"Knowing" God

Over the next few weeks, I hope to share some of my thoughts regarding how our lives would be transformed if we “knew” God better. However, before we start talking about how we might be changed, I first want to talk about what it means to “know” God.

Claiming to “know” the infinite, all-wise, all-powerful, self-existent One who is beyond comprehension seems almost insulting. However, John clearly teaches that the height of spiritual maturity is to “know” him (1 Jn. 2:13-14). This is the same disciple that said, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21:25). In Romans 11:33 Paul exclaimed, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

So, if we can never truly fathom the totality of who he is and if John couldn’t even manage to capture the full breadth of Jesus’ earthly activity how do we begin a journey of “knowing” him? If these two men who knew Jesus and loved him far better than I do felt that they hadn’t even scratched the surface of knowing him, what hope do the rest of us have? I would argue that this place of feeling that we are completely insufficient is precisely where we must begin if we are to “know” God in the way the John desired his “little children” to know the Father. If we believe that our intelligence and self-effort will be sufficient to know God, we will miss the supernatural need for the Spirit to illuminate our hearts and reveal truth. Jesus specifically told his disciples, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (Jn. 14:26). In the next chapter, Jesus boldly proclaimed that, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). We must start at a place that abandons our pride, surrenders to the need to be taught by the Spirit, and is willing to trust that the Life of Christ in us will enable us to obey what he commands.

Once we have abandoned the notion that we can “know” God based on our own efforts, then we can begin to understand what John was teaching. This word for “know” is the Greek work “ginosko.” It has the idea of understanding, perceiving, and to be able to speak about. It is an intimate knowledge, and it is absolute. This is not just about facts; it is about relationship and knowledge that comes through experience (both in the trials and in triumphs). This word, “know” is in the perfect tense which means that they know absolutely and unchangeably. It is a completed action. Does that mean they never struggle or never sin? No, they are tempted and still fight spiritual battles (just like the young men). However, they have an anchor that is unchangeable and have come to a point of spiritual maturity that allows them to be steadfast in their faith.

There are different words for “know” in Scripture, but this is one of the more common ones. John himself used this word sixty-three times in the Gospel of John, twenty-five times in 1 John, and seven times in the first three chapters of Revelation. Ensuring that his readers “knew” God was a priority. However, Paul also used the word extensively – perhaps nowhere as urgently as his prayer in Philippians 3:10 when he said, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection.”

Paul, who was arguably one of the most spiritually mature people to walk on the planet, still desired to know God more intimately. He had been entrusted with revealing several mysteries to the church. He had been taught by Jesus himself. Even Peter, a pillar of the church, came to the end of his life and said, “As our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him…there are some things in them that are hard to understand” (2 Pet. 3:15-16). Paul knew so much – he was incredibly gifted academically. However, he longed to continue growing and to progressively “know” the Father. God's ways are beyond our ability to fully understand (because we are finite and not eternal). However, God has revealed enough truth about himself in his Word that while we can never exhaust our study, we can know him better. A couple that truly loves one another doesn’t throw their hands up in the air and say, “I will never know my spouse fully, so I won’t bother to know them at all.” A teacher would (hopefully) not look at a first grader and say, “Oh well, they don’t understand Multivariable Calculus, we might as well not teach them Math.”

On a practical level, we understand that knowledge is gained incrementally, intentionally, experientially, and often through instruction. We do not learn in a vacuum. We do not learn simply by our own efforts. We do not learn exclusively by reading what other people say about God. Rather, we must devote ourselves to the study of his revelation of himself. He has given us his Word. He has given us a volume that can be read and re-read with passion and new insight.

The first time you read about the feasts in the Old Testament you may not catch their application to the end times. The first time you read Daniel, you may not notice the significance of the Son of Man being given dominion. You may not notice the little details in the genealogies that give such insight regarding God’s eternal plan. However, the awesome news is that you don’t have to catch it all at once. You can read it over and over again. You can gain insight. You can rely on the Spirit to teach you. We can take the knowledge that God has revealed and apply it to our lives. We can take the truth of who God is and change the way we live so that what we know intellectually becomes lived reality.

There is a reason that there are two stages of spiritual maturity before we get to the fathers. This is not a journey that happens overnight. This is not a magical threshold that some people are able to obtain (like some sort of super-saint). Rather, this is a journey that all who truly belong to Christ should be a part of. This is learning to live by the life of Christ in us (Gal. 5:16-25). God wants to be known and while the task may seem daunting (and is not for the faint of heart), it is something that he will accomplish in our lives – if we are obedient. Wouldn’t it be tragic to arrive at Heaven and know so little of the one who paid the price to take us there? Even worse, how horrifying it would be to arrive in Heaven and realize you didn’t know him at all? Start with the little steps. Start with a surrendered heart. Start with reading and with questions. Start by applying truth to your everyday circumstances. Look for ways to “know” him better because ultimately this kind of “knowing” will transform every other aspect of our lives. How might we be different if this were our hearts cry?

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent...I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me" (Jn. 17:3 & 23).