How do you know what I am like?

John 1:47-51

As they approached, Jesus said, “Here comes an honest man—a true son of Israel.” How do you know what I am like?” Nathanael demanded. And Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.” Nathanael replied, “Sir, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!” Jesus asked him, “Do you believe all this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater proofs than this. You will even see heaven open and the angels of God coming back and forth to me, the Messiah.”

Food for thought!

Do you have someone in life who seem to understand you, someone who really knows you? Someone who can guess your thoughts and even sometimes your words? Someone that can read your mind? Well, this is what Jesus did to Nathaniel; he told and showed him that he knows him through and through. He told Nathaniel that long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree. Long before any human saw Nathaniel, Jesus had seen him.

Jesus is telling Nathaniel that he is no ordinary man; that he is God, and because he is God, he knows everybody, he sees everyone everywhere everyday. And Nathaniel was quick to learn this truth about Jesus. This is why he immediately confessed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" Now he knows that God knows him.

Nathaniel didn't let Jesus say loud what he once did beneath that fig tree when Jesus saw him. All he knows now is that God knows him well. This is what God revealed to Jeremiah (1:5) "Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations, that's what I had in mind for you."

This is what king David is saying in Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it. You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head.

This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe! I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me. If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me. For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!
How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!

We too, someday, shall know God as he knows us (1Co 13:12-13)

In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.