Becoming Who He Knew

I’m so excited to begin blogging on a theme birthed during the writing of my first book, “The Christian’s Kingdom Identity: Ish Chayil & Eshet Chayil. This theme, Becoming Who He Knew, was taken from Jeremiah 1:5 NIV:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Over the years while researching this particular passage, where YHWH commissions Jeremiah to his life-assignment, I received a great revelation concerning God’s intentional intimacy with His creation. It became apparent that Jeremiah’s journey of Becoming Who He Knew began at the moment of his birth. Though this verse is specific to Jeremiah, it demonstrates the great lengths taken by our Creator God, who plans even the smallest details of our lives.

The word becoming indicates a process of change. It is the condition of being consistently transformed from a present state to improved versions, and for the Christian, versions that are more and more aligned with our Heavenly Father’s loving foresight and will.
​
The original Hebrew script brings significant richness to the above text when the four underlined verbs are considered. The following is a rough translation of Jeremiah 1:5:

Before I framed you from foresight, I had regard for you, carefully nurturing your specific uniqueness, before you were born I set, designed and placed you in a unique function and position; I established you, made you to become and gave you to the earth as a prophet to the nations.

Way before Jeremiah existed, YHWH had already wired Jeremiah to become the person whose origin flowed from His divine love, foresight and desire. I submit that the same is true for every human being! Beloved, we are all on a journey of Becoming Who He Knew.

As discussed at our recent Kingdom Daughters Retreat, Paul picked up this notion of Becoming Who He Knew in Romans 12 NLT.

1) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. 2) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The end of this passage is to be the goal of every Christian:
Continual transformation into the new person, the one He knew, whose reality is the zenith of life~living out God’s purpose, His specific will for them, which is good, pleasing and perfect.

The beginning of this passage clearly outlines the requirements for achieving said end, INTIMACY with and DEPENDENCY on our Creator, Father and King! Paul pleads for surrender, which is worship. To Worship is to “give one’s self over to.” The bending of the knee, bowing over or lying prostrate, are all symbolic of the sweet SURRENDER which occurs in the heart. We are to live in a state of worship, which is not an individual act. Worship is not a song or dance; these are actions which flow from the state or condition of worship. Worship is the state of self-abandonment to God which evokes songs, dance and exaltation to the same.

After encouraging a state of abandoning ourselves to God, true worship, Paul cautions against looking to the world for our cues for living. We are called to a higher existence where a Kingdom Orientation is cultivated. In this state of worship, keen sensitivity to the Holy Spirit facilitates our ability to align our thoughts, perspectives and even attitudes with God’s will. In this precious place of intimacy with the Father, instead of mimicking others, we learn to know as He teaches us about ourselves. In this place, clarity of vision and purpose results. Our life-assignment becomes clear. Our kingdom identity is defined and refined as we Become Who He Knew.
​
May you defy the pull to live your life by the dictates of societal trends and fads! May you refuse to allow the voice of this age and social peer pressure to define and confine you! May you discover the rich beauty in following the prompts of the Holy Spirit, and commit to following His lead into ALL truth, including His truth about who you really are! May you determine to give yourself to the Deposit, and thereby change the world for the Glory of God!