Articles
When We Know God
“A worm,” wrote Merrill C. Tenney, “is content to live in soil; we need not only the wider environment of earth, sea, and sky but also contact with other human beings. For the complete fulfillment of our being, we must know God” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, 162).
To know God means so much more than knowing about God or having a passing acquaintance with Him. To know God is to have a rich, close, personal relationship with Him. This is what He desires with each of us.
If someone were to ask us if we know God, what would we say? If we said, “Yes, I know God,” then what if the next question is, “But can you prove you know Him?” Would we blush, stammer, get angry, or would we have a good answer? “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him . . .” (1 John 2:4 NASB).
Paul says much the same thing: “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him . . .” (Titus 1:16).
Several things take the sting out of obedience and make it well worth it. First, it is easier to obey God when we understand that “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Second, obedience comes easier when we realize it will result in an effective prayer life (1 John 3:22). And third, there are the ultimate benefits! “. . . the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).
As J. I. Packer has written, “What were we made for? To know God . . . . What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God” (Knowing God, 29).
