· Prolegomena ·

Lecture Five:  The Knowledge of God

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I. The Necessity of the Knowledge of God

Rom 1:19-20.  “…[W]hat may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”

Matt 11:27.  “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”  (Cf. 1 Cor 1:21; 2:14; 2 Cor 4:3-4; John 1:18)

II. The Possibility of the Knowledge of God

A. The Incomprehensibility of God

1. God Cannot Be Fully Comprehended or Grasped

Job 11:7-9.  “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?  Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?  They are higher than the heavens – what can you do?  They are deeper than the depths of the grave – what can you know?  Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea”

Ps 145:3.  “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he greatness no one can fathom.”  (Cf. Ps 139:6, 17; 147:5)

1 Cor 2:10-11.  “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  … No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

2. Application of Divine Incomprehensibility

“Even though we spend time in Bible study and fellowship with God every day of our lives, there will always be more to leaven about God and his relationships to us and the world, and thus there will always be more that we can be thankful for and for which we can give him praise.  When we realize this, the prospect of a lifelong habit of regular Bible study, and even the prospect of a lifetime of study of theology (if it is theology that is solidly grounded in God’s Word), should be a very exciting prospect to us).  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 151)

B. The Knowability of God

John 14:7.  Jesus said, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  (Cf. John 17:3)

1 John 5:20.  “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true…”

Jer 9:23-24.  “Let now the wise man glory in his wisdom, let now the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me…”

John 17:3.  “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

III. The Characteristics of the Knowledge of God

A. The Source of the Knowledge of God

“God Himself is the Source of our knowledge of Him.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 27)

1. Natural Revelation

2. Special Revelation

“[T]he true knowledge of Christianity has been revealed through Christ and the apostles.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 28)

John 1:18.  “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

John 16:13-15.  “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine.  That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” (Cf. Acts 1:8)

B. The Content of the Knowledge of God

“To know facts about a person without knowing the person is limiting; to know a person without knowing facts about that one is shallow.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 28)

“This kind of cycle ought to be the experience of every student of theology; a knowledge about God should deepen our relationship with Him, which in turn increases our desire to know more about Him.”  (Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, 28)

C. The Progressiveness of the Knowledge of God

D. The Purpose of the Knowledge of God

1. To Lead People to Eternal Life

John 17:3.  “Now this is eternal life:  that they may know you, the only true God, whom you have sent.”  (Cf. 1 Tim 2:4)

2. To Foster Christian Growth

2 Pet 3:18.  “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”

Eph 1:18.  “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…”  (Cf. John 7:17; Rom 6:9, 16)

Phil 1:9-10.  “And this is my prayer:  that your love may about more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ…”  (Cf. 2 Pet 1:5)

3. To Warn of Coming Judgment

Hos 4:6.  “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”

Heb 10:26-27.  “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

4. To Generate True Worship of God

Rom 11:33-36:  “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?  Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.”

IV. The Prerequisites of the Knowledge of God

Rom 6:16.  “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey…?”

1 Cor 3:16.  “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

James 4:4.  “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

Cf. 1 Cor 5:6; 6:19

A. Communicated By God

1. Initiated By God

2. Spoken in Human Language

Gen 1:28-30.  “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish o the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Gen 3:8-13.  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’  He answered, ‘Heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’  And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’  The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’  Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’  The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”

B. Communicated To Creatures Bearing God’s Image

C. Communicated Via the Holy Spirit

1 Cor 2:10.  “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 

1 John 2:27.  “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.  But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.”