"There is no mercy or truth, or knowledge of God in the land" (cf. Hosea 4:6).
I'm not writing as one who has the inside track, has had special revelations or visions or has superior training, but I have studied the subject enough to arrive at some conclusions, mostly thankful to J. I. Packer's book Knowing God.
There's such a thing as knowing someone intimately, and knowing facts about them or knowing about them versus knowing of them. God is so good that to know Him is to love Him, and knowing Him makes us want to love Him and be like Him.
Anyone who says he knows God (especially on the basis of some experience) and does not obey Him is a liar, according to Scripture (not me). Knowledge of God, not knowledge about God, is a means to an end and we must apply what we know to relate to our relationship with Him--we long for more than just knowing about Him, which would be like having a theoretical cognition. We find God (and Pascal says he would not have found Him, had He not first found him), and this is the main pursuit of believers, by seeking His face and searching for Him with our whole heart, mind and soul, and strength.
Our goal is knowing Christ personally, which is eternal life (cf. John 17:3), and not moral perfection, which is only a side effect or result. Life's major pursuit is seeking God and the first step is to recognize how little we know Him and need some answers and guidance. Packer says, "A little knowledge of God is better than a lot of knowledge about God." Note, knowing God doesn't excuse us from knowing about Him. The goal, I reiterate, is to know God, not knowing ourselves, as the Greeks would say, "Know thyself." Hosea says, "Let us know God, let us press on to know Him." God's peeve or controversy with man is that he doesn't know Him ("And they do not know Me," says Jeremiah of God). God says through the prophet Jeremiah, "Let not a man boast of his wisdom ... but that he knows Me." This is a command according to 2 Peter 3:18 is as follows: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Job says, "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace" (cf. Job 22:21). We do good deeds to grow: "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (cf. Col. 1:10). Titus 1:16 warns of those who profess to know Him but deny Him by their deeds.
Why know God?
1) To know Him is to love Him.
2) Shapes morals and ethics.
3) It affects our response to life.
4) It gives strength in temptation.
5) It keeps us faithful.
6) It enhances our worship.
7) It determines our lifestyle.
8) It gives meaning to our life and religion.
9) It sensitizes our conscience.
10) It stimulates hope.
11) It enables us to know what to respect and reject.
12) Is the FOUNDATION.
Five motives to know God:
1) It gives us a desire to be like Him (Jer. 9:24).
2) It reveals the truth about ourselves (Isa. 6:5).
3) It enables us to interpret our world (Dan. 4:33-35).
4) It makes us strong and secure (Dan. 11:32).
5) It introduces us to the dimension of God and eternal life (John 17:3).
Loving God is the ultimate response, according to Chuck Swindoll.
He lists four things we cannot apprehend and never probably will: Trinity (His persona); glory (personhood); Sovereignty (plan); and majesty (position).
What are we going to do with our knowledge of God?
--Do we become conceited?
--Do we see others as poor specimens?
--Does it make us toxic intoxicated and sour, as if not applied?
--Do we turn knowledge about God into the knowledge of God?
--Does it remain theoretical or become practical?
--Does it lead us to lead others to God and know the more?
--Do we meditate (a lost art) on the truths?
Paul said in Phil. 3:10: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection...."
Two caveats: We can know a lot about Him as did ever 17th-century gentleman as a hobby, and not know much of Him at all--even getting A's in theology; we can know a lot about godliness and be religious and not know God--it is not about being good or talking "God-talk", but being alive in Christ. Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive, says someone.
There are four evidences of knowing Christ according to J. I. Packer:
1) Exhibiting great energy for God (Dan. 11:32).
2) Having great thoughts of God (Dan. 4:26; 9:4,7,9,14).
3) Having great boldness for God (Acts 5:29; 20:24).
4) Having great contentment in God (Dan. 3:16-18).
Soli Deo Gloria!
I'm not writing as one who has the inside track, has had special revelations or visions or has superior training, but I have studied the subject enough to arrive at some conclusions, mostly thankful to J. I. Packer's book Knowing God.
There's such a thing as knowing someone intimately, and knowing facts about them or knowing about them versus knowing of them. God is so good that to know Him is to love Him, and knowing Him makes us want to love Him and be like Him.
Anyone who says he knows God (especially on the basis of some experience) and does not obey Him is a liar, according to Scripture (not me). Knowledge of God, not knowledge about God, is a means to an end and we must apply what we know to relate to our relationship with Him--we long for more than just knowing about Him, which would be like having a theoretical cognition. We find God (and Pascal says he would not have found Him, had He not first found him), and this is the main pursuit of believers, by seeking His face and searching for Him with our whole heart, mind and soul, and strength.
Our goal is knowing Christ personally, which is eternal life (cf. John 17:3), and not moral perfection, which is only a side effect or result. Life's major pursuit is seeking God and the first step is to recognize how little we know Him and need some answers and guidance. Packer says, "A little knowledge of God is better than a lot of knowledge about God." Note, knowing God doesn't excuse us from knowing about Him. The goal, I reiterate, is to know God, not knowing ourselves, as the Greeks would say, "Know thyself." Hosea says, "Let us know God, let us press on to know Him." God's peeve or controversy with man is that he doesn't know Him ("And they do not know Me," says Jeremiah of God). God says through the prophet Jeremiah, "Let not a man boast of his wisdom ... but that he knows Me." This is a command according to 2 Peter 3:18 is as follows: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Job says, "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace" (cf. Job 22:21). We do good deeds to grow: "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (cf. Col. 1:10). Titus 1:16 warns of those who profess to know Him but deny Him by their deeds.
Why know God?
1) To know Him is to love Him.
2) Shapes morals and ethics.
3) It affects our response to life.
4) It gives strength in temptation.
5) It keeps us faithful.
6) It enhances our worship.
7) It determines our lifestyle.
8) It gives meaning to our life and religion.
9) It sensitizes our conscience.
10) It stimulates hope.
11) It enables us to know what to respect and reject.
12) Is the FOUNDATION.
Five motives to know God:
1) It gives us a desire to be like Him (Jer. 9:24).
2) It reveals the truth about ourselves (Isa. 6:5).
3) It enables us to interpret our world (Dan. 4:33-35).
4) It makes us strong and secure (Dan. 11:32).
5) It introduces us to the dimension of God and eternal life (John 17:3).
Loving God is the ultimate response, according to Chuck Swindoll.
He lists four things we cannot apprehend and never probably will: Trinity (His persona); glory (personhood); Sovereignty (plan); and majesty (position).
What are we going to do with our knowledge of God?
--Do we become conceited?
--Do we see others as poor specimens?
--Does it make us toxic intoxicated and sour, as if not applied?
--Do we turn knowledge about God into the knowledge of God?
--Does it remain theoretical or become practical?
--Does it lead us to lead others to God and know the more?
--Do we meditate (a lost art) on the truths?
Paul said in Phil. 3:10: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection...."
Two caveats: We can know a lot about Him as did ever 17th-century gentleman as a hobby, and not know much of Him at all--even getting A's in theology; we can know a lot about godliness and be religious and not know God--it is not about being good or talking "God-talk", but being alive in Christ. Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive, says someone.
There are four evidences of knowing Christ according to J. I. Packer:
1) Exhibiting great energy for God (Dan. 11:32).
2) Having great thoughts of God (Dan. 4:26; 9:4,7,9,14).
3) Having great boldness for God (Acts 5:29; 20:24).
4) Having great contentment in God (Dan. 3:16-18).
Soli Deo Gloria!
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