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Getting To Know God - Part 1 |
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Introduction |
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It is now 74 years since the
musical, “The King and I” was
produced. One of the songs was,
“Getting to know you, getting to
know all about you”. It is a
delightful piece of music and while
it was never deemed to be spiritual,
it carried a theme which we can lift
to a spiritual level. In His High
Priestly prayer, our Lord prayed,
saying: “And this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent” (Jn. 17:3). The
Greek
gnōsis
is one of five verbs related to
knowing. This word means, “to get
to know” (in this case, God) by
gaining knowledge of living with
Him, sharing His interests, loves
and hates. It is used in 1 John
5:20. |
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a) |
Paul wrote this to the saints at
Philippi about when he penned the
words, “That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being
made conformable unto his death”
(Phil. 3:10). |
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b) |
It is used as a noun when Peter
wrote, “But grow in grace, and in
the knowledge (gnōsis)
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and
for ever. Amen.” (2 Pet. 3:18) |
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When the atom was discovered, man
sought to find a word to describe
its tinniness. He discovered that
every word he knew, diminutive,
minute, etc., all failed, for they
knew of no word to describe its
tinniness. When considering the
Person of God, every distinguishing
feature, every attribute, every
manifestation of power or wisdom,
every declaration on any subject,
every prerogative being exercised,
they are all far beyond our
understanding and comprehension. We
may well experience something akin
to Ezekiel when he stood by the
river (Ezek. 47:3-5). It seems so
shallow at first, and then as one
ponders the glory of His
magnificence, it becomes depths far
beyond ones comprehension.
In the meditation of the Names of
God, we have scarcely gone to the
edge of the river when there bursts
from our lips, “Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it”
(Psa. 139:6).
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Points of Observation |
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We never study God. We may study
things, humans, animals etc., to
gain information. In contrast to
all earthly studies, we read about
God and then meditate on what has
been read. As we are enlightened by
the Holy Spirit, we are led to see
the glories of His person etc. and
knowing Him personally, which
results in worship. Therefore, the
unveiling of God by the Holy Spirit
is not for intellectualism but for
worship and the modification of
spiritual life. It is impossible to
have an appreciation of God and to
speak of Him lightly, behave before
Him casually, or treat His word with
indifference. An appreciation of
the awesomeness of God will result
in great care in presenting oneself
before God, in representing God in
speech, both secular and spiritual,
as in preaching, and in behaviour.
A casual off-handed toss of the
head attitude to God is a display of
spiritual deadness or dwarfishness.
Carefulness in these matters will be
seen as sin; consequently, there
will be an increasing awareness of
personal sin in the life. |
God's desire to communicate with His
creatures |
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It has ever been the purpose of God
to make Himself known, which He does
through creation, self-revelation,
and providential activities. His
Names: |
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a) |
He makes Himself known: To His
People Israel (Ex. 19:11-25); The
unsaved (Rom. 1:19-21); By His
liberating power (Ex. 12:51;
14:1-31); also in the exercising of
His judgments (Num.
6:21). |
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b) |
God also manifested His glory
through individuals: Abraham (Gen.
12:1-3); Moses
(Ex. 3:1-10); Ezekiel (Ezek.
1:1-28); Isaiah (Isa.
6:1-3);
Pharaoh (Ex. 1, 5, 6-12);
Sennacherib (2 Kgs. 18-19; 2 Chron.
32:21) . |
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c) |
Job asked the questions
(Job
11:7), “Canst thou by searching find
out God? canst thou find out the
Almighty unto perfection?” The
glory of God’s immensity
automatically blocks man from ever
seeing Him as anything other than
the incomprehensible God. |
How Can I Get To Know God? |
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a) |
Not by only knowing His names,
though they are
descriptive
of Him. My name is Rowan and it
means red head, but I have never had
a red hair in my life. My name does
not reveal anything of myself. |
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b) |
If I want to know an individual, in
this case God, then I must: |
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i) |
Enter the sphere of practicum as
distinct from classroom theory and
data. This means: |
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1. |
Spend time with God, learning in
practical ways His characteristics. |
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2. |
Saturate my mind and heart with the
acceptance of His unchanging ways
and accept
unquestioningly
His moral judicial criteria for life
with Him. |
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3. |
See God through Christ: |
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(a) |
How did He respond to situations
opposite to His nature? (Jn. 14:25) |
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(b) |
In attitudes foreign to what He
deserves. (Matt. 27:31) |
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(c) |
In close contact with people or
fallen spirits who oppose every
blessing He seeks to bestow, by
mockery, lies, and belittling all he
does. (Matt. 12:24) |
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(d) |
To do this all with righteous
observation and not via rose
coloured glasses. |
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Getting to know God will not happen
in a minute. Even after a lifetime,
one will only have touched the hem
of His garment, but what glorious
garment. In that purified,
uncontaminated sphere, there is
serenity of peace, quietness of mind
and heart, and perfect rest, no
matter what is happening in the
world. |
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. . . . Rowan Jennings |
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