Knowing God
God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them, but the question is why did He do all this? This is just a short sentence that He created Heaven and Earth and all that is in them, but we know very well that the greatness and beauty of His creation is indescribable.
So the question is again: for what purpose did He do all this? Of course, there can be several purposes, but surely there can be one main purpose of God's creation. For example, his purpose could be to do good things for us or to enjoy His creations.
However, I see from God's word that His main purpose is to make Himself known to us. God longs for fellowship with us, but only if we get to know Him. It is no coincidence that God is not gathering an army for Himself, but a Bride. This refers to the most intimate relationship where not only the husband knows the bride, but the bride also knows her husband.
„Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."” (Isaiah 1:2-3)
God's complaint and pain is that His people do not know Him.
We usually talk about why it is good for us to live our lives according to God's will. But we do not talk about why it is good for God!
We often read from the prophet Isaiah, but unfortunately not many believers discover in his book that God speaks sadly, angrily and jealously about His followers because they do not follow Him correctly.
„For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)
From the word of God we can be sure of what God loves and what He does not love. Keeping the law, that is, the will of God, brings us close to God. However, here is another great challenge of the Christian life. Because if we know and keep all His will, then we have only achieved the role of the perfect servant.
„So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'” (Luke 17:10)
But God desires more than this, and we should desire more, namely, to come to know God. We must feel not only God's love, but also His sadness, anger, and jealousy, so that God can call us his friends and children:
„No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)
Jesus not only asked His followers to keep the will of God, not only taught the commandments correctly, but He also showed His followers the Father. For example, how God sees us (1. we are worth more than many sparrows 2. we ask the Father with confidence, He will not give us anything bad). Jesus is the perfect image of the Father, so we can truly know the Father when Jesus was angry, when He was sad, when He was happy, when He was compassionate, when He was caring.
Then maybe it is not enough to live our lives according to the will of God, we also need to know Him? Yes, because a servant remains just a servant, a servant does not inherit, but a child does. I believe that it is not really possible to separate the doing of God's word from the knowing of God. After all, if we do God's will, then we also know through it what He likes and what He does not like. This is the beginning of knowledge, as Solomon teaches us:
„The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)
So if we fear God (do what He says), then that is the beginning of wisdom. From this we can then come to the knowledge of God, which is insight. But why is it insight to know God? Because in the beginning we follow instructions: this is allowed, that is not allowed. However, after knowing God, we come to insight, we no longer need guidance, because we have come to know Him and from this we know everything.
I could also say that there is no eating without swallowing, because if we live our lives according to God's will out of love, then we will also come to know Him.
„And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
Would we be that important to God? Of course, He certainly Has children whom He looks down on happily. But me? I don't feel important, He had, has and will have millions of followers. But if He knows the number of our hairs, then we can think that not a single thought of ours is hidden from God, He knows everything and indeed all of His children are important to Him, even if we don't feel it. This can be proven in many places in the Bible, when God carried out destruction, He spared those who followed Him. We also read in Ezekiel that He sealed those who were His children one by one. There are certainly many truer followers of God, but this does not make us less valuable before God, let us strive for a closer relationship with God, and we can do this by walking in His will so that we can also come to know Him.
Antal Farkas
(November 23, 2024)
