Knowing God

It is imperative for a Christian, above all else, to know God. Not just about Him, or His laws, or His works, but to actually know God. We realize the difference in our personal lives, how we may know about someone without knowing the person themselves. We know about the President, celebrities, coworkers, etc., but we understand that we do not know them personally. In the same way a person can have knowledge of God without actually knowing Him; just ask any atheist on the street.

How do we know someone? It starts with some base level of knowledge about the person. These are usually based on shallow first impressions which may or may not be accurate. As time goes on these impression become modified and rewritten the more we spend time with the person. Eventually we get to the point where we come to know the person – we understand them, empathize with them, and can even predict some of their thoughts and actions with a reasonable amount of accuracy. This is most common in close friendships and strong marriage relationships.

One humorous thing I have noticed with certain married couples (myself and Danielle included) and close friendships is that in certain conversations one person speaks, and during a pause the other person picks up mid-sentence to speak, then during another pause the first person once more picks up the conversation mid-stream and continues as if they had been speaking the entire time. This happens because they know each other and can largely predict the other’s movements. It is something that only comes with time, and springs from a natural, intimate knowledge about the other.

I find it interesting that God speaks of His people as His bride. I also find it interesting that Jesus calls His disciples His friends. These terms speak to a relationship where each party is known by the other in a deep, significant way. It goes beyond mere intellectual knowledge about the other (as important as that is), to actually knowing the other themselves. If God speaks about us in these terms, then He must have an expectation that we will know Him, and He will know us.

I also do not believe that this is only something that will happen one day when we leave this earth to be with Him. God called Abraham His friend while Abraham was still alive! Jesus called the disciples His friends while they were alive! The church is called the bride of Christ now! Our knowing God will surely be perfected when we are free from the corruption of this world, but that is another stage of growth, just as we continually grow in other close relationship. The fact is we are called into a relationship where we know God now, not just someday.

Over the next several weeks we are going to be talking about what it means to know God. I hope and pray you will take this time to delve into His Word, go to Him in prayer, and seek to truly know Him just as He knows you. The opportunity is given to us now. Why not take such an offer? J