Can We Know God?

by Terry Wane Benton

We must "believe that He is" (Hebrews 11:6) and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him, but knowing He exists and knowing Him are still two different things. I can know you exist without knowing you. The second is deeper in significance than the former. Knowing you exist is a step in the right direction of getting to know you. I could never get to know you if I did not know you existed, and seeking God, groping for Him, and finding Him in Jesus are key to knowing God more personally and meaningfully.

Jeremiah prophesied that the New Covenant would be different than the Sinia Covenant in that knowing God occurs in a different order. Under the Old Covenant, you were born into the covenant of Israel, grew, and were taught to "know the Lord," but under the New Covenant, you would be taught first to know the Lord and then would enter the covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). You don't enter the covenant without first knowing the Lord. So, there is the answer! You can know the Lord, and you must know the Lord, or else you will never have your sins forgiven and will not be in covenant with God.

Jesus came in the flesh to declare God to us in the most knowable way. If you learn Christ, you learn God. If you know Christ, you know God. So, studying the testimony of Christ and the words of Christ and coming to understand Christ's love, mission, and righteousness are all the things involved in getting to know God. Jesus was sent to represent the Father to us so we could know God. If you know Jesus, and the Spirit gave us the complete testimony and confirmation of Jesus (John 1:1-14; 20:30-31; 16:13), then you know all you need to know about the Father. Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." If you seek God, grope for Him, you will find Him in Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Know Jesus, and you will thereby know God. You will know His mind and heart as He so expressed it in Jesus (John 3:16). This will be "excellence of knowledge" to your soul (Philippians 3:8-11).

Dive in and learn Christ! There is where you will know God!