What Does It Mean to Know God?

What is Christianity?

Some say it is a philosophy, others that it is
an ethical stance, while still others claim it

is really an experience. None of these

really gets at the heart of the matter, however.

Each of those things is something a Christian

has, but not one of them serves as a definition of

what a Christian is. Christianity has at its core a

transaction between a person and God. A person

who becomes a Christian moves from knowing

about God distantly to knowing Him directly

and intimately.

"Now this is eternal life; that

they may know you, the only true God, and

Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." —John 17:3.

Christianity is knowing God.

Why Do I Need to Know God?

Our desire for personal knowledge of God is

strong, but we usually fail to recognize the

desire for what it is. When we first fall in love,

when we first marry, when we finally break into

our chosen field, when we at last get that

weekend house—these breakthroughs arouse in

us an anticipation of something which, as it

turns out, never occurs. We eventually discover

that our desire for that precious something is a

longing that no lover or career or achievement,

even the best possible ones, can ever satisfy.

The satisfaction fades away even as we close

our fingers around our goal. Nothing ever

delivers the joy it seemed to promise. Many of us

avoid the yawning emptiness through busyness

or denial, but, at best, there is only a postponement.

"Nothing tastes," said Marie Antoinette.

There are several ways people respond to this:

1) To blame the things themselves—to find fault

with everyone and everything around them.

Some people believe that a better spouse, a better

career, a better boss or salary would finally yield

the elusive joy. Many of the world's most

successful people are like this: bored, discontented,

running from new thing to new thing,

often changing counselors, mates, partners,

settings.

2) To blame themselves—to try harder to live up

to self-imposed standards. Many people feel they

have made poor choices or failed to measure up

to challenges and to achieve the things that

would give them joy and satisfaction. Such

people are wracked with self-doubts and tend to

burn themselves out. They think, "If only I could

reach my goals, then this emptiness would be

gone." But it is not so.

The Christian says, "Creatures are not born

with desires unless satisfaction for those

desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well,

there is such a thing as food. A duckling

wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as

water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is

such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire

which no experience in this world can

satisfy, the most probable explanation is that

I was made for another world. If none of my

earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not

mean that the universe is a fraud. Probably

earthly pleasures were never meant to

satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest

the real thing.

—C. S. Lewis

3) To blame the universe itself—to give up

seeking fulfillment at all. These are the people

who says, "Yes, when young you are idealistic,

but at my age I have stopped howling after the

moon." They become cynical and decide to

repress that part of themselves that once wanted

fulfillment and joy. But they become hard, and

they can feel themselves losing their humanity,

compassion and joy.

4) To blame and recognize their separation from

God—to establish a personal relationship with

Him.

How Can I Know God?

In order to form a personal relationship with

God, we must know three things:

1) Who We Are

We are God's creation. God created us and built

us for a relationship with Him. We belong to

Him and owe Him gratitude for every breath,

every moment, everything. Since humans were

built to live for Him (to worship), we will always

try to worship something. If not God, we will

choose some other object of ultimate devotion to

give life meaning.

We are sinners. We have all chosen (and reaffirm

daily) to reject God and to make our own joy and

happiness our highest priority. We do not want

to worship God and surrender our self-mastery,

yet we are built to worship; so we cling to idols,

centering our lives on things which promise to

give us meaning: success, relationships, influence,

love, comfort, etc.

We are in spiritual bondage. To live for anything

else but God leads to breakdown and decay.

When a fish leaves the water, that which he was

built for, he is not free, but dead. Worshipping

other things besides God leads to a loss of

meaning. If we achieve these things, they cannot

deliver satisfaction, because they were never

meant to be "gods." They were never meant to

replace God. Worshipping other things besides

God also leads to self-image problems. We end

up defining ourselves in terms of our achievement

in these things. We must have them or all

is lost, so they drive us to work too hard or fill

us with terror if they are jeopardized.

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Pray after this fashion:

"I see I am more flawed

and sinful than I ever dared believe, but that

I am even more loved and accepted than I

ever dared hope."

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2) Who God Is

God is love and justice. His active concern is for

our joy and well-being. Most people love those

who love them, yet God loves and seeks the

good even of people who are His enemies. But

because God is good and loving, He cannot

tolerate evil. The opposite of love is not anger

but indifference.

"The more you love your son, the

more you hate in him, the liar, the drunkard, the

traitor." (E.H. Gifford)

To imagine God's situation,

picture a judge who is also a father, who

sits at the trial of his very guilty son. A judge

knows that he cannot let his son go, for without

justice no society can survive. How much less

can a loving God merely ignore or suspend

justice for us who are loved, yet guilty of

rebellion against His loving authority?

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus is God Himself come

to earth. He first lived a perfect life, loving God

with all His heart, soul and mind, fulfilling all

human obligation to God. He lived the life you

owed—a perfect record. Then, instead of

receiving His deserved reward (eternal life),

Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins,

taking the punishment and death you owed.

When we believe in Him:

1) Our sins are paid for by His death, and

2) His perfect life record is transferred to

our account.

So God accepts and regards us as if we

had done all Christ has done.

3) What You Must Do

You must repent. There first must be an

admission that you have been living as your

own master, worshipping the wrong things,

violating God's loving laws. "Repentance"

means you ask forgiveness and turn from that

stance with a willingness to live for and

center on Him.

You must believe. Faith is transferring your

trust from your own efforts to the efforts of

Christ. You were relying on other things to

make you acceptable, but now you consciously

begin relying on what Jesus did for

your acceptance with God. All you need is

nothing. If you think, "God owes me something

for all my efforts," you are still on the

outside.

Pray after this fashion: "I see that I am more

flawed and sinful than I ever dared believe,

but that I am even more loved and accepted

than I ever dared hope. I turn from my old life

of living for myself. I have nothing in my

record to merit Your approval, but I now rest

in what Jesus did and ask to be accepted into

God's family for His sake." When you make

this transaction, two things happen at once:

1) your accounts are cleared, your sins are

wiped out permanently, you are adopted

legally into God's family, and 2) the Holy

Spirit enters your heart and begins to change

you into the character of Jesus.

You must follow through. Tell a Christian

friend about your commitment. Get yourself

training in the basic Christian disciplines of

prayer, worship, Bible study and fellowship with

other Christians.

Consider reading:

Go for It, by John Guest, or The Fight, by John

White. Both are good books for developing a new

Christian life.

If you were created by God, then you owe Him

your life, whether you feel like it or not.

Why Should I Seek to Know God?

On the one hand, you may feel very much that

you "need" God. Even though you may recognize

that you have needs only God can meet, you must

not try to use Him to achieve your own ends. It is

not possible to bargain with God. ("I'll do this if

You will do that.") That is not Christianity at all,

but a form of magic or paganism in which you

appease the cranky deity to get a favor. Are you

getting into Christianity to serve God or to get

God to serve you? Those are two opposite motives,

and they result in two different religions.

You must come to God because 1) you owe it to

Him to give Him your life (because He is your

Creator), and 2) you are deeply grateful to Him for

sacrificing His Son (because He is your Redeemer).

On the other hand, you may feel no need at all or

interest in knowing God. This does not mean you

should stay uncommitted. If you were created by

God, then you owe Him your life, whether you

feel like it or not. You are obligated to seek Him

and ask Him to soften your heart and enlighten

yours eyes. If you say, "I have no faith," that is no

excuse either. You need only doubt your doubts.

No one can doubt everything at once—you must

believe in something to doubt something else. For

example, do you believe you are competent to

run your own life? Where is the evidence for

that? Why doubt everything but your doubts

about God and your faith in yourself? Is that

fair? You owe it to God to seek Him. Do so.

What If I Am Not Ready to Proceed?

Make a list of issues that you perceive to be

barriers to your crossing the line into faith.

Here is a possible set of headings:

Content issues: Do you understand the basics

of the Christian message—sin, Jesus as God,

sacrifice, faith?

Coherence issues: Are there intellectual

problems you have with Christianity? Objections

to the Christian faith which you cannot

resolve in your mind?

Cost issues: Do you perceive a move into full

Christian faith will cost you something dear?

What fears do you have about commitment?

Consider reading:

Hope Has It's Reasons, by Rebecca Pippert

(Harper and Row)

Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis (MacMillan)

Basic Christianity, by John Stott (IVP).

—Adapted from Timothy Keller, 1991