The Knowledge Of God

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Introduction

Greetings…
Theme: The Godhead
Hope: To draw closer to God by knowing how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit interact with each other and our interaction with them.
Why is it important to have a “knowledge of God?”
As you and I know our society is quickly running away from knowing God in some degree to “not knowing him at all.”
Crime is up from the last 50 years, unwed marriage is up, respect for authority is down, etc…
All of these problems and the many more can be traced by to a lack of knowledge regarding God and how humans are to respond to him.
Even the denominationalism has a wide range of misconceptions about God.
Some view God as some kind of cosmic force.
Some view God as void of personality.
Some view Jesus as “god” and lesser than the Father.
It’s no wonder that the religious world is so divided, they know not God.
Jeremiah 9:23–24 ESV
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
So, why is it so important for us to know God?
This morning we will be answer that question by first making certain we understand…

We CAN Know God

By Observing Nature.

David declared in Psalm 19:1-4
Psalm 19:1–4 ESV
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
The word “declare” is in a verb tense that means “continuous declaration.”
There is not a time nor place on earth where the voice of the heavens cannot be heard declaring God’s existence.
Paul would declare that even the rains from heaven are witnesses to God’s existence.
Acts 14:17 (ESV)
17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
We have examined several times Romans 1:18-23 that God’s creation makes clearly visible his invisible attributes.
Romans 1:19–20 ESV
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
We can also know God…

By Observing Jesus.

You and I remember the apostle John’s open remarks in his gospel account.
John 1:1 ESV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 ESV
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When we read that and then read John 14:8-9 we see a powerful point being made.
John 14:8–9 ESV
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus had just told the disciples that he was going back to the Father and that to know Jesus was to know the Father.
Philip, not quite grasping what Jesus was meaning, asked to see the Father, but pay close attention to Jesus’ response.
Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
Jesus is baffled that Philip doesn’t realize this.
We also know God…

By Observing God’s Word.

At one time God communicated his will to the world through men called prophets but with the completion of his written will, he has ceased all such communication.
This is why God’s word is so important, it is God’s breath in written down for us to get to know him today.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Summary

When we observe God through all three means, nature, Jesus, and the word we CAN gain a knowledge of God and therefore get to know him.
How fortunate we are to have “the mind of God” in written form (1 Corinthians 2:10-16).
So, we can know God but that brings us back to our original question…

Why Is It Important?

We Can’t Know Who We Are.

If we don’t know God, it is impossible to truly know ourselves.
There are tons of things about us that we cannot know with knowing God.
We cannot know about our origin without knowing God.
Man’s attempt to know humanities origin such as “spontaneous generation” is laughable, but if one rejects God then one is left with the absurd.
Genesis 1:1 ESV
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:27 ESV
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
We cannot know about our reason for being without knowing God.
For those that reject God (Romans 1:28), life is about nothing more than self-pleasure.
Even if the agnostic or atheist does something good for another person, it is only because the person doing the good deed is trying to receive some positive benefit or feeling.
The bible, God’s mind written down, is the only source that reveals to mankind his purpose for existence.
That purpose is to bring honor, glory, and praise to the Creator.
Isaiah 43:7 (ESV)
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
1 Peter 4:11 (ESV)
11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God suppliesin order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We, of course, bring this honor and glory by being faithful.
John 15:8 ESV
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
We cannot know about our destiny without knowing God.
Science and philosophy have no answer to the question, “What happens after death?”
The only place the answer is found for this is in God’s word.
By gaining knowledge about God and therefore coming to know God we can come to know what will happen to us when our lives end on this earth.
As brother Lanier once said, “The man who does not know whence he came, does not know why he is here, and does not know where he is going is in a sad condition indeed.”
Matthew 25:31–33 ESV
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Simply put we cannot know so many things about ourselves, our responsibilities, or our destiny without knowing God.
We also cannot know how to…

Worship Our Creator.

In Acts 17, Paul came across an entire city that was full of religious people.
They had altars all over the place and seemingly at every corner, including one to the “unknown god.”
Paul said in Acts 17:23 Paul makes this observation.
Acts 17:23 ESV
23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
Paul noticed that because they did not know the true God of heaven and their Creator they were worshiping God all wrong.
Hence he set forth to correct that.
The Samaritans were like denominationalism, in that, they were worshipers of God but because they were ignorant of God in so many areas and ways they worshiped in error.
John 4:22 ESV
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
We cannot worship God properly without knowing who God is.
That brings us to the fact that we cannot know how to…

Live A Godly Life.

If we do not know God we cannot live a life that mimics God.
The people of Hosea’s day were far from godly and God tells them why in Hosea 4:1.
Hosea 4:1 (ESV)
1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land
You and I know that so much of our political and social climate here in America is much like that of Hosea’s day.
As we become more and more ignorant of God the more and more immoral we become.
Notice what they were doing in Hosea’s day…
Hosea 4:2 ESV
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Mankind cannot live a godly life if it does not know God.

Summary

If we don’t know God we cannot know…
Where we originated, why we are here, where we are going, how to worship our Creator acceptably, nor how to please him in through our lives.

Conclusion

This means, we need a desire to have as much knowledge of God as we can acquire.
Thankfully God has revealed himself to us in three ways.
Through nature, through Christ, and through his word.
It is up to us to study nature, Jesus, and God’s word so as to get to know our God and grasp the truth.
Invitation
Isaiah 59:1–2 ESV
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Philippians 2:6–7 ESV
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Romans 10:17 ESV
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Acts 17:30 ESV
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
Matthew 10:32 NKJV
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Romans 6:3–5 ESV
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
1 John 1:7 ESV
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
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