Knowing God

1. The Study of God is Life's Highest Pursuit

The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

Practical importance. Studying God is not a dry academic exercise but the most practical project one can undertake. Ignorance of God leads to a life of stumbling and blundering, making the world seem strange, painful, and ultimately meaningless. Knowing God provides direction and understanding, preventing a wasted life and lost soul.

Humbles and expands. Contemplating God's vastness humbles the mind, drowning pride in His immensity. Simultaneously, it expands the intellect, offering a broader perspective than merely focusing on earthly concerns. This profound study also brings immense consolation, offering balm for every wound and quietus for every grief.

Ultimate aim. The ultimate aim in studying God must be to know God Himself better, not merely to accumulate theological knowledge. Such knowledge, pursued for its own sake, leads to pride and conceit. True knowledge of God comes through meditation on His truth, leading to prayer, praise, and communion with Him.

2. Knowing God Transforms Our Being

A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him.

Beyond mere facts. Many evangelicals possess extensive knowledge about God and godliness, yet lack a vivid, transformative experience of God. This distinction is crucial, as intellectual understanding alone does not equate to a deep, personal relationship. True knowledge of God impacts one's entire being.

Evidence of knowing God. Those who genuinely know God exhibit distinct characteristics. They possess great energy for God, expressed primarily through fervent prayer and a readiness to act against ungodliness, even at personal risk. They also hold great thoughts of God, recognizing His holy majesty, moral perfection, and gracious faithfulness.

Boldness and contentment. Knowing God instills great boldness, enabling individuals to stand firm in their convictions regardless of opposition or personal cost. Furthermore, it brings profound contentment, a peace rooted in the assurance of God's unwavering favor and care, making earthly losses seem insignificant in comparison to what has been gained. This contentment banishes brooding over "might-have-beens."

3. Idolatry Distorts Our View of God

To follow the imagination of one’s heart in the realm of theology is the way to remain ignorant of God, and to become an idol-worshiper—the idol in this case being a false mental image of God, made by one’s own speculation and imagination.

Second Commandment's scope. The second commandment prohibits not only the worship of false gods but also the worship of the true God through images. This extends beyond physical idols to mental images, as any human-conceived representation inevitably distorts God's true nature. Such images dishonor God by obscuring His glory and mislead us by conveying false ideas about Him.

Images conceal truth. Physical images, like Aaron's golden calf or a crucifix, fail to represent God's moral character, deity, or victory. They highlight human weakness or strength but never the full, transcendent glory of the Creator. God's "jealousy" in this context is His zeal to maintain His own glory, which is jeopardized when images are used in worship.

Mental idols. Speculative theology, which relies on philosophical reasoning rather than biblical revelation, creates mental idols. Thinking of God "as I like to think of Him" rather than as He has revealed Himself is a breach of the second commandment. The positive thrust of this commandment is to compel us to derive our understanding of God solely from His holy Word, recognizing His inscrutable transcendence.

4. The Incarnation: God Made Man for Our Salvation

Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.

Supreme mystery. The Incarnation—God made man in Jesus of Nazareth—is the most staggering claim of Christianity, surpassing the mysteries of atonement or resurrection. It involves the plurality of persons within God and the union of full Godhead and full manhood in one person, Jesus. Once grasped, it makes sense of all other gospel difficulties.

The Word became flesh. John's Gospel meticulously explains Jesus' unique divine Sonship, identifying Him as the eternal Word of God. This Word:

• Was in the beginning (eternal)
• Was with God (personal)
• Was God (divine)
• Created all things (creator)
• Was life (animating)
• Was light (revealing)
• Became flesh (incarnate)
  This means the baby in Bethlehem was God Himself, who also became truly human, experiencing human limitations and temptations without ceasing to be divine.

Born to die. The Incarnation was an act of profound condescension and self-humbling, not a reduction of deity. Jesus "emptied himself" not of divine attributes, but of divine glory and dignity, for our salvation. His life was driven by the resolve to die on the cross, tasting God's wrath for our sins, making propitiation, and thereby reconciling us to God.

5. The Holy Spirit: God's Indwelling Guide

For without the Holy Spirit there would be no gospel, no faith, no church, no Christianity in the world at all.

The neglected Comforter. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is often neglected in Christian thought and practice, despite His indispensable role. Jesus promised "another Comforter" (Counselor, Helper, Advocate) to continue His ministry, revealing the Spirit as a divine person sent by both the Father and the Son.

Essential ministry. The Spirit's work is foundational to Christianity:

• No gospel/New Testament: He taught the apostles all truth and inspired them to communicate it, ensuring the accuracy of the gospel message and the Scriptures.
• No faith/Christians: He illuminates blinded hearts, enabling sinners to see the truth of the gospel and believe in Christ. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Honoring the Spirit. To honor the Holy Spirit means acknowledging and relying on His work. This involves reverently accepting the Bible as His inspired Word, living by its authority, and trusting Him to authenticate our witness, rather than relying on human cleverness. Neglecting the Spirit dishonors Christ who sent Him.

6. God's Unchanging Majesty Demands Awe

Our thoughts of God are not great enough; we fail to reckon with the reality of his limitless wisdom and power.

Immutable God. God does not change in His life, character, truth, ways, purposes, or His Son. This immutability is the crucial link between believers across all ages, assuring us that the God of the Bible is the same God we deal with today. He is eternally perfect, never growing older or changing for better or worse.

Majesty revealed. To grasp God's greatness, we must remove limits from our thoughts of Him and compare Him with forces we deem great. Psalm 139 reveals His unlimited presence, knowledge, and power, while Isaiah 40 contrasts Him with nations, the world, its rulers, and the stars, showing them as nothing in comparison to His immeasurable might. He is the Creator, Lord, and Judge of all.

Response to majesty. Our response to God's majesty should involve:

• Correcting wrong thoughts: Acknowledging His limitless wisdom and power, rather than limiting Him to human scale.
• Rejecting unbelief: Trusting that God has not forgotten or abandoned us, despite our feelings.
• Believing His nature: Recognizing that the everlasting God neither faints nor grows weary, shaming our slowness to believe in His majesty.

7. God's Wisdom Orders All Things for Our Good

God’s wisdom is not, and never was, pledged to keep a fallen world happy, or to make ungodliness comfortable.

Wisdom defined. Biblical wisdom is a moral and intellectual quality: the power to discern and choose the best and highest goal, along with the surest means to attain it. In God, wisdom is allied with omnipotence, meaning His infinite power is always ruled by infinite wisdom, making Him utterly trustworthy.

God's purpose. God's wisdom is not aimed at making life trouble-free, but at a higher purpose: to bring a great host of humanity to love and honor Him, ultimately leading them to a state of perfect praise and joy in His love. His immediate objectives include drawing individuals into faith, defending His people, and spreading the gospel through Christ.

Wisdom in trials. God wisely orders human lives, often using hardship to teach lessons like patience, humility, and dependence on Him. Our perplexing trials are meant to make something of us we haven't yet attained, drawing us closer to Him and preparing us for service. We must trust His wisdom even when we cannot discern His path, knowing He works all things for good.

8. God's Holy Love and Grace Redeem Sinners

God loves creatures who have become unlovely and (one would have thought) unlovable.

God is love. John's statement "God is love" is a profound summary of His nature, understood in conjunction with "God is spirit" (implying His non-material, unchanging, and deliberate nature) and "God is light" (implying His holiness and moral purity). God's love is holy love, stern in its pursuit of holiness for the beloved, not an indulgent softness.

Grace defined. God's grace is His spontaneous, self-determined love freely shown toward guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and in defiance of their demerit. It is God's goodness extended to those who deserve only severity. This grace is not a vague good will but a particularized purpose of love, formed before creation, to bless specific individuals.

Grace in action. God's love identifies with our welfare, binding His own happiness to ours, and was supremely expressed in the gift of His Son as Savior. Christ's death on the cross is the crowning proof of God's boundless love, making propitiation for our sins. This grace brings us into a covenant relationship with God, promising immeasurable blessings now and for eternity.

9. God's Righteous Judgment is Inescapable

Moral indifference would be an imperfection in God, not a perfection.

God as Judge. The Bible consistently presents God as Judge, a person of supreme authority, identified with what is good and right, possessing perfect wisdom to discern truth, and power to execute sentence. This is not a repellent idea but a necessary aspect of His moral perfection. His judgment is always righteous and retributive.

Retribution's reality. Retribution—rendering to persons what they deserve—is an inescapable moral law of creation. God will ensure that all wrongs are righted, either in this life or the next. The New Testament intensifies this theme, proclaiming a coming day of universal judgment where Jesus Christ, the world's Savior, will also be its divinely appointed Judge.

Choosing judgment. God's wrath is His holy revulsion against sin, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. It is judicial, always administering justice, with punishment proportioned to individual desert. Ultimately, people choose God's wrath for themselves by rejecting the light of Christ, and God's judicial action ratifies their self-chosen separation from Him.

10. Adoption: The Christian's Supreme Privilege

To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.

Sonship by grace. Sonship to God is not a universal status but a supernatural gift received through faith in Jesus Christ, a new birth, not a natural one. It is an adoptive sonship, where God takes us into His family as His children and heirs, a privilege higher than justification due to the intimate, loving relationship it entails.

Family relationship. God's fatherhood, revealed through Jesus, implies:

• Authority: The Father commands, and children obey.
• Affection: God loves His adopted sons as He loves His only-begotten Son.
• Fellowship: God is always with His children.
• Honor: God exalts His children to share Christ's glory.
  This relationship is absolutely stable and secure, as God is a perfect Father who never casts off His children.

Basis for life. Adoption is the controlling thought for the entire Christian life, shaping conduct, prayer, and faith. It motivates "gospel holiness"—living out our filial relationship by imitating, glorifying, and pleasing the Father. It also underpins Christian prayer, allowing bold access to a Father who knows our needs, and sustains the life of faith by assuring us of His provision.

11. God's Adequacy Sustains Us Through All Trials

Your God is faithful to you, and he is adequate for you.

Romans 8's riches. Romans 8, the high peak of Romans, offers profound comfort and assurance, addressing predicaments like sin's guilt and power, death, fear of God's holiness, suffering, and despair. It highlights four gifts: righteousness, the Holy Spirit, sonship, and eternal security, all supporting the Christian through any trouble.

God is for us. Paul's triumphant declaration, "If God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31), asserts God's covenant commitment as our sovereign protector. This means no opposition can finally crush us, as God, the almighty Creator and faithful covenant-keeper, is irrevocably on our side, upholding and providing for us. This truth counters fear of human or demonic opposition.

No good thing withheld. God's ultimate gift of His Son for our redemption guarantees that no good thing will be withheld from us. Christ's costly death secured not just forgiveness, but "all things" necessary for our eternal happiness and glory. This assurance counters the fear of loss or impoverishment in discipleship, proclaiming God's complete adequacy as our benefactor.

No separation. The climactic question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Romans 8:35), affirms that no accusation or cosmic force can ever disinherit us. God's justifying verdict is final, and His sovereign love holds us fast. This truth provides ultimate assurance, freeing us from fear of the unknown and enabling us to live as "more than conquerors" in Christ.

Last updated: October 1, 2025