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Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.'
(John 8:42)
Scriptures to explore: Genesis 1:26-27; Esther 4:11; Esther 5:1-2; Matthew 11:27; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9
We are born into this world without an innate knowledge of our Creator nor a desire to know Him. Without knowledge of God, we are blind to our bent towards sin, even denying the seriousness of sin (Romans 1:18-23; I John 1:8, 10). Whatever clues we encounter about God's existence come from what we observe and those around us. The understanding that many of us claim to have of God is distorted. Even being raised in a godly home does not ensure our knowing God, for in our fallen nature we resist God and rebel against Him in many different ways. Any awareness of Him is likely mixed with our own imaginings. But the majority of us know nothing about the Living God, though we may construct an idea of God for ourselves. In short, the Living God, who created us and wants us to experience His promises and redemptive power in Christ, is just as unknown to us as is our fallen nature, and so we look to things other than God for our ultimate purpose and meaning.
In moments where we directly or indirectly come in contact with God's truth we begin to grow. More often than not, we do not notice such points of growth, though some may leave a lasting impression that are recognized months or years later. Basic truths about God cross our path in the form of other people. He uses human agents to make Himself known. While we may encounter bits and pieces of truth, accepting them and allowing them to impact our life is another matter entirely. As our knowledge of God increases, so does our awareness of sin. We may not see or acknowledge our sin, but we do recognize things that need to change. Though we pursue changes, they do not last; if we break free from one issue, another comes to light. Try as we might, we cannot find true freedom. We continue to be self-centered, and even though that may start to bother us, we bristle at the idea of sin within us. In a very crude sense, we are beginning to mature and grow in the knowledge of God. But this limited knowledge is not yet directing our choices or cause us to seek God. Rather, we have simply heard bits of information which are not yet consciously shaping our character.
To mature into a follower of Christ we must frequently be exposed to the truth of God. As we become more aware of Him, we also become more aware of our self-centeredness, eventually realizing that we are a sinner. This truth may come through friends or family, co-worker, classmates, or neighbors as a way of God getting our attention. Maybe a follower of Christ is praying for us and watching for an opportunity to speak to us about Christ, sits down with us over coffee, invites us to church, or asks us to join them in a Bible study. Or someone may have the courage to speak the truth to us about the things we do or say that are not appreciated. Whatever the means, people in our life are making known the truths of God. During this time a growing hunger to know the living God develops along with an increasing awareness of our captivity in sin (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). We may not describe it that way, but that is what is happening deep inside of us. This desire to grow may lead to our hunger to connect with people. It might cause us to seek direction in the midst of a crisis. Maybe we feel there must be more to life. Some may turn to a local church saying it is for the kids. Or perhaps we recognize sin rearing its ugly head and cry out for deliverance in a moment of desperation. Whatever the means He may use to reach us, this is the point when God reaches out to us and invites us to seek Him.
Though God uses a variety of means to make Himself known, His primary means is the Holy Bible. If we hunger to know God, we must eventually start reading the Bible. To reject the Bible is to reject God's self-revelation. Our first venture into the Bible may start in the beginning, with the first chapters of Genesis. We might find them interesting until we encounter a list of names, many of which we cannot pronounce. As we push on the story gets interesting, until about the middle of Exodus when we start to get lost with the happenings and details around Mt. Sinai. Some may give up and conclude from this first reading that the Bible is too difficult to understand. But that is simply not true. The best thing we can do is pray for the Holy Spirit to open our mind and heart to God's word and to ask for someone to disciple us. Someone who is mature in the faith and able to help us understand what we read. If someone comes alongside us to help us grow, they may point us to the Gospel accounts of Jesus in the New Testament rather than Genesis and the Old Testament. They know from experience that the best place to start is with Jesus himself. In time we will venture into the earlier parts of the Bible, but initially our growth is best guided by spending time with Jesus. Even if we do not have someone to walk with us, by pressing in reading through the challenging and seemingly boring parts can bear fruit in the long run. In time we better understand and appreciate those parts of the Bible, but in the early stages it is important to develop the discipline of drawing near to God. Our first reading of the Bible begins to break up the soil of our heart and mind where the words of God are being planted, watered, and taking root. As we read, we make discoveries about Christ. We meet with sin, judgment and redemption. As we encounter God's promises we probably do not notice them or understand their significance yet. Still, Jesus challenges us with what he says, all the while slowly coming to grips with who he is. Learning about Jesus in the pages of Scripture, we wrestle with whether or not we are going to believe him. To become a mature Christian, we must become a follower of Jesus, for he is the Christ promised by God, the one to whom all of Scripture points (Luke 24:44-47). We have to admit the truth about our separation from God and our need for the Savior whom God sent, that Christ is given to be our Savior. We need to belong to Christ, not to sin (Romans 8:2; II Corinthians 5:14-15). This awareness comes as we continue to grow through reading and prayer. Knowledge of Jesus and the Bible can come from hearing God's word in church. It can come through our participating in a small group Bible Study, a Sunday school class, and meeting one-on-one with a mature believer. All of these are great ways to grow in our knowledge and love of God through His word. But if the truth be told, we mature in Christ by spending time on our own with him in the Bible and prayer. We need to take time to listen to God, grasp His self-revelation, and trust Him. Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17), which has been preserved and passed down to us. We must hear God's word in order to believe it and act upon it. Only as we are prayerfully in His word do we encounter Him since this is His primary means for revealing Himself.
The more time spent in Scripture, the more likely we are to encounter God. Meeting Him in His word challenges us. While we easily see sin's destructiveness revealed through our relationship with God and others. We notice sin in others, but now we recognize it more and more in ourselves. But we are also better grasping that if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us (I John 1:9). As we mature, God's word challenges us to ask Him to work in us in ways we cannot do in and for ourselves. In this season of growth, we may be tempted to turn away from Christ (John 6:60-66), but we press on in the discovery that the words of eternal life come through Christ who has come from God (John 6:68-69). We could choose to sin and satisfy our flesh rather than believe God and obey Him. But instead, we look to Jesus who was also tempted (Matthew 4:1-10), and as we do we resist the devil and he flees (James 4:7-8a). God wants to transform our life, but He does not force Himself upon us, instead He allows us to make choices that align with Him or not. We either pray for His will to be done, or we take control so that our will is done. We either focus on God or ourselves. We either glorify Him or sin against Him. Our growth in the knowledge of God comes by choosing to seek Him and do His will, and then facing all challenges with our eyes fixed on God.
As we submit to God, trusting in who He is and what He is doing, we grow in our knowledge of Him. As He sets us free from the sins that have bound us, we grow in our knowledge of Him. Sometimes our growth is recognizable. Sometimes it seems like merely head knowledge. It is our character that is most transformed as we submit to God. Time and opportunities reveal our character. Some of our choices amaze us knowing that they are a result of trusting God leading us to do and say things that honor Him. It must be emphasized that much of our growth in the knowledge of God takes place first in our heart. Our trust of God and the way we think changes as well. Our character is being shaped to reflect the Lord. All of this is seen in our choices and actions. Things that were once important no longer draw us. Words we used to say no longer pass through our lips. These changes are not the result of our trying our best to live up to some standard, but occur as we get to know God better, which goes much deeper than simple head knowledge. It is growth that shapes our character. As a result, sin is losing the power it once had over us. Insights about Him and from Him inspire us and shape our thinking, but growth is marked by our being transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus. Faith is daily shown to be genuine as we depend upon what God has revealed about Himself, knowing that He will do what He has promised. Our character reflects our faith and pleases God (Hebrews 11:1; Hebrews 11:6) for we have come to know Him.
While there is no point at which we stop growing in our knowledge of Him, there does come a point where we trust God so completely and have an intimacy with Him that we no longer struggle to know or trust Him like we did at first. Our walk with Christ clearly reveals that we know God, although we do not claim to know God fully. The Holy Spirit is working in us, continuing to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The Spirit convicts us of any sin that shows up and sets us free from sin as we confess and repent. Character formation continues until the day we die. Yet, there is a sense in which we have the core knowledge of God needed to obediently follow Him wherever He may take us. We have offered our life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). We know that He is faithful, just, kind, loving, full of mercy and grace. We experience His love of God, and understand that if we should start going astray, He would call us back to Himself. At times it may be painful, but we realize that God does what is best for those who love Him, which results in our glorifying Him. In our maturity, we know God and have intimacy with Him.
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