Have you ever heard someone ask you a question but you knew it was less of a request for information and more of a command? "Are you going to leave your dish right there?" "You're not wearing that are you?"
"Did you know they are out of wine?"
In Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh asked Moses, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?" A request to learn more about God? Not so much. A stubborn statement? So much. Translated it means this: "I don't know this God you speak of Moses, - nor do I care - so I will certainly not obey Him." Pharaoh's question highlights the relationship between ignorance and disobedience. He didn't know God, and, therefore, He didn't care what God required of him.
Do we know God? Or, do we only know about God? Why does it matter? God says knowing Him is the only thing we can boast about. In Jeremiah 9:23-24 God Himself said, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Jesus said in John 17:3 that knowing God is eternal life, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." In 1 John 2:3 knowing God results in obedience to Him, "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands."
Living in such a churched society we seem to end up with some confusion at times. People generally think of America as a "Christian" nation. This means that in talking with folks you often find people who would identify themselves as Christian because they went to church or even because they are American. But, in the course of conversation you begin to ask yourself in the back of your mind, "Does this person really know God, or, do they only know about Him?"
Three things knowing God does not mean:
First, knowing God does not mean simply having knowledge of the facts. In other words, being able to give the right answers or being familiar with what the Bible teaches does not automatically translate into "knowing God". This seems to be a pitfall for people who grow up going to church or whose tendency is to study "academically". The Pharisees were people like that. They knew the Bible backwards and forwards. Nobody had more knowledge of the Scriptures than they did. Yet in John 5:39-40 Jesus said to them, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." Notice Jesus said that knowing what the Bible says didn't get them eternal life. They had all the right answers about who God was, but, they did not know Him. They could not recognize Him when He was standing in front of them. For all their studying they could not see (John 9:39-41). Knowing God does not mean knowing about Him. Its more than that.
Second, knowing God does not mean having God's religion. In Romans 9:4-5 Paul describes the religion that God gave to the Jews. He said, "Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised." Paul is distressed because his fellow Israelites were not saved and did not know God. What made the problem so bad was that his fellow Jews were separated from God even though they were in God's religion. What we can see here is that a person can have the religion of God, but, not have God. Today, sitting in chairs week after week there are people who know church but do not know God. We must be careful that the architecture does not blind us to the Architect. Knowing God does not mean having God's religion.
Thirdly, Knowing God does not mean being aware of the things of God. Second Peter 3:4 describes people who are aware of the Biblical teaching that God is coming - but they scoff at it. "They [scoffers] will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.'" Clearly they are aware of what the Bible teaches, and clearly they do not believe it. They do not respond to what is revealed the way God intends for them to respond. Today, someone may have grown up in church and be able to remember what they've heard in sermons and in Sunday school, but we mustn't equate what is only awareness with knowing God. As attested to in this passage, awareness without faith creates scoffing and ridicule of the things of God.
What then does it mean to "know God"? It means that what we do know of God is changing our life (Eph. 4:20-24 and 2 Tim. 2:19). What we know of Him is re-shaping us more into the likeness of Christ. A life that is continually evolving towards Christ as it is informed by the knowledge of God is a powerful testimony that a person knows God. "I know Him because I am like Him" (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Obeying what He says, imagining Him as He describes Himself, and giving more adoration to Him results from knowing Him. Notice Pharaoh would not worship or obey the LORD because he did not know Him, "Who is the LORD that I should obey Him?" Yet, we know Him, which means that as we learn more about Him, we become more like Him.
So, what is the difference between knowing God and only knowing about Him? Knowing about Him means we have information but our life goes unchanged by that information. Knowing God means that who we are is taking shape by what we know God is like. We respond to what we learn with trust, and trust turns into obedience and worship.
What do you know about God? In what way - if any - have you been changed by what you know? Do you study the Bible to learn more about what God is like? Or do you study to know more than others? Do you study for your progress in godliness?
"Did you know they are out of wine?"
In Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh asked Moses, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?" A request to learn more about God? Not so much. A stubborn statement? So much. Translated it means this: "I don't know this God you speak of Moses, - nor do I care - so I will certainly not obey Him." Pharaoh's question highlights the relationship between ignorance and disobedience. He didn't know God, and, therefore, He didn't care what God required of him.
Do we know God? Or, do we only know about God? Why does it matter? God says knowing Him is the only thing we can boast about. In Jeremiah 9:23-24 God Himself said, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Jesus said in John 17:3 that knowing God is eternal life, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." In 1 John 2:3 knowing God results in obedience to Him, "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands."
Living in such a churched society we seem to end up with some confusion at times. People generally think of America as a "Christian" nation. This means that in talking with folks you often find people who would identify themselves as Christian because they went to church or even because they are American. But, in the course of conversation you begin to ask yourself in the back of your mind, "Does this person really know God, or, do they only know about Him?"
Three things knowing God does not mean:
First, knowing God does not mean simply having knowledge of the facts. In other words, being able to give the right answers or being familiar with what the Bible teaches does not automatically translate into "knowing God". This seems to be a pitfall for people who grow up going to church or whose tendency is to study "academically". The Pharisees were people like that. They knew the Bible backwards and forwards. Nobody had more knowledge of the Scriptures than they did. Yet in John 5:39-40 Jesus said to them, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." Notice Jesus said that knowing what the Bible says didn't get them eternal life. They had all the right answers about who God was, but, they did not know Him. They could not recognize Him when He was standing in front of them. For all their studying they could not see (John 9:39-41). Knowing God does not mean knowing about Him. Its more than that.
Second, knowing God does not mean having God's religion. In Romans 9:4-5 Paul describes the religion that God gave to the Jews. He said, "Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised." Paul is distressed because his fellow Israelites were not saved and did not know God. What made the problem so bad was that his fellow Jews were separated from God even though they were in God's religion. What we can see here is that a person can have the religion of God, but, not have God. Today, sitting in chairs week after week there are people who know church but do not know God. We must be careful that the architecture does not blind us to the Architect. Knowing God does not mean having God's religion.
Thirdly, Knowing God does not mean being aware of the things of God. Second Peter 3:4 describes people who are aware of the Biblical teaching that God is coming - but they scoff at it. "They [scoffers] will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.'" Clearly they are aware of what the Bible teaches, and clearly they do not believe it. They do not respond to what is revealed the way God intends for them to respond. Today, someone may have grown up in church and be able to remember what they've heard in sermons and in Sunday school, but we mustn't equate what is only awareness with knowing God. As attested to in this passage, awareness without faith creates scoffing and ridicule of the things of God.
What then does it mean to "know God"? It means that what we do know of God is changing our life (Eph. 4:20-24 and 2 Tim. 2:19). What we know of Him is re-shaping us more into the likeness of Christ. A life that is continually evolving towards Christ as it is informed by the knowledge of God is a powerful testimony that a person knows God. "I know Him because I am like Him" (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Obeying what He says, imagining Him as He describes Himself, and giving more adoration to Him results from knowing Him. Notice Pharaoh would not worship or obey the LORD because he did not know Him, "Who is the LORD that I should obey Him?" Yet, we know Him, which means that as we learn more about Him, we become more like Him.
So, what is the difference between knowing God and only knowing about Him? Knowing about Him means we have information but our life goes unchanged by that information. Knowing God means that who we are is taking shape by what we know God is like. We respond to what we learn with trust, and trust turns into obedience and worship.
What do you know about God? In what way - if any - have you been changed by what you know? Do you study the Bible to learn more about what God is like? Or do you study to know more than others? Do you study for your progress in godliness?
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