The Most Important
Question
"Can You Know God?"
Throughout high school and college I attended church and participated in church activities. Not only did I attend church services (in a local United Methodist Church), I sang in the choir, played piano for the choir, and went to the summer retreats. I remember also attending Bible studies at the pastor's home during high school. During college (UCLA), we had dinners, fellowship gatherings, retreats, and I was chosen to be the editor of a little newsy paper that was published periodically. During all this, taking place over a period of about seven years, I never heard the Gospel - never became aware there was "Good News." In fact, there was only one memorable event that had anything really to do directly with God. One evening during a discussion near the end of my UCLA tenure, a female student asked the director of the Wesley Fellowship a question which immediately caught my attention. I had previously noticed that she had the ability to ask simple childlike questions that would go straight to the heart of what she was enquiring about. When she asked this particular question, I immediately said to myself, "Yes!" as it appeared to me to be a very important question. I sat forward in my chair to listen to what the director of our fellowship would answer. He had, we were told, many years of experience in ministry and I thought he would surely know the answer. The question my fellow-student asked was simply, "Can you know God?" The director smiled benignly (both he and his wife had the most benign smiles I believe I have ever encountered), looked pensively up at the ceiling (as if he were looking in God's direction, I suppose), and then - looking back at the student, still smiling benignly - answered, "You can't really know God!"
Today, almost 50 years later, I can still remember the anger I felt when I heard his answer. Not at him, though. It seemed to me that if anyone would know the answer to that question, he surely would. After all, he was the person there who was in authority and also the most "knowledgeable" - or so I thought. No, the anger rising up in me at his answer was, I suppose, at God Himself. I felt so angry that as I looked around at the empty chairs around me ( I was seated at the rear of the room), I felt strongly that I would like to throw them about in my anger and frustration (but I quickly decided I would not do that as I was basically quite shy and did not want to draw attention to myself). I knew from what the director was answering that he was attempting to explain the philosophical dilemma of the finite attempting to encompass (or know or understand) the infinite, so I was not interested in listening to anything further he had to say.
Later, as I drove home, I decided that "If it is not possible to know God, that meant that He did not care - and if He did not care, then why should I?" Looking back after all these years, I have come to wonder if that female student really knew the correct answer and was trying to set the director up for a proper discussion. I wish I would have asked her why she asked that question. Her reply might have saved me a lot of consternation and subsequent wasted years because of the wrong decision I came to based on the director's answer. This was a major crossroads in my life, and I had unknowingly taken the wrong road based on my decision to accept as true what the director had answered to the question that had been posed to him. Shortly after, I took another step in concluding that, "If there was a God, He would have to care, but since I had no evidence that there was a God who cared - then there must not be a God after all." So I became an atheist, and remained one for a number of years.
I have never gotten over my amazement that it is possible to attend church for years, yet never truly hear the Gospel - the "Good News"that is so evident in the Bible. But the Bible was "closed" to me during all those years - when I would open it to attempt to read, the words were meaningless to me. My mother gave me a Bible on Christmas day, 1945, when I was 10 years old. I had that Bible in my possession for many years, long after she died in 1962. The road I travelled as an atheist was chaotic, unsatisfying, unhappy for the most part, and when God finally confronted me in July, 1969, I was very glad to find that I had been wrong - there was a God who not only cared, He loved me! The meeting occurred in a way that gave complete denial to the answer given so many years previous by the director of the Wesley fellowship at UCLA. For some time during the latter part of the '60s, I knew I was on the road to destruction because of my lifestyle - and I was a victim of what is now known as manic depression, a merciless tyrant in control of my life.
Finally, in desperation because of the chaotic mess my life had become, I quit my job to spend full time trying to bring healing into it. So it was that on Friday, July 25, 1969, while I was reading a book by Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman titled, "Peace of Mind," (who, unknown to me, had a world-recognized ministry to atheists) that I was confronted by the possibility that I had been wrong after all - there might indeed be a God who cared. That evening I knelt by my bed and prayed, "If You really are there, God, please help me - I have made such a mess of my life!" The next day was filled with visions of wrongs I had done all my life to various people till at last I cried out at the end of the day, "I know about all these - what do I do about them???!!!" God's answer was immediate: "Get acquainted with my Son
"Get acquainted with my Son," God had told me, and during the following weeks, months and years I came to know just what He meant by that. I became aware that when God told me to get "acquainted" with Jesus, this was a direct refutation of what the director of the Wesley Fellowship had said so many years previously when he wrongly answered the question put to him, "Can you know God?" In fact, I found in the Bible that knowing God was the essence of eternal life, for which Christ had died! Jesus had prayed at one at one point:
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3 )
As I read the Bible, starting with the New Testament (being unemployed at the time, I could spend 8 hours a day reading, which I did), I recognized the following verse as very important: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (our daily needs - which Jesus had been speaking about in the preceding verses) will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:33): I paused and considered, telling God: "I don't know what is involved in seeking first Your 'kingdom' and Your 'righteousness,' but I promise to find out and do that - and put in Your hands my daily needs. You are my only hope at this point, and if You truly exist, I will survive - but otherwise I will perish." That was in 1969, and today of course I know much more now about what Jesus meant when He said, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." God has kept His Word in providing my daily needs for me, and has caused me to be a survivor, or - more importantly - an "overcomer." (1 John 5:4)
I was so very grateful that there was a God who truly loved me that one day I asked Him, "What can I do to show you my gratitude?" His reply was immediate: "Go and do likewise." I was not at that point well enough acquainted with the Scriptures to know that was what Jesus told His hearers after telling them the "parable of the good Samaritan" (Luke 10:30-37), but I knew that God was doing something wonderful in my life and He expected me to also be a blessing to others as well. Looking back, after all these years, I can now see that what God did at that time was to take my hand in His and make me a "co-laborer" with Him in what He was doing. "For we are laborers together with God...." (1 Cor. 3:9) He has walked me through various doors of ministry over the years (told in more detail in my "Testimony") - and, walking with Him in this way, I have come to know Him in a very personal way as He has fulfilled His Word in and through me, to "Go and do likewise." PTL!
Psalm 37:4 tells us: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Paul the apostle lets us know in no uncertain terms what the fervent desire of his heart is:
"But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one combined] loss for Christ's sake. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed one), and that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed one), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]. Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also. Only let us hold true to what we have already attained and walk and order our lives by that. Brethren, together follow my example and observe those who live after the pattern we have set for you. (Phil. 3:7-17 - AMP)The fervent desire of Paul's heart is to "know Christ," and he has shunned as "worthless" all that is not part of that, committing himself utterly to following Him - and not only that but to "become one with Him," experiencing the mighty power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), being united with Christ in His death (Luke 9:23; Rom. 6:3-11; Gal 2:20). He knows that, though the gift of God is to be had freely (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8), there is still a long-distance race to be run, "fixing our eyes on Jesus" (Hebr. 12:2) for the goal of what we know God has promised in His Word, knowing "fully" (1 Cor. 13:12), being "conformed to the image of His Son," (Rom. 8:29) and receiving the fulfillment of all the glorious promises of God. Paul affirms that he has completely abandoned all that is not directly concerned with what is involved in "knowing Christ" and willingly yields himself to God's Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4-19), cooperating with God as He works out His will in our lives (John 15:1-11; Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:6, 2:12-13, etc.)
Paul also tells us:
"For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us." (2 Tim. 1:11-14)Initially we have believed on Christ, and have received salvation as a gift freely given by God (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9). Now we have the opportunity - in fact, the necessity - to know Him intimately. (Luke 10:38-42)
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdomIt is my observation that a majority of those who profess belief in Jesus as their Savior and Lord nevertheless are more concerned with God blessing them with personal temporal needs than they are in knowing Him. How self-centered and childish! God desires that we become mature sons and daughters (Matt. 6:33; Eph. 4:11-16).
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows Me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD.
(Jer. 9:23-24)
How wonderful, in fact, to become God's friend!
"...and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' and he was called the friend of God." {James 2:23)
"The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." (Exo. 33:11)
But we can call God, "Our Father...", so we are truly blessed! (Matt. 6:9)
"....those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Rom. 8:14-17)
However, Our Lord gave us this warning:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matt. 7:21-23; compare with Luke 13:24-27)
It is evident from His Word that God created us for fellowship - with Him and with each other (1 John 1:1-7).
"...and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
(1 John 1:3)
"I am ready to admit that I approach a statement like this with fear and trembling. It is one of those statements concerning which a man feels that the injunction given to Moses of old at the burning bush is highly appropriate: 'Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground' (Ex. 3:5). Here we are given, without any hesitation, a description, the summum bonum, of the Christian life; here indeed, is the whole object, the ultimate, the goal of all Christian experience and all Christian endeavor. This, beyond any question, is the central message of the Christian gospel and of the Christian faith....Here, let me repeat, is the very acme of Christian experience and at the same time it is a goal; it is the whole object of Christian experience and of Christian faith and teaching....the Christian life is not essentially an application of teaching; it is a fellowship, a communion with God Himself and nothing less....while the Christian must hold right views and doctrines, that is not the essence of the Christian life and Christian position. Rather, it is to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ....To believe that your sins are forgiven by the death of Christ is not enough. Even to be sound on the whole of doctrine of justification by faith only...that is not enough....The essence of the Christian position and of the Christian life is that we should be able to say, 'Truly my fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ'....(Christ) did not come merely to save us from hell; He came to bring us into fellowship with the Father and with Himself....The Christian is one who has become a sharer in the life of God....The second thing is that as well as being partakers of God, we are partners with Him, sharers in His interests and in His great purposes....we see things as God Himself sees them....We do not come to God because we want something. No, rather, we enjoy coming to Him; it is the greatest thing for us - this is the whole idea in this word 'communion'....those who are in communion know that God is there, they realize His presence, it is an essential part of this whole position of fellowship....those who can claim they are in communion with God and have fellowship with Him must be able to say, 'I have known that I was in the presence of God who graciously gives me tokens of this; He gives me manifestations....we have no fellowship with God unless in some way we have known that He was there, that He gave us His gracious intimation of His nearness and His presence....Truly, certainly, astoundingly, astonishingly, our fellowship is with the Father. Enoch walked with God, and if we are truly Christian, we should be walking with God, speaking to Him, knowing He is there speaking to us, delighting to praise Him, anxious to know Him more and more....the vital question for us all to put to ourselves is as simple as this - do I know God?" (1) (Emphasis mine - PDB) Let us therefore, as many of us who are of a sincere and pure heart, press on to know God as He desires that we know Him, hearkening to the gentle voice of His Holy Spirit guiding us, meditating on and studying His Word, and looking to those who have gone on before (such as the apostle Paul) as examples.
copywright © 1993 by Elizabeth Catherwood and Ann Desmond
Crossway Books - pp. 77-86
Be Still and Know
The Reality of the Holy Spirit
Are You Longing for His Appearing?
