How Do We Know God? | Week 3
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Main Point
We can only know God because God makes Himself known. All knowledge of God is a revealed knowledge.
How do we know what we know? >> Pop Culture is exploring this all the time:
— Matrix
— Inception
— Shutter Island
— The Truman Show
Epistemology >> A study of knowledge
(1) How do we know anything?
(2) How do we know God?
(3) Where does God speak?
(1) How do we know anything?
[Illustration]
Nurse friend was going on and on about how there’s probably an infinite number of universes happening all at once...
I felt mad at him
This dude was making this cosmic claim based on ideas from Marvel movies… Like, Wat?
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Different approaches to knowledge:
Natural accounts for knowledge
Seek to explain the world without appealing to anything outside of it
— Rationalism
— Empiricism >> “See it to believe it”
Skeptical accounts for knowledge
It’s impossible to know anything
— Fatalism >> True knowledge is irrelevant, it doesn’t matter because the world is ending or things can’t change
— Post-Modernism >> anyone who claims to know something just wants power
Supernatural accounts for knowledge
Seek to explain the world by appealing to something outside of it
Theism >> True knowledge is granted by God
Paganism >> True knowledge is found in gods/spirits/forces that are not confined to the material world
— Romanticism >> Feelings based
— Pragmatism >> “It works, so, it must be true”… Gideon with the fleece?
[Illustration]
See this all the time with friends and family who make big spiritual claims based on
>> Shiver in their liver
>> “gut feeling”
>> Christian Karma
>> Overtly “Pagan” frameworks…
Highest Authority: Whatever source of knowledge you trust at the very core — Comes with a measure of faith
>> “There’s nothing outside of your Highest authority to prove that yours is best!..”
>> … is it a trustworthy source? (Yourself, the observable world, “outside forces”, God)
[Illustration]
In 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education was debating whether to teach intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools. A young physics graduate named Bobby Henderson, from Oregon State University, decided to respond with satire. He wrote an open letter to the board arguing that if intelligent design deserved equal time, then so should his own belief: that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. He posted the letter online, it went viral, and a parody religion called Pastafarianism was born.
What makes Henderson right and anyone else wrong?
>> Who is Henderson’s Highest Authority?
This is why Theology is best done in community!
———————————————
(2) How do we know God?
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
God is the Great Initiator
>> All knowledge of God is revelatory and a gift
Transcendence: The truth that God is set apart — false approach is that He is so set apart, we can’t know Him
Immanence: The truth that God is near to us — false approach is that He is so near to creation, he is indistinguishable from it
Christians hold both >> God is different from Creation, by His grace, he draws near
God has chosen to reveal Himself in Scripture, in the World around us, and in His Son, Jesus Christ
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
———————————————
(3) Where does God speak?
General Revelation
“God makes Himself known in what He makes”
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.
[Illustration]
What stirs your affections for the Lord?
Mine is when He makes me feel small in His creation. Ocean, Grand Canyon, breathtaking views or sunsets…
Is it saving knowledge?
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 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.
>> Our natural inclination is to suppress the knowledge of God
>> Idolatry
This knowledge does not redeem us, it condemns us:
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
>> This is the summary of human history
Special Revelation:
While all humans receive general revelation of God through His creation, only some receive special revelation. It is “special” in the sense that it has a specific audience (believers) and a specific purpose (salvation). God reveals knowledge sufficient for salvation in Christ and in the Scriptures.
(p. 67). You Are A Theologian
We See Special Revelation via
Christ and the Bible
———
Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power...
God is not knowable apart from Jesus, but God is known perfectly in Jesus. If we know Jesus, we know God.
(p. 69). You Are A Theologian
>> What benefit is there in knowing God?… ETERNAL LIFE
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
———
Scriptures
Inspired: The Bible, God’s Speech
Authoritative: The Bible, Our Good Governor
Inerrant: The Bible, Free from Error
Infallible: The Bible, God’s Unfailing Word
Clear: God’s Understandable Message
Necessary: The Bible, God’s Good Provision
Sufficient: The Bible, God’s Complete Provision
(p. 71-76). You Are A Theologian
The living and active Word shouts what the creation whispers: there is a God, and you are made to commune with Him. These precious words are, for all who believe, a source of daily bread and a means of daily delight.
(p. 78). You Are A Theologian
———
Special note:
Doctrine of Illumination
The Holy Spirit does not illumine Scripture in the sense that it is darkened and in need of light. The Holy Spirit illumines our darkened hearts and minds so we can understand and be transformed by Scripture. Put another way, the Holy Spirit still speaks what He has spoken. Thus, the Word of God is truly living and active. The Bible is not just a text that informs us but a text that transforms us. When we open our Bibles, the Holy Spirit meets us there. He is not interested in our simply knowing more things but in knowing Him. What does the Bible do? It invites us to know and love God.
(p. 78). You Are A Theologian
[Pray]
