The Knowability of God

At our God Revealed Conference Sunday night, I meditated on the fact that God has revealed Himself (Audio here). Here were my 5 sections in the message:

1. The Importance of Knowing God.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 says that nothing is more important to a human than knowing God. If we are going to boast, let it be in that we know God.

2. The Obstacle to Knowing God.
God is the main obstacle to knowing God. Because of His justice and wrath, sinners cannot know Him on their own.

3. The Gift of Knowing God.
Christ died and rose from the dead so that we can know God. In fact, Jesus said that the eternal life that He gives to His own is the gift of knowing God (John 17:2-3). The Son chooses who to reveal the Father to (Matt. 11:27).

4. The Means of Knowing God.
If we are going to know God, we must pursue knowledge of Him through the means he has revealed Himself to us. I highlighted 4 ways God has and continues to reveal Himself: (1) Creation, (2) The Bible, (3) Jesus, (4) suffering.

5. The Effect of Knowing God.
When we know God, it changes our lives.

Knowing God in Jeans

Back in January, I reviewed Josh Harris' Dug Down Deep. In that review, I said, "I couldn't help but think that Dug Down Deep is basically a modern and simplified version of Knowing God. Anybody else with me on this one?"

No one answered my question and I was beginning to think I was alone in my assesment. That is, until I read Thabiti's review, in which he said:

"At the end of the day, Dug Down Deep is Knowing God in blue jeans and a shaved head. That is to say, it’s a book of classic truth and worth, written for our day. It’s instantly in my top two or three reads so far in 2010. Thank you, Josh, for writing this book!"

So there you have it.

On Knowing God

Last evening, my church started a study on the attibutes of God. We gather to plead for reformation on Wednesday nights, and we are basing our prayers for awakening on the character of our God. I gave seven reasons why we are studying the attributes of God by way of preface:

• God wants to be known. God does not like to be taken for granted.
• Our knowledge of God enhances our prayer life.
• There is no more important person or subject in the universe to study.
• In general, we lack knowledge of God today.
• To enjoy God, we must get to know God.
• The more we get to know God, the more we become like God. Beholding is becoming.
• Knowledge of God leads to obedience to God.

Then, I gave 3 "disclaimers":

• God is incomprehensible. There are attributes of God which we will never know. God can be understood, just not fully.
• The Bible is the only authoritative source on God.
• Knowing God is only possible because of the gospel.

Bonus quote from JI Packer's Knowing God: “The conviction behind this book is that ignorance of God—ignorance both of his ways and of the practice of communion with him—lies at the root of much of the church’s weakness today.”