Knowing God personally.
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We are meant to know the living God. We are not meant to simply know about God, but to actually know Him. And this knowing, in the biblical sense, is to be intimately acquainted with Him, to know Him as we know someone close and dear to us (think of the word “know” in passages like Genesis 4:1, Jeremiah 1:5, John 10:14-15). Redeemed sinners have a connection with the Lord of glory that is deeper and sweeter than His relationship with any other created thing, heavenly or earthly. It is indeed a blessed life, a joyful existence. The Lord Jesus goes as far as calling it eternal life, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
The Christian’s relationship with the Lord is multifaceted. Among the varied interactions, God relates with a believer as a Father and child, a Master and bondservant, a Creator and creature, a Potter and clay, a Judge and acquitted criminal, an Owner and treasured possession, a Husband and bride, a King and subject, a Teacher and student, a Shepherd and sheep, a Physician and patient, a Savior and sinner. All are precious to the Christian. Every connection with Christ is felt and celebrated by the believer.
Knowing the Lord was experienced in the Old Testament. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, says that knowing Him is the one thing believers can and should glory in: “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). The same prophet, often referred to as the weeping prophet on account of the spiritual and national demise of Israel during his ministry, foresaw the coming of the happiness of the new covenant when the people of God (Christians) would all experience an intimate familiarity with Him. “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:34).
The New Testament apostles refer to the Christian’s connection with the Lord God as fellowship and communion. In fact, they speak of the believer as communing with each person of the Trinity. “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Paul, who encountered the risen Christ on the Damascus road, was driven all his life long to know Christ more, and to gain Him more fully in the resurrection. He was more than willing to give up everything for that great end. “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ… That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:8-10).
The Christian’s relationship with God is not something merely theoretical. It is not simply an objective reality which takes place outside of the child of God. It is something sensed and felt and known in the heart and soul. It is impossible to have God the Spirit dwelling in someone without it creating an impact deep inside. It is also impossible to meet the living God, and to walk in fellowship with Him, without being aware of His divine influence upon one’s inner and outer life. Anyone who has truly met God is very aware of the encounter.
Interaction with God affects the believer in a number of ways. When in the presence of the Lord, peoples' souls can be stirred with affections such as reverence, awe, fear, conviction, repentance, and humility. As well, the delights of God become their delights; His desires become theirs; the things He loves and hates become the things they love and hate. His peace puts them at peace. His joy brings them joy. His love warms their hearts. His goodness fills them with gratitude. His drawing them in to see Him by faith produces in them worship and adoration.
God has shown mankind how to commune with Him. The Christian’s relationship with God is spiritual, but it is not mystical in the New Age sense of the word. The Lord has prescribed avenues through which He normally interacts with His people. (1) The only access one has to God is through the person and work of Jesus Christ. No one can come to God except through the Lord Jesus. (2) To hear from God, one must go to where He speaks – the Bible, His Word. (3) If one is to talk to God, God grants that privilege through the means of prayer. Without the Scriptures and prayer, there can be no fellowship with Christ. One cannot know Him apart from His self-revelation to us, His Word, and one cannot communicate back to Him without prayer (and song). And every circumstantial interaction with God that one has via His hand of providence must be understood through the lens of Scripture and be accompanied by our speaking to Him. (4) Other meeting places between God and man are the corporate worship services of the saints, the preaching of the Word of God, and the Lord’s Supper and baptism.
We can absolutely know God, but we can never know Him absolutely. He is God, and we are not. But while He is infinitely and transcendently above us in every way, He has condescended and made Himself known in His Word, in His Son, and by His Holy Spirit. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). What the Christian knows of God now is true, and the relationship is real, but it is through a veil. Yet even in resurrected bodies, with glorified minds and capacities, the child of God will know the infinite and majestic Lord of glory only in part. Eternal life will be a delightful exploration of the mere outskirts of the boundless and endless splendor of Christ. It will be a glorious adventure in discovering the ways and operations of the heart and mind of God, an ever captivating wonder of plunging ever deeper into the motives and passions and joys of our Maker.
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John Kastamo