Both the Ph.D. and the unschooled believe they know God. That’s why most people don’t like to attend a Bible Study. “Don’t teach us religion, for we too believe in God; we have our own religion; we don’t need your sermon!” Yes, that’s how most of us react when the subject is all about the Bible and Christ. But do we know God and understand Him from the Biblical angle?
‘That’s why most people don’t like to attend a Bible Study. “Don’t teach us religion, for we too believe in God; we have our own religion; we don’t need your sermon!”’
Learn More About Him
Know God and understand Him more since Christ taught that we didn’t recognize God; we were simply ignorant spiritually; we were lost in this life! “All things have been handed over to Me,” He said, “by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son.” (Matt. 11:27)
We don’t recognize God, I mean the God of the Holy Scriptures. It is Christ’s doctrine: we don’t have the Father in spite of our insistence that we do. That’s why God desires that we would be interested with Him seriously. We need to know God and understand Him more. Observe Jeremiah 9:23-24:
Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (NASB)
Know God—It is His Delight
We must experience God and understand Him for doing so makes Him happy with us. “‘For I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” (cf. Jer. 9)
But, again, Christ said that “no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son.” Or, that had we known the Lord, we would have also known “that He is the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth.” We would have noted that God is both merciful and just; that He is righteous and holy, and that’s why He hates sin!
Know God—He Demands Righteousness and Justice
God, in effect, said in Jeremiah 9:23-24:
If you got something that I would certainly be impressed, it’s not your money, looks, fame, education, religiosity and prayerfulness; it’s rather the fact that you understand and know Me; you understand that I require righteousness and justice, for I hate sin—and that you know God more!
Think about this verse often, if you want Christ’s role and involvement in your life to make more sense. To recognize God is to recognize Christ first for no one knows the “Father except the Son.”
But “no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son.”
Another point is God’s demand for righteousness and justice. He said in Exodus 20:4-6:
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
See God by understanding His jealousy and hatred for idols. He is even visiting and withdrawing His blessings on the grandchildren of idol-worshippers who showed hatred toward Him by dishonoring Him for the gods made of wood or silver.
How to Know God More?
The Bible’s recipe for us to know God more is to know Christ more. The Muslims or the Hindus don’t accept, and much less believe, in the following truth in John 14:8-9, John 14:6, and Matthew 11:27:
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
To have God more is to have Christ more. What we need to do for now is accept Christ’s promises and lordship of our heart and soul.
Here is Christ’s invitation for us to experience Him more (even to dine with Him!):
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)
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