Can God Be Known?

First of all we had to determine if there was such a thing as “Truth”, and what it was. I shared that it is only logical to believe so, and that real truth must exist outside of the whims and ideas of humanity. This led to the proposition of the existence of God.

Last week we looked at the question, “Does God Exist?”

Does God Exist?

Recently some new photos were released by NASA that claim to be able to look all the way back to the beginning of our Universe. Many scientists have spoken out saying this is further evidence of the Intelligent Design argument for the universe. After some ideas of what it would be if God didn’t exist, and discussion as to why there must be someone or something that put all of what we call Creation into motion, the question developed to:

If a Creator God Exists, Can We Know God?

And that is where we find ourselves today. Can we know God? or a better way of phrasing it:

Can God Be Known?

Imagine, knowing the Creator God of all the universe! If that can be done, wouldn’t we want to know this God?

I would contend Yes.

Our passage this morning begins on a rather negative note, speaking of the wrath of God. Still let’s listen to what it says:

Romans 1:18–19 ESV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

The Apostle Paul goes on in verse 20,

Romans 1:20 ESV

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.

I don’t know what began your faith journey. As I shared part of my journey last week, much of mine was in simply observing what exists, and what has been made. It’s interesting in our passage this morning is that it says that God’s “eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived.”

The evidence is there, and deep down, we all know it is. Yet, for many to admit that seems to make us less important than we might like to imagine ourselves.

The passage goes on:

Romans 1:21 ESV

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

I find it instructive that Paul asserts “they knew God.”

We’re talking about the question, “Can God be Known?” and Paul asserts that those who have rejected God already knew Him. And though they knew him they did not honor him nor give thanks to him. Then we have that word “but”, contrasting what came before, and it says they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

It’s ironic in our world that there are so many who dismiss the idea of God or claim that God is unknowable. Think about that. Then they readily dismiss the existence of or knowability of a Creator in our Universe. Think about that statement for a moment.

“God cannot be known,” they say so definitively. But on what authority do they base this assertion?

The ONLY authority on which they can make such a declaration is based on the CREATED, on those within whom the evidence of a Creator God is screaming. Their existence literally testifies to something greater and yet they assert that something doesn’t exist.

Romans 1:22 NASB95

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Or as our book of Proverbs puts it:

Proverbs 18:12 NIV84

Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

So, the question remains, can we know God? And even does God want to be known? If so, how?

Well, we already have evidence of God, some of which I shared last week, some of which I believe we are still discovering as we have gazed at those amazing pictures from NASA's James Webb Satellite Telescope.

Still, having evidence is different than having actually “spoken” to someone. So, if God exists, does God speak? If God speaks, how?

Well, one of the records we have is right here:

Hold up Bible

We call it the Bible, we call it God’s Word.

So, for the sake of argument, let’s just say that this is true, for right now. We’ll discuss the validity of the Bible more next week. But, since this is one of the few if only records we have of God speaking, let’s just do a 30,000 foot glance, really, of what it says about God speaking.

We begin at the very beginning of Scripture, and we read in Genesis that it was God who created everything.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

How did God create?

Genesis 1:3 (ESV)

And God said, “Let there be light,”...

Genesis 1:6 ESV

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

Genesis 1:11 (ESV)

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit...

You get the idea, they all begin with

“And God said...”

In other words, God speaks. Now all of this is of course before the historical record as humanity wasn’t in existence yet, and even so, these early stories are not recorded until Moses who is said to be the one who put much of this into writing.

Still, we ask, “Can God Be Known?”

God walks in the garden with Adam & Eve, God speaks to Noah, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God calls to Moses, and spoke to him on Mount Sinai. So, God speaks, but does God want to be known?

God speaks to Joshua, Samuel, David, but more than that we get to the New Testament and God literally comes to earth - in Jesus.

Think of the implications.

So the question of Can God Be Known, is answered with a resounding, “YES!”

Not only can God be known, God wants to be known. Yet, we’re very likely to reject Him.

John 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John continues:

John 1:10–11 ESV

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

And the idea of God dwelling among us:

John 1:14 ESV

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.

and finally, John 1:18

John 1:18 ESV

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

God can be known, and wants to be known. He has made Himself known through his Son, Jesus, His Word, and His Creation. Yet people continue to deny it. Do we really deem ourselves as that smart?

In denying God, in a very real way we elevate ourselves to the status of a god, being able to declare what is and what isn’t truth. Sadly, this then sets truth as something that is abstract, subjective and not something that can be built upon. As we’ve discovered earlier in this series, truth has to be something that is objective and something that doesn’t change with the whims of man. God’s Word describes God as unchanging, “He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at the Bible as God’s Word to us, and the person of Jesus, and what that means for us.

So, knowing that God desires to be known. we ought to desire to know Him. So this week as you go about your daily life be observant. How is God revealing Himself to you? Is it in nature? The fruit, vegetables, and other foods on your plate? Is it in friends? Is it in your thoughts, dreams, aspirations? Is it in the wonder of your own body? Wherever you see it, take a moment to be in awe. Take a moment of reverence to the glory of God that is all around us.

Can God Be Known?

Someone once asked if God continued to speak today. The world around us continue to proclaim God’s glory. It’s all around us. Above us, below us, in front of us and behind, and walking along side of us. God not just can be known, God wants to be known.

Knowing this to be true, how much do you want to know God? What a gift to be able to commune with the Creator. We’ll talk more about this next week.

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