DO YOU KNOW GOD

DO YOU KNOW GOD “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) The Scriptures teach: “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain” (Gen 4:1 KJV). Obviously, there are different levels of knowledge. When Adam awakened from his sleep and saw Eve for the first time he obviously “knew”something about her. He did not, however, know her intimately. When he “knew” her in an intimate way, that’s when a new life was produced. This thought perhaps can provides insight into what it means to “know” God. We can also “know” God at various levels. A superficial knowledge, however, does not produce new life. We must know God in an intimate way to be born again. Eternal life involves an intimate knowledge of God. When Jesus said that eternal life involved knowing God He was not talking about a superficial knowledge. Even after we are “born again” and have “eternal life”, we can still deepen and increase our knowledge of God. Paul, for example, had been an apostle for many years when he wrote: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil 3:10). It is both interesting and significant that “knowledge” is associated with both “salvation” and “condemnation”. In the midst of the garden, as you know, there was a tree that produced the “knowledge” of both good and evil (Gen. 2:9). In retrospect, Adam and Eve already knew what was good. Everything God made was good! This fact is emphasized repeatedly in the creation story (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, etc.) Since everything around them was good, all they had to gain was the “knowledge” of evil. Until they ate the forbidden fruit, however, “evil” was merely a word without meaning. At that point in time, such words as: thorns, thistles, pain, conflict, suffering, and death were like a foreign language. So also, they had no frame of reference to understand “evil”. After they ate the forbidden fruit, they regretted “knowing evil”, but then it was too late! David, as you know, was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). To know God was the passion of his life. He loved God (Ps. 18:1). He loved the house of God (Ps. 26:8). The one thing he wanted was to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of his life (Ps. 27:4). He wanted to sing of God’s love (Ps. 101:1). He also loved the law of God and meditated on it all day long (Ps. 11i9:97). He considered the commands of God more precious than gold (Ps. 119:127). Contrast this with the man who never reads the Bible, seldom goes to church, and can’t wait to get home from church and turn on the TV. Jesus, as you know, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3). One reason for His sorrow involves rejected love. Many can relate to the heartache of loving someone deeply who doesn’t return that love. You love them, but they reject your love. You bare your soul to them, but they remain distant and aloof. They trample your love, betray your confidence, but will become naked and intimate with a stranger. The book of Hosea describes this very situation in disgusting detail. God was the Husband and Israel was the unfaithful wife. No wonder Jesus was sad! It is not by accident that salvation is described in Scripture as a marriage. In marriage, two become one. In marriage a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves unto his wife. The same is true of salvation. When we come to Christ we are to forsake all others. Whatever we do in word or deed is to please Christ (Col. 3:17). Our spirit is joined with His Spirit so that we become “one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3, 4). The question therefore remains: “Do you know God”?