Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
“Do you know Jesus”? I remember being asked that awkward question by the Jesus Freaks so many times before I became one of them. I used to wonder what in the world they were talking about. Most people associate the answer to that question to praying the sinner’s prayer then learning all kinds of information about how to improve our lives with lessons from the Bible and the life and teaching of Jesus. Of course there is nothing wrong with any of those things; but….
Those things alone are not what we see in the life of Job. There was steel in his backbone in the face of unthinkable trouble, where did that strength come from? It came from the answer to that question, “Do you know the Lord?”. The answer for Job was an emphatic yes. It was his relationship with his Redeemer that enabled Job to go on when no one else could have, he was strengthened by the Lord. Here are some thoughts from Jonathan Edwards on Job and knowing the Lord.
“Thus Job professed not “only that he knew that Christ was a Redeemer, and that he lived, but also that he was his Redeemer; that when he should see him standing on the latter day on the earth, {though after his skin worms destroy his body, yet in his flesh shall he see God} [Job 19:26]. It implies not only that we know that Christ is a divine and glorious person, but that he, with all his glories, is ours. Not only a knowing that he lives, but that he lives for us; that he is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven in our name, and as our forerunner; that he has loved us and died for us; agreeable to the profession which the Apostle made, Gal. 2:20, “Who loved me, and gave himself for me.” ’Tis a knowing not only that he has promised such and such unspeakable blessings to them that believe, but knowing that we do believe, and so that the promises are made to us, and that the glory shall be bestowed upon us.”
So what about you, do you know the Lord? Just answering that question in the affirmative is not enough, what does knowing the Lord mean to you? To those who think they know Him He is a magic genie, a life coach, or last ditch choice. To those who know Him He is their forever friend and the very source of life.