Knowing God

By Mark Bird

Do you know God? I’m not asking if you believe in God. Do you know God? I’m not asking if you pray. Do you know God? I’m not asking if you read your Bible. Do you know God? I mean do you really know God? You may think this is a strange question. How can I know God? He is an invisible spirit, and I’m flesh and blood. How can I know God? He is deity and I am just human. How can I know God? He is perfect and I am sinful. The Bible says you can know God. Not only can you know him, but you can be assured that you know him. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).

Firstly, we can know God through nature. Nature is wonderful. The beauty of the sky and the stars, the plants, the animals and even the human body all point us to God. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Physicians and scientists can tell us many amazing things about life, plants, animals, and humans, but eventually these men must acknowledge something greater, wiser, and more powerful than themselves--God. What causes the seed to bring forth new life? God. What mind is wise enough, or what power is powerful enough, to cause this world to exist? God. Nature, in a wonderful way, points to God. However, nature only tells a few things about God. Nature will not tell us God’s will for our lives. It will not tell us God’s plan for saving man or how to worship God. Many people try to be close to God through nature or by being mystically in harmony with their own mind and soul. Knowing one’s own mind or knowing God’s creation is not the same as knowing God. Do you know God? In Romans 1:19-20, we learn that 1) God has revealed Himself to us, 2) He reveals Himself by the things He created, 3) from His creation we can know that God has eternal power and that He is deity, and 4) because of what is revealed about God through nature, there is no excuse for not believing in Him. “Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20 New International Version).

Nature helps us to know God. But we can know only a few things about God through nature.

Secondly, we can know God through Jesus His Son. Many people, religious and non-religious, have wrong ideas about the God of the Bible. Some think of God as a weak old man. Others think of Him as a mean and hateful God. In the Old Testament we are first introduced to God at creation. There we learn of His power. Next we meet God as He drives Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden because of their sin. There we learn of His justice. God later destroys the world with a flood. We now learn of His vengeance and wrath. As we begin reading in the New Testament, we meet Jesus. Often we only think of Jesus as love, peace, and grace. We remember Him talking to women and children. His miracles showed His compassion. But wait! If your ideas about God are only vengeance, wrath, and judgment--while at the same time you think of Jesus as only love, mercy, and grace--then you need to read John 14:8-9 and John 1:1-3. Jesus and the writer John tell us that “He that has seen me [Jesus] has seen the Father” and that “the Word [Jesus] was God.” You can know God by knowing Jesus. They are one. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son ...” (John 3:16). Jesus is not the only one who loves us; God loves, too. On the other hand, we should notice that Jesus also shows wrath, vengeance, and judgment. He said, “... the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). To know Jesus is to know God.

You can know God by knowing Jesus. You can know Jesus only through the word of God. Read 2 Peter 3:18 and 2 Peter 1:3. You can know the word only by studying and obeying. Do you know God?

Thirdly, you can know God by obeying Him. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). The ultimate way to be sure you know God is to be sure that you are obeying Him.

To know God is to obey him. We all know some people better than we know others. We know some in a more personal, intimate way. How well do you know God? We come to know God through Jesus in the Bible. We know Him better when we obey His plan of salvation (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4). We continue to know God in a more personal, intimate way the longer we know Him and obey Him. How well do you know God? Do you know Him better now than when you first met Him? The scriptures have much to say about growing as a Christian (2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:1-2; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:12-14). In order to really know God, you must obey Him.

We can know some things about God through nature, but not everything we need to know. In order to know God, you must know Jesus. You can know Jesus only through the word of God. To know Jesus is to love Him. If you love Him, you will keep His commandments (John 14:15).

May God bless you as you meet God and get to know Him personally through studying and obeying His word.