Finding the Knowledge of God

In my most recent post I wrote that coming to know God intimately and personally is the most essential of life’s endeavors, as this is the purpose for which we were created.  I noted that before King David could know God, he would have required an objective knowledge of God, which led him to being able to know God, intimately and personally.

But where did he, and where do we, obtain the knowledge of God that leads to our knowing God and fulfilling the purpose for which we were created?

Is it found in our own reasoning and imagination, or in the philosophical speculations of great thinkers throughout the ages?  Is it discovered through mankind’s scientific methodology and exploration?  Is it revealed in a personal, private mystical experience, either ours or someone who has shared that experience with the world as we have in the Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim religions?

Is the knowledge of God found in the opinions and explanations of so-called religious experts that you might come across on the History or Discovery Channel or in the books they write and invite you to purchase; or is it found in the emotional ramblings and histrionics of the TV evangelist who invites you to “prove God” through giving to their ministry?

As one who presupposes the existence of God, I would strongly suggest that none of these options noted above can be reliable or credible sources for obtaining the knowledge of God that leads to knowing God.   God must be, by definition, a Being infinitely greater than His creation.  The only way we as finite beings (beings with limitations and boundaries to our existence) can know an infinite being, who himself has no boundaries and limitations to His being, is if that being chooses to reveal Himself to us through means that we in our humanity can both know of Him, and ultimately know Him.

As a Christian, I believe that God has done just that in the book we refer to as the Bible.  The Bible reveals the person of God as the reason for all that is.  It points to two other sources of revelation of the knowledge of God, that being the creation itself and the person and work of Jesus Christ, through which we can come to know God, intimately and personally.

Thus, over my next few posts I will address the role of these three sources of God’s gracious self-revelation in bringing us into a personal and intimate relationship with God, who created us for His glory; that our eternal joy and satisfaction – our ultimate significance and security would be found in knowing and loving and being loved by Him.

Grace and Peace ×