by Mike Willis
Synopsis: Acknowledging that religious people express considerable interest in knowing God, Mike asks, "What does it mean to know God and how does one come to know Him? How can parents help their children truly come to know God?"
The Scriptures speak of those in the kingdom of Christ "knowing God." Quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-34, the writer of Hebrews said:
None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, "Know the LORD," for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them (cf. Heb. 8:6-13, esp. v. 11).
Recently, there has been quite a bit of interest in knowing God expressed among religious people. What does it mean to know God, and how does one come to know Him? What is the difference in knowing about God and knowing God? How can parents help their children come to know about God?
Some affirm that knowing God occurs by having some emotional, ephemeral, touchy, feely experience. What is concluded from such experiences does not always agree with what the Bible teaches about God. For example, the experience of the Muslim and the experience of a Jehovah's Witness are radically different. Which is right?
Experiences are always subjective by nature, and there is no absolute standard for all religious experiences. Unfortunately, many who claim to know God, and some who claim to know Him most personally, are very deluded. Oral Roberts claimed that God spoke directly to him on several occasions and that he had even seen a 900-foot tall Jesus, though how he knew Jesus' height is unknown.
Consider this quotation from a young lady that I found posted on the internet:
I am learning that God speaks to me through conversations. Text conversations, in person conversations, phone calls, etc. That's when I hear His voice. I don't think I realized this until the other day. I was sitting at a local coffee shop with my best friend one evening when another dear friend of mine Facebook messaged me to get my number. She text(ed) me and talked about the Rez (Reservation, mw) in South Dakota that we have both been to. Then somewhere along the way, Jesus was doing His thing and speaking to both of us. Through this conversation, I learned that my tears when I cry are literal prayers. I don't have to speak in tongues or speak at all to talk to God. I am emotional. I cry a lot. Just ask anyone who knows me. They'll agree with me. I know that God sees me and personally cares for me and that He hears me all the time, but I never made the connection that He hears and sees my tears. He accepts them as my prayer. I weep for my Native people. I weep for the situation going on with the Dakota Access Pipeline. I weep when I'm excited. I weep at everything. God hears me. He sees me. These are my prayers, and I'm blown away at this connection.
What this young lady learned about knowing God came from human experience and is nothing but her subjective opinion on the subject.
Let's begin in a very simple manner by asking, "How does one get to know anyone?" Let's imagine that a stranger comes to a worship service. One introduces himself and they begin to talk with each other. Through words, he comes to know about that person. He learns his name, his employment, and about his family. Over a course of time, he begins to know him even more intimately. He comes to know the person through their associations with one another. He learns that this visitor has a good sense of humor, is sensitive about different things (his weight, his balding hair, etc.), and that he is especially knowledgeable about various subjects, depending upon his areas of expertise (a doctor or nurse, a mechanic, an electrician, a financial planner). We learn what he likes (fishing, golf, ice cream, clothes, house decorations, etc.). Over a longer, more extended period, they become friends.
Of course, there are levels of friendships. Some friends stick closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24); they are not "fair weather" friends (Prov. 17:17). How closely two people bond with each other as friends depends upon how closely their spirits align. Over the years common experiences create precious memories that glue their hearts together as one. Coming to know God works in the same manner as one comes to know any other being.
One can know about God in much the same way as he becomes acquainted with any new friend. He learns God's name: Yahweh or Jehovah (Exod. 3:13-14; 6:3). Through other descriptive names, God makes Himself known as El Shaddai: Lord God Almighty; El Elyon: The Most High God; Adonai: Lord, Master; Jehovah Nissi: the Lord My Banner; El Olam: the Everlasting God; and Jehovah Jireh: The Lord Will Provide. Other Bible designations of God could be listed to extend this list, but this is a first step in knowing God.
One learns Yahweh's nature and attributes through His word and actions, just as he learns about any other individual. Jehovah is eternal (Deut. 33:27), omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-16), and omniscient (John 16:30; 21:17). The Lord is holy for He is designated as the "Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah uses this phrase 25 times). He is a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16) and righteousness (Ps. 11:5-7).
Through the revelation of His will, we learn what God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 explains that God hates a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wickedness, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness who speaks lies, and he who sows discord among brethren. Yahweh hates hypocritical worship (Amos 5:21), one having evil in his heart against his neighbor (Zech. 8:17), and false doctrine, as demonstrated by Jesus' attitude toward the deeds and doctrines of Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6, 15). One learns what God loves: justice (Isa. 61:8), the whole world (John 3:16), those who love him (Prov. 8:17; John 14:21), and a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).
One learns to know God more personally by doing His commandments. Hosea 8:1-2 shows that the opposite of knowing the Lord is breaking the covenant and transgressing the Law. Jeremiah proclaimed that to know God includes judging righteously the cause of the poor and needy (Jer. 22:15-16). The authors of the Word Commentary on Jeremiah expressed what getting to know God involves: "Israel does not first know God, then later discover what God wants. Knowledge of his person and will are identical, and both are grounded in his self-revelation" (Word Commentary 27: Jeremiah, 135).
By conforming one's spirit to God's Holy Spirit, he develops a close association with Him. The word "know" (Greek: ginōskō) is used to speak of a knowledge gained from experience. He walks in God's ways (Deut. 5:33; 10:12; Ezek. 20:19), walks humbly with our God (Mic. 6:8), and, as he walks with Yahweh, He walks with him (2 Cor. 6:16-18). One experiences God first hand. He "come to know, to know, His Messianic dignity... His divinity... his consummate kindness toward us, and the benefits redounding to us from fellowship with him" (Thayer). The Everlasting Father has become his Shepherd (Ps. 23:1), Rock (Ps. 18:2, 31, 46), Shield and Protector (Gen. 15:1; Ps. 115:9-11). The disciple finds out for himself that Jehovah Jireh is a present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1). He personally experiences the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). Through years of walking with God and He with us, one experiences first hand that God will never leave or forsake him (Heb. 13:5-6).
A saint's experience of sweet fellowship with God is somewhat like the understanding the Queen of Sheba had of the glory of Solomon's kingdom. She first heard of, and later experienced, the majesty of that kingdom: "Indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard" (1 Kings 10:6-9, esp. v. 7).
Do not be misled by the Devil who would try to persuade one that he can find a closer, more intimate fellowship with God by deviating from what God has revealed to man through His word. Some who formerly were within our fellowship have become persuaded that they can move closer to God by departing from His revealed word, calling the precise adherence to God's word "legalism" or "legalistic." These men have turned their backs on strictly clinging to God's word and are in the process of moving further and further away from what is revealed therein. Only time will demonstrate how far away from God this decision, not to be restrained and guided by God's revealed word, will take them. They know what they have rejected, but they have not articulated the goal to which they aspire.
When one departs from Jehovah's word, he will move far away from, not draw more closely to, Him (Zeph. 3:2); one draws ever nearer to the Everlasting God by clinging to His word and will. David wrote,
You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish... But it was good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works" (Ps. 73:24–28).
Waters, Shelby Reed. "I Had a Conversation with God." The Odyssey Online. August 28, 2017. Accessed January 12, 2018. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/had-conversation-with-god.
Author Bio: Mike Willis served as editor of Truth Magazine for forty years. He has been working with the Decatur Township church since 2015. He can be reached at tmmikewillis@gmail.com.