

before

you

know

it

you

decide

to

have

coffee

or

something

after

the

service

or

lunch

after

the

service

and

you

hit

it

off

and

in

the

days

and

weeks

ahead

you

start

to

spend

time

together

and

you

get

to

know

each

other

and

you

become

friends

and

in

that

personal

knowledge

what

happens

in

that

process

is

you

get

this

sense

that

you're

entering

into

their

life

in

some

way

they

now

know

you

and

you're

entering

into

their

life

and

at

the

same

time

you

have

the

sense

that

they're

entering

into

your

life

they have

a

bit

of

a

place

in

your

life

and

at

the

same

time

you

also

sort

of

understand

that

not

only

is

there

this

friendship

now

but

that

there's

going

to be

growth

into

the

future

that

it's

not

just

that

you

have

a

one

nice

conversation

but

you

have

this

sense

that

there's

a

friendship

and

it's

going

to

grow

like

there's

some

hope

or

future

or

legs

on

this

relationship

and

at

the

same

time

you

have

this

bit

of

a

claim

that

goes

and

Bob

said

well

actually

we're

not

friends

you'd

be

crushed

because

in that

type

of

personal

knowledge

there's

a

claim

and

not

only

a

claim

but

a

sense

of

things

going

on

in

the

future

and

you'd

be

crushed

now

that's

how

it

just

works

when

there's

just

two

people

and

we're

both

people

and

it's

a

little

bit

equal

but

let's

just

think

of

you

know

it's

hard

to

think

of

God

but

think

of

something

different

think

about

becoming

friends

with

the

Queen

of

England

I was

going to

use

either

Trump

or

Trudeau

as an

example

but

the

opinion

polls

might

not

make

that

a

good

example

in

terms

of

how

they're

doing

so

I

think

most

people

like

the

Queen

and

we

know

a

little

bit

about

it

some

of

us

know

people

who

are

fixated

about

the

Queen

and

we

think

it's

a

little

bit

odd

right

Queen

memorabilia

Queen

facts

and

stuff

like

that

by

the

way

I'm

talking

about

the

Queen

of

England

not

the

Rock

group

just

to

be

clear

about

this

in

case

some

of

you

are

a

little

bit

confused

and

but

and

you

know

the

way

it

is

with

the

Queen

how

on

earth

could

I

ever

become

the

Queen's

friend

I've

been

told

that

if

she

reaches

out

her

hand

to

you

you

can

take

it

but

you

don't

reach

out

your

hand

to

her

and

have

her

take

it

and

you

know

it

would

be

let's

say

you

have

an

honour

and

you

get

to

go

to

Buckingham

Palace

and

you

meet

the

Queen

and

you

know

you

might

think

I

think

there

was

a

bit

of

connection

between

me

and

the

Queen

and

your

friends

would

say

are

you

smoking

dope

like

get

over

yourself

there's

no

connection

between

you

and

the

Queen

but

if

the

Queen

phones

you

up

you

go

whoa

and

she

says

and

she

chats

with

you

for

a

few

moments

like

if

you

were

like

me

it

would

be

like

I

would

be

like

the

deer

in

the

headlights

right

you

wouldn't

know

what

to

say

and

then

she

invites

you

over

for

lunch

and

it's

maybe

not

a

thousand

people

but

just

ten

and

then

she

calls

you

and

she

invites

you

over

and

then

it's

a

private

thing

and

then

at

some

point

in

time

you

realize

you're

talking

on

the

phone

you're

actually

spending

time

with

each

other

the

Queen

knows

you

the

Queen

considers

you

her

friend

and

now

I

can

consider

the

Queen

my

friend

before

I

wasn't

allowed

to

even

touch

her

now

if

we

get

together

I

could

put

my

arm

around

her

I

think

she's

short

my

arm

around

her

and

I

wouldn't

have

guards

coming

and

arresting

me

she

could

put

her

arm

on

me

now

if

that's

how

it

works

just

with

the

Queen

that's

how

it

works

even

in

a

far

higher

degree

with

God

in

our

arrogance

and

pride

we

catch

for

God

but

in

reality

we

can't

know

God

unless

he

knows

us

first

and

when

he

knows

us

some

of

his

life

comes

into

us

and

our

life

goes

into

him

and

a

claim

is

made

by

God

in

our

friendship

and

the

possibility

of

growth

into

the

future

is

present

as

well

God

will

never

let

me

go

God

will

never

let

me

go

if

you

could

put

up

the

next

point

when

God

knows

me

he

knows

me

for

eternity

my

knowing

of

him

ebbs

and

flows

his

knowing

of

me

is

unfailing

and

here's

where

that

other

knowledge

of

him

is

very

powerful

if

I

got

to

become

friends

with

the

queen

at

some

point

in