“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exerciseth lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9: 23, 24 KJV). “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17: 3 KJV).
Humanity can know and understand God. Even though God is so majestic, wonderful, mighty, mysterious, and His ways past finding out, we can still know and understand God at a highly personal level. We can know His perfect will and walk in His fellowship, and share Him with others in such a way that they can know and understand Him as well.
Paul, after his conversion, wanted more than anything to know God. He was willing to give up everything to have that knowledge of God. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3: 7, 8). What Paul meant by knowing God was “knowing Him by experience, consciously and personally, Spirit touching spirit, heart touching heart.”
Paul knew that God was knowable and that He could be understood. He knew that God had revealed Himself through general and special revelation (Ps. 19) and through His Son Jesus Christ (Col. 1: 15; Heb. 1: 3) in such a way that the searching heart could know Him.
But for such knowledge and understanding, there was a very high price to pay. For Paul, it meant losing everything. All the power, prestige, position, and possessions he acquired while being a member of the sect of Pharisees he counted as “dung” in order to know God as much as a redeemed soul could possibly achieve.
Wise men make sacrifices to become wise and mighty men to become mighty and rich men to become rich. Christians must make sacrifices if they would truly know God.
While these other men gathered up, strengthened themselves, and became proud of themselves and their accomplishments, the Christian in order to know God has to lose oneself and become weak, humble, and emptied of self completely.
Though these others, with a pride God hates, boast in their wisdom, political sagacity, power, and wealth, the one that knows God boasts in a right relationship with the sovereign God of grace, justice, and righteousness. “Blessed is the one who understands the Lord so as to delight in what He delights in.”
We might boast in personally knowing some very famous men. But do we hold a personal relationship with God? There is more information available to us about God than there is of any other person.
As we get to know others by spending time with them, we also get to know God by spending time with Him in prayer and Bible study. We know as much about God as we choose to discover. We’re as holy and as close to God as we choose to be and not a bit more. It’s very obvious that very few individuals today show evidence of a personal relationship with God that is so strong it can be witnessed by others.
The Christian today has no time to spend getting to know God because they’re too occupied with trying to meet the world’s standard for success. Successful Christianity is found in having an intimate relationship with God.
