Knowing About God Vs. Knowing God

Welcome to Week 2 of Relationship Tuesdays, where we’re looking at how God defines the relationship we have with Him. 

When I started my Christian walk, the first book of the Bible I read was Job.  What a place to start right?  But let’s look at his story in the context of knowing about God vs. knowing God.

When praising Job before Satan, God says this about Job, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."

Job is the most righteous man alive at the time; there is no one like him on the Earth.  I think most of us know the story from this point forward.  Satan says that if God lowered His protection of Job, Job would curse God and die.  God basically says, “take your best shot, but don’t kill him.”  And for the rest of the book we read about Job’s unparalleled misery.  We don’t know how long Job suffered, but we know his friends came and stayed with him for a week before they even talked, which must have been uncomfortable, especially since they broke the silence with all kinds of accusations about how Job must have sinned. 

And through it all, Job remains faithful though he does question God a lot.  And at the end God shows up and speaks to Job.  You’d think it would be words of comfort or encouragement, but God basically says, “Who are you to question me?  I’m God.” 

Job’s response is what really struck me as a new Christian, and even now it reminds me what this Christian walk is all about:

“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' "Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." 'Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.'

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes."

Job, the most righteous man on earth, says, “until now I have only heard of You.  I’ve only known about You.”  And if you read the things Job says about God, his knowledge is on par with any seminarian or pastor you’ll ever meet.  “But now I’ve seen you, and I take it all back.  I was talking about things I didn’t understand, and I repent in dust in ashes.” 

Before I found Jesus, I had taught a class on the Bible as literature, wrote a thesis on St. Augustine and some of the early church fathers, and read the Bible cover to cover several times.  I used to debate with Christians all the time and much like Satan in the wilderness with Jesus, I’d use scripture against them.  But when I met Christ, I realized I didn’t know anything, and even now in the presence of His holiness, I’m an ignorant fool. 

There is no knowledge you’ll ever accumulate on earth that will compare to seeing God.

In 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 Paul says, “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”

Next Week: Does God Know You?

The King Who Serves

There’s this crazy story in the Bible about Jesus washing some stinky feet at dinner.  It’s hard to imagine the King of kings and Lord of lords on His knees in front of some dirty guys washing their feet; even Peter can hardly accept the insanity of it all and recoils saying, “"Never shall You wash my feet!"

And Jesus answers him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."  (John 13:8)

When Jesus finishes, He says, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:12-17) 

In another place when Jesus sends out the disciples He says, “freely you received, now freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

Our King is not only generous, He’s humble, and He loves to serve.  He served in creating. He served in coming to Earth to live sinless.  He served in dying and rising again.  He serves in giving us salvation, forgiveness, grace, love, mercy, and eternal life.  He serves by sending His Spirit to abide in us, teach us, guide us, and empower us.

But our King doesn’t serve us just so that we might exalt in His gifts, He serves us to set us an example: that even the greatest among us ought to serve the least among us. That we ought to save those in need, forgive those who’ve wronged us, give grace to the undeserving, love others as we love ourselves, show mercy when judgment is due, live for eternity, live in/by the Spirit and Truth, and to pray in power for deliverance, healing, and life for anyone who needs it.

The King who serves, serves in humility, so that those who are of His kingdom might also humbly serve. 

And Jesus says that you cannot serve Him or others in His name if you have not been served by Him.  That’s why it’s not by works that we’re saved but by grace.  We have to experience the example before we can live it.

Stop resisting the humility of our King.  He wants to serve you.  If you’re hurting, come to Him.  If you’re sinning, come to Him.  If you’re ill, come to Him.  If you’re tired, come to Him.  He will freely give you whatever you need, so you can freely give it to others that all who call on His name might be saved to the glory of God.

God's Glory Alone

I started this blog back in 2007, with a post called When God Shows Up.  Since then I have written 100 posts, attracted about 2,000 page views a month, and have publishers dumping books, videos, and video games on me asking for reviews.  It seems to be a success in every way except the reason I started it in the first place.

When I reread these words in that first post, despite all that has happened in my life and how much I’ve grown as a Christian, I find not much has changed:

We're like autistic children; too much stimulus and we start screaming and run away. There have been times in my relationship with God, that He has moved beyond typical interactions, and I've felt His presence physically touching me; I've heard His voice in more audible tones. Every time I've approached this intimate relationship with God, I've pulled back, and yet it is the type of relationship I desire most. It is this simultaneous desire and hesitancy that creates a constant struggle in my life. When I sin, it is usually a direct result of this struggle. I start to get too close to God and pull back and do something to purposely push Him away. Those of you who know my whole testimony are probably thinking this sounds very familiar, you'd be right. However, unlike the last time, I'm taking a stand right here, right now, to press on in this relationship God desires from me, and overcome the desire to run.”

In fact rather than getting rid of the desire to run, I think I’ve just come to understand why it’s there the more I’ve come to know God.  I had one experience just after writing this post all those years ago that provides a good example of why. 

I had just finished reading Exodus 33-34, about Moses asking God to show him His glory.  And so I began to seek the Lord because I wanted to see His glory too.  I foolishly prayed out to God, “I don’t care if it kills me; I want to know all of your glory!”

I’ve read some commentaries and heard some pastors say that when Solomon says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) and when Jesus says, “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) that they just mean be in awe of God.  There aren’t enough synonyms in any thesaurus for "foolishness" to begin to describe the stupidity of this idea. 

Did Jesus tell John, “do not be in awe” in Revelation 1:17?  No, He said “do not be afraid.”  Why?

I found out on that day.   As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt a weight drop on me, and I fell on my face like a dead man.  And God’s glory covered me, and like the shepherds in the field that first Christmas night, I was sore afraid.  I thought I was going to die, and I could feel that God was holding back, a lot.  For hours I lay under the weight of His presence, until I managed to whisper, “please stop, I think I’m going to die.”

His presence lifted, and I pulled myself to a fetal position and bemoaned my unworthiness with a wrenching weeping, while God’s Spirit comforted me.

The experience humbled me and gave me a better understanding of this God I’m seeking to know.  He is not a big, lovable grandpa in the sky.  He is God.  He loves us enough to send His Son to die in our stead so that we can stand before Him in the Day of Judgment and not be destroyed.  But in the mean time He loves us enough to keep us at a distance lest we see His face and die. 

Yet that is my desire still, to press in to see His face no matter what the cost, so I die daily that I might be resurrected and behold His glory, but I do so in a proper understanding of whose glory it is that I’m seeking.

So, wherever this blog goes over the next 100 posts, however many readers there are, may it always be for His glory alone because God alone is worthy.