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INSPIRATION FOR LIVING>
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNOW GOD?
September 1, 2008
Perhaps you have heard a Christian say “I know the Lord”,
or “You need to get to know God.” Seems straightforward,
right? The truth is, like much of the Christian lingo, the
concept of knowing God means different things to different
people such that what we mean and what listeners think we
are saying can be two totally different things.
God is so awesome, and we are mere mortals. In what way can
we possibly know Him? We know what we mean when we say we
know another individual. It seems reasonable that we can
bring that same mindset to the idea of knowing God, but is
that correct?
Those of us who have become born again may think we
understand what it means to know God from a practical
standpoint because we know that once we accepted Christ, He
became more real to us. Personally, I am truly amazed at my
current relationship with Christ, including how real He has
become to me. Speaking out of my own experience, I am
convinced that none of us can be real with God until He has
become real to us.
That we might know God was His plan from the beginning. It
is He who set the vehicle in place to make it all possible.
That suggests that our coming to know Him is something He
values.
First of all, the Bible is clear that our knowing God is
not based on a hunch, nor is it a matter of subjectivity.
In other words, a person does not know the Lord just
because he believes he does. But “hereby we do know that we
know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).
Please note that this verse constitutes a self-test. It’s
not to be used by others to evaluate us. On the contrary,
this verse tells us how we can know if we know God.
Secondly, the aforementioned verse declares that a
life-changing experience is an integral part of our knowing
God. It says, in effect, the proof that we know God is that
we keep His commandments. None of us are born with a
tendency to live this way. Every one of us was born with a
corrupt nature as a result of the fall of man in Eden. God
must radically change us before a life of obedience to His
commandments can emerge.
On the other hand, the aforementioned verse is not a call
to literal perfection. Though it’s true that when a person
knows God he keeps His commandments, it is not true that if
a person at times disobeys the commandments of God he does
not know the Lord. Proof that this is true can be found in
1 John 2:1: “These things write I unto you, that ye sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” According to this
verse, though it is the will of God that we don’t sin,
because we will at times sin, God has provided a means for
our sins to be atoned.
There are countless theological views about virtually every
major teaching in the Bible. Not all Christians even agree
as to whether Satan is real or not, for instance. Nor do we
all agree about when the rapture will occur, relative to
the Great Tribulation. The concept of knowing God is no
exception. But hear this: “He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him,” the Bible says (v. 4). This is strong
language. It clearly says that the evidence that we know
God is reflected in a life of obedience to His
commandments. In this verse there are no exceptions to the
rule.
So how does this mystery of knowing God occur? In the Old
Testament God speaks of a New Covenant He will make with
His people: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for they shall all know me…” (Jeremiah 31:33b-34a)!
Of course, we know that we can only establish this New
Covenant with God though Christ, the mediator of the same.
What we see from this quote in Jeremiah is that when we
become born again through faith, God writes His laws on our
heart so that they become a part of our inner being.
Secondly, through the born again experience we will
instantly know the Lord—without the benefit of any
intellectual process.
At times I hear televangelists claiming to have heard a
special word from God for everyone who comes in a prayer
line. And as they make their financial appeal to the
viewing audience they might make a statement about what God
just told them He would do for those who will send His
servant a certain amount of money.
Don’t misunderstand me; being a preacher myself, I know God
speaks to His servants. Just last week, relative to my
writing this newsletter, I was trying to get a word from
the Lord to preach for the coming Sunday. Even up until
late Saturday night—after midnight--I had gotten nothing.
Yes, I could have just taken a passage out of the Bible and
go with that. But I have made it a practice to wait until I
hear from God. Anyway, I just went to bed, believing He
would speak to me the next morning early enough to prepare
myself. I have come to know Him to be faithful in this
regard.
Sure enough, I awoke about 5:30 Sunday morning, and a title
and the key passage seemed to explode in my spirit with a
sense of urgency as I was getting out of the bed. I knew it
was what God wanted me to preach. It’s the normal way He
speaks to me about preaching. And the message was greatly
received by the congregation.
On the other hand, not everyone who claims to have heard
from God indeed has. Not every televangelist is telling the
truth during financial appeals. That brings me to the heart
of what it means to know God: To know Him is to know His
voice. Jesus said regarding His disciples, “The sheep
follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not
the voice of strangers” (John 10:4b-5).
NOT ONLY DO PEOPLE WHO KNOW GOD KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, BUT
ALSO THEY FOLLOW THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD, AND FLEE THE
VOICE OF THOSE WHO DON’T TALK LIKE THE SHEPHERD! I can
discuss this point at length, but my doing so would be
beyond the scope of this e-newsletter. Suffice it to say
that God speaks to us through a number of ways: thoughts,
dreams, visions, other servants, etc. There are many voices
out there trying to speak to us. Those who know God can
discern what is very God.
Knowing God is a progressive process. We first come to know
Him through the born again experience, whereby He writes
His laws on our heart, and brings us into the knowledge of
Him. After that we must cultivate our relationship with Him
so we can know Him better. This is no different from the
way we get to know an individual better after first meeting
him or her.
We get to know God better by living in His world more. That
is, by prayer, fasting, Bible study, serving, etc. As we
draw nearer to Him He draws nearer to us. For example, over
the years through preaching and having the Lord interacting
with my sermons during preaching, I have come to know how
He speaks to me in the area of preaching and what to preach
about.
Without a commitment to growing in our knowledge of God,
our prayer life will not be very meaningful. It‘s good for
us to pray to God for guidance or direction, etc., but it
won’t mean very much if we don’t know what He is saying
back to us. That, my friend, is the essence of knowing
God—the ability to discern His “voice” AND to obey the
same.
Frank King
www.efrankking.com
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