Who is God? Part 1: Introduction


The Importance and Meaning of Knowing God

The prophet Jeremiah said:
"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."  
(Jeremiah 9:23-24, NASB)

What we believe about God is the most important thing about us to God.

The Apostle Peter said:
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."  
(2 Peter 1:2-4, NASB)

The true knowledge of God provides everything we need for our lives.

Jesus said:
""This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."  
(John 17:3, NASB)

The true knowledge of God is life itself!

When the Scriptures speak of knowledge, they are not referring to knowing about in an abstract way, but a deep, personal, relational knowledge.  Jesus reflected this in the Great Commandments:
"Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these.""  (Mark 12:29-31, NASB)

The knowledge of God is intended to manifest itself first in a love for God, then a derivative love for others.  The Apostle John reminds us that if we do not have love, then we truly don’t know God (1 John 4:7-8).

The Impressions We Have of God

How would you fill in the blank: God is                               .  ?

New Testament:
·      Love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16)
·      Light (1 John 1:5)
·      Spirit (John 4:24)
·      Consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Old Testament:
·      Gracious and Compassionate (Psalm 103:8)
·      Righteous Judge (Psalm 7:11)
·      Fortress / Refuge / Strength / Help (Psalm 18:2, Psalm 46:1)
·      Sun / Shield / Good (Psalm 84:11)

"Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.""  (Exodus 34:6-7, NASB)

Have you ever found yourself saying, ‘I could never believe in a God who is/does                                .  ?

The impressions we have of God must be informed by God’s revelation of Himself.

 More on that next time...

In His Grip,

Mark



Comments

  1. MelMarch 20, 2019 at 12:19 PM

    The hiatus over!

    “What we believe about God is the most important thing about us to God.”

    Mark, at the start you focus on knowledge ABOUT God and only later change it to KNOWING God. Some church folks today know much more information about God (in the sense of understanding, at least to an extent, the trinity, for instance) than many of the Old Testament giants of the faith, such as Abraham, David and Jeremiah. However, those OT heroes KNEW God well.

    We need a basic knowledge of the facts about God. Then what is crucial is going from that to KNOWING God. Glad to have you blogging again, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark D. TwomblyMarch 21, 2019 at 8:05 AM

    Many thanks brother, and that is a great point. It reminds me of the truth of Jeremiah 9:23-24.

    Thanks to Betty, who has been persistent in urging me to do more writing.

    ReplyDelete

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