“Knowing God” is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. God called Abraham into a relationship of knowing Him. Moses, the great teacher, knew the Lord and sought to teach God’s people to know Him, love Him, and walk with Him. Jesus knew the Father, revealing Him to us through His words and His works. The apostle Paul exemplified this quality in his pursuit of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:8-10). Paul also prayed for those whom he taught to personally know the Lord Jesus and to know the love of God (Col. 1:9-10; Eph. 3:14-19).
Knowing Jesus Christ Personally
Brennan Manning wrote about the privilege and priority of personally knowing the One who loves us and the place of Scripture in our seeking to know Him.
My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegesis, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and my heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of knowing Jesus Christ personally and directly.1
Discovering the Knowledge of God
What is the value of our continual and prayerful study of Scripture? The book of Proverbs says, “… then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:5). Peter lovingly encourages us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Our Heavenly Father wants us to know Him and His eternal love. He has given us His Word as a means to learn about Him—as a means for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be revealed to our hearts. Jesus said this to the students of His day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39). Let us prayerfully look for God to reveal Himself, to reveal His Son, as we study and hide His Word in our hearts.
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1. Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel (Multnomah, 2005), 44-45.
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