Do You Know God?

On November 1, 1960, just a week before election day, I had the honor and privilege (or so I thought) of shaking Richard Nixon’s hand. To stand, even for a moment, before a man who had been the Vice-President of the United States just four years past, was awesome and something to brag about. The Watergate scandal and ensuing resignation brought me back down to Earth.

Acquaintance Not Knowing

I would never stretch the truth so far as to say I knew Richard Nixon for, truthfully, I never did know him. However, if someone had asked me if I knew Richard Nixon, I would have answered honestly, “Yes, I know him.” Of course, I would have meant that I knew who he was, nothing more. That is how many people know God.

I met my first wife, Mary, in Oct and we were married the following May. Even though we spent a lot of time together in the intervening days, I still did not know her when we got married. Marriage is the great eye-opener. It wasn’t until after we settled in our first apartment that I learned she didn’t know how to cook. Nor did I know she was scared to drive in big-city traffic. I didn’t know she had never been in a thunderstorm until she called me at work one day to tell me she was hiding under the bed, afraid. Years later I was still learning about her. And that’s the difference between acquaintance and knowing.

It is true that those that know God know about God. There is a vast difference between knowing about a person, be it God or a human, and knowing that person. The person that says, “I like to think of God as — and here you can insert whatever you like to think of God as — is both deficient in his or her knowledge of God and also doesn’t really know God. That person is an idolator, worshiping a figment of their imagination.

Knowing someone requires spending a lot of time with that person. I was working as a foreman when a certain chief shop steward who had been seriously injured in a traffic accident was assigned to work for me as a “walking wounded.” He had a terrible reputation with management. I, too, had a terrible reputation — with the union. He was no happier to be assigned to work for me than I was. When he arrived, I sat him down and we had a heart-to-heart discussion. I told him that, as far as I was concerned, he had a blank slate and I would form my opinion of him from what I saw with my own eyes.

We worked together for some months during which I got to know him. We became lasting friends and after I was unfairly busted back to a journeyman, I too, became a shop steward. And there you have the difference between knowing about and knowing.

Knowing God starts with knowing about him. In order to know God, one’s knowledge “about God must be correct. Many people know that God is “a God of love.” So far, so good. But that knowledge in and of itself, does not begin to scratch the surface of knowing God. In fact, we can know a great deal more than that with an accurate understanding, and still not know God.

How can I say that? Well, Satan and all his evil horde are perfect examples. They know more about God than you and I do, but it cannot be said that they know God. There are many examples of evangelical pastors and Bible scholars, to say nothing of charlatans and outright frauds, who have turned their backs on Jesus Christ and true Christianity. These people may know about God but they have not nor do not know God.

How can I say that? I say it because if they had known God they could not nor would not have turned their backs on him. Hebrews 3:12 says:

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (KJV)

Most people do not decide to leave the Christian faith suddenly. It just doesn’t happen overnight. And, it seems to me, the majority of those that do turn their backs on the true faith never were saved, despite their thinking they were. But more about that later.

The Signs of Knowing God

J. I. Packer, in his book Knowing God, lists four evidences of knowing God:

1. Those who know God have great energy for God. “The people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11: 32, KJV).
2. Those who know God have great thoughts of God.
3. Those who know God show great boldness for God.
4. Those who know God have great contentment in God. For a guide to finding great contentment in God, I would recommend Jeremiah Burrough’s The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.

To this short list, I would add four more evidences

• 5. Those who know God have real love for God.
• 6. Those who know God have great love for his written Word.
• 7. Those who know God have great love for the living Word, Jesus Christ.
• 8. Those who know God have great love for his Church.

For a fuller treatment of what it means to know God, I highly recommend J. I. Packer’s book. If I had to choose just a few books to accompany me into exile or to save if my house caught on fire I would be sure to grab Knowing God. When it first came out I spent six months using it as the basis for teaching an adult Sunday School class. It’s that good! This is an unsolicited and unpaid plug. I will receive no benefit but the satisfaction from knowing you will receive a great benefit from reading it and prayerfully meditating on its teachings alongside of an open Bible.

Those that know God have an intimacy with God that transcends knowing facts about God. They manifest the signs of knowing God. They commune with God regularly and often. When they hurt, whether it be physically, mentally, spiritually, or relationally, they are quick to run to God and “take it to the Lord in prayer,” as the old hymn tells us to do. They see God in everything, whether large or small. They have an implicit trust in God, recognizing he is sovereign, wise, holy, and loving even when what they see with their eyes and feel in their flesh seems to be contradictory.

Where to Start

In my sixty years as a Christian, I have been among those that have wandered from the straight and narrow. I felt like I did when as a three-year old toddler I got separated from my mother in a crowd of people. One minute I was with her, and oblivious to my distress, continued walking without realizing we had become separated. And then, of a sudden, I was by myself. I was alone. And lost. And frightened.

I kept on walking in the direction I thought my mother had gone, but recognized no one nor any landmarks. I finally started knocking on doors and eventually a kindly woman opened for me. The police were called and shortly I was reünited with my family.

This is how it often with as as Christians. There are many reasons why believers lose their way and wander about spiritually. Not every episode ends as well and uneventfully as my young excursion. Some end up in cults and pseudo-Christian religions and even pagan belief systems.

If you are truly born again and have wandered away or have “backslidden,“ as the old-timers would have put it, be encouraged. There is hope!

Jesus said”

“…this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:39 KJV)

God is near to all those who call upon him. Just like I sought out help when I was lost, you will find one door that will open for you. And behind that door is the Almighty and gracious God. He will open wide for you and receive you with opened arms and take you into his bosom.

Open your heart to him, confessing your sins and resolving by his power to follow after him. Ask him to direct your steps and make you a mature Christian. Then develop those disciplines — regularly reading the Bible, meditating on his word, committing his word to memory, prayer, and attendance at a church that preaches the Word of God and seeks to help you grow in your faith. By and by you will find that you truly know God.