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What It Means to Know God

Acts 17:22-34

Last Sunday, we saw that Doing of Exploits for God begins with knowing God. This makes an understanding of what it means to know God to be of paramount importance. What, then, does it mean to know God?

The Hebrew verb da – “know” means much more than the mere knowledge of an idea. For example, this verb is used in the Bible as a euphemism for intimate sexual relations [Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord;” Genesis 24:16, “Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her]. The Hebrew verb da (“know”) therefore implies integration of a concept into the self, rather than mere intellectual awareness.

In other words, just as a man and woman are bonded together in intimacy, an idea that is truly known is integrated and bonded to the personality of the person who knows it. The idea that is known becomes a part of the person himself. With this understanding of the Biblical meaning of the Hebrew word da (“know”), we can better understand what the Bible means when it speaks of knowledge of God.

In Jeremiah 22 we have a record of Jeremiah’s rebuke of King Jehoiakim for his unethical leadership and abuse of power. While warning the king that his kingdom will be destroyed if he did not mend his ways, Jeremiah invoked a contrast with the righteous reign of his father King Josiah:

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“Your father ate and drank and upheld justice and righteousness, did he not? And then it went well for him. He judged the case of the poor and needy. And then it went well for him. Isn’t this what it means to know Me?” (Jeremiah 22:15-16).

“Isn’t this what it means to know Me?” In this rhetorical statement, God Himself (through Jeremiah) explicitly states that to know Him is to behave according to the principles of justice and righteousness.

Biblically speaking, therefore, the knowledge of God is a consciousness of God that is so deep-seated and integrated into ourselves that it expresses itself in ethical, altruistic, and righteous behaviour. In other words, if someone claims to know God but their behaviour is not righteous, we cannot say that such a person knows God.

To know God, therefore, is to be intimately bonded with the idea of God. Like the marriage of a man and a woman, this knowledge transforms one’s identity and dictates behaviour.

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If knowing God is to be intimately bonded with the idea of God, where do we get our idea of God from? The Bible reveals a detailed portrait of the attributes of God; these are the very characteristics of His nature. Some call these characteristics His “perfections” because all of the qualities or attributes of God are perfect.

The characteristics of God include:

  • Natural attributes (qualities that God alone possesses): Spirit, Invisible, Independent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Immutable, Infinite, Transcendent, Incomprehensible, Sovereign, Eternal, Everlasting, Self-existent, and Self-sufficient.
  • Moral attributes (qualities that God shares with His creation): A Person, Holy, Longsuffering, Wrathful, Wise, Truthful, Faithful, Righteous, Just, Loving, Jealous, Good, and Merciful.

These lists are by no means exhaustive.

God’s characteristics can also be known from the names of God that reflect various attributes. These include:

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  • Elohim (Plural of “MIGHTY”)
  • El Elyon (GOD MOST HIGH)
  • Adonai (LORD, MASTER, OWNER)
  • El Roi (GOD WHO SEES)
  • El Shaddai (GOD ALMIGHTY, ALL SUFFICIENT)
  • Jehovah Yahweh (I AM THAT I AM)
  • Jehovah Jireh (LORD WILL PROVIDE)
  • Jehovah Rapha (LORD OUR HEALER)
  • Jehovah Nissi (LORD OUR BANNER)
  • Jehovah Mekeddeshem (LORD WHO SANCTIFIES)
  • Jehovah Shalom (THE LORD IS PEACE)
  • Jehovah Sabaoth (LORD OF HOSTS)
  • Jehovah Roi (LORD MY SHEPHERD)
  • Jehovah Ezer (LORD OUR HELP)
  • Jehovah Shammah (THE LORD IS THERE)

Finally, how can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God?

The rule for doing this is demanding but simple. We must give ourselves to the discipline of studying the attributes or characteristics of God—His person, His being, what brings Him pleasure, what brings Him displeasure, etc.

We must also turn each truth that we learn about God into a matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God. Meditation means to call to mind, think over, dwell on, and apply to oneself the various things that one knows about the works, ways, purposes, and promises of God.

One of the great things about being married is the ability to get to know one person in an intimate way, potentially, for the rest of life. This growing knowledge enables us to learn how to better serve and love him or her daily. Similarly, Scripture teaches that we are the bride of Christ, and we will be married to God for all eternity (cf. Eph 5:23, Rev 19:7).

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Since God is the bridegroom of the church, we must devote ourselves to knowing Him intimately so that we might please Him and effectively serve Him in this loving union throughout this life and the next.

One of the attributes of God that the Bible reveals to us is His Independence.

The independence of God essentially means that God does not need anything. He doesn’t need anything to be who He is or contribute to who He is. While God has a voluntary relationship to everything, He has a necessary relationship to nothing.

In other words, God relates to His creation because He chooses to, not because He needs to. For example, if you show up for worship in church, that’s good and God is glad to see you. But He will not be worse off if you stay home. He’s not going to panic.

We, on the other hand, are dependent. We are dependent on our parents for life and clothing as children, and when we are older, we are dependent upon friends, family, jobs, education, etc. There is a sense in which we need these things to make it in life or society. But we serve a God who needs nothing because He is independent.

Look at what Paul said to the Athenians in Acts 17:24–25:

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

Paul means at least two things by saying that God is not served by human hands. First, he simply means that God does not need anything. God is independent. But secondly, he means that God is not served by human hands because He is the giver.

He says, “because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (v. 25).

Can we really give God money on Sunday if he has already given it to us? There is a sense in which we can’t. We can’t because God is independent, and he is the true giver of all things. We can give only because he has given to us.

That is the wonderful thing about God. He doesn’t need us, but he allows us and calls us to worship him, though he doesn’t need anything. Well, one might ask, why did he create us then if he is independent? Was it because he was lonely or bored? No, not at all. God made us because he enjoys us.

Look at what he says about Israel and, through extension, the people of God of all times: “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). It says, he takes great delight in us and he will rejoice over us with singing. He delights in us, especially, when we are following him and walking in the unique giftings that he gave us. It brings him pleasure because we are fulfilling his purpose.

Scripture would say our high calling is to bring God both joy and pleasure. Colossians 1:16 says that all things were made for him—to bring glory to God and to bring him pleasure. For each of us, God has given us certain gifts. For some, he made us intelligent, others athletic, others are great with their hands, and others are gifted at serving or teaching. When we do the things that God created us for, he takes great pleasure in us as well.

The other side of God’s independence is our dependence on him. Listen again to what Paul said to the Athenians: “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (emphasis mine)” (Acts 17: 25). We need God for everything, even life and breath.

Look at what else Paul says: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). In talking about Christ, he says that he holds “all things together.” This means that not only does he give us life and breath, but he holds the trees, the plants, the oceans, the stars, and all the cosmos together. Everything is dependent upon him; we can do nothing apart from God.

What are some applications we can take from this?

One, understanding God’s independence reminds us of God’s love for us. He didn’t need to create us since he doesn’t need anything, but God created us because he loves us. Paul believes this is a very important reality for Christians to understand. In Ephesians 3:17–19, Paul prayed for the saints to know the depth and height of God’s love.

This is important because knowing that someone loves us will often radically change us. On earth, those who experience the greatest human love get married and spend the rest of their lives serving and getting to know one another. When we know God’s love, it should have a dramatic effect on us as well. Paul said this understanding would lead to our being filled with the “fullness of God.” This means we would be controlled and empowered by him (cf. Eph 5:18).

This is the reason Satan often attacks the love of God. In the Garden of Eden, Satan essentially was trying to make it seem like God did not really care about Adam and Eve. He said, “Did God really say you couldn’t eat of every tree in the Garden?” He tried to make God’s commands feel restrictive and domineering instead of loving. Then, he essentially calls God a liar. “You surely won’t die if you eat from the tree. Instead, you will be like God.”

Satan works overtime to keep us from knowing God’s love. He plants doubt, anger, and fear in order to keep us from being transformed by it and saved by it. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Like Paul, we must pray for ourselves and others to have power to grasp God’s love so that we may be transformed by it. God’s independence reminds us about how much God loves us.

Two, understanding God’s independence reminds us of our need to be dependent. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 that in order for a person to enter the kingdom of God, they must become like a child. The word child in that context is used of a very young child, a toddler or an infant. He was saying that the person who enters the kingdom of God has learned dependence.

An infant can’t feed himself, clothe himself, guide himself, or protect himself. He is totally dependent upon his parents. In the same way, a person who is saved learns he can do nothing to get into the kingdom of God on his own; he is totally dependent upon God.

However, this is not only true in regards to salvation, but also in sanctification. In the next verse, Christ says, he who becomes like this child is greatest in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:4). The person who learns dependence upon this independent God shall be the greatest in the kingdom of God. This person knows his utter weakness and need for the Almighty.

How much do we need God? We can tell how much we need God by considering how much we pray, read the Bible, worship, or need to be around his people. This shows something of our dependence upon him. Some people can go weeks without reading his Word, which shows their lack of dependence, their lack of childlikeness.

There is a very real sense in which we must learn to develop this. We must learn as a discipline to be like children in order to enter the kingdom. We can do nothing to save ourselves, and therefore, we must put our weight and faith fully on Christ. However, we must also learn this dependence to become great in the kingdom, essentially to grow.

God’s independence reminds us of these things. It reminds us of his love for us and our dependence upon him. Let no one doubt how much he loves us, and let no one doubt how much we really need God.

  • Rev. Kayode Ilupeju,
    Good News Baptist Church,
    47/49, Olufemi Road,
    Off Ogunlana Drive,
    Surulere, Lagos.
    Tel.: 0803-302-1008

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