I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)
Our concept of God affects every area of our lives—how we act and think, what we value, our attitude toward ourselves and others, and, ultimately, the degree of success we will attain. We can never progress beyond our concept of who God really is.
The first and foremost thing we must know about God is that He is.“I AM Who I am!” (Exodus 3:14)
God existed before there was anything. The first verse in the Bible begins with “In the beginning, God…” He has always been and will always be. No one and nothing preceded Him and no one and nothing will succeed Him.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God.
“I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One.” (Revelation 1:8)
The second thing we must know about God is that He is knowable!
Your name, O LORD, endures forever; your fame, O LORD, is known to every generation. (Psalm 135:13)
“If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:13-14a)
God does not play hide and seek with His children. He created us for His pleasure. He wants above all to have an intimate spiritual relationship with each of us. As such, it is incumbent upon us to put forth whatever effort is required to get to know Him.
We come to know God through His attributes. An attribute is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself. They are not qualities which He possesses, but how He really is as He reveals Himself to us. Since God is indivisible, His attributes function in perfect harmony and are never in conflict with one another! They are how we can know Him.
Here is what the Bible tells us about God.
- God exists totally in and of Himself!
- He is not like anyone or anything else!
- He is infinite, and therefore, incomprehensible in nature!
- He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omni-present (everywhere all the time).
- He is transcendent (beyond all comprehension).
- He is sovereign (He rules over everything and everyone).
- He can only be known by revelation through the Holy Spirit!
- We can only understand Him through his attributes!
There is:
- None beside Him - Deuteronomy 4:35; Isaiah 44:6
- None before Him - Isaiah 43:10
- None like Him - Exodus 9:14; Deuteronomy 33:26; 2 Samuel 7:22; Isaiah 46:5,9; Jeremiah 10:6
- None good but Him - Matthew 19:17
Important Characteristics of God
- He fills heaven & earth - 1 Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:24
- He is a Spirit - John 4:24; 2 Corinthians 3:17
- He must be worshipped in spirit and truth - John 4:24
He is:
- Compassionate - 2 Kings 13:23
- Eternal - Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 4:8-10
- Faithful - 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 4:19
- Glorious - Exodus 15:11; Psalm 145:5
- Good - Psalm 25:8; 119:68
- Gracious - Exodus 34:6; Psalm 116:5
- Holy - Psalm 99:9; Isaiah 5:16
- Immortal - 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16
- Immutable (absolute) - Psalm 102:26-27; James 1:17
- Incorruptible - Romans 1:23
- Invisible - Job 23:8, 9; John 1:18; 5:37; 1 Timothy 1:17
- Jealous - Job 24:19; Nahum 1:2
- Just - Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21
- Light - Isaiah 60:19; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5
- Long-suffering - Numbers 14:18; Micah 7:1
- Love - 1 John 4:8, 16
- Merciful - Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 86:5
- Most High - Psalm 33:18; Acts 7:48
- Only-wise - Romans 16:27; 1 Timothy 1:17
- Perfect - Matthew 5:48
- Righteous - Ezekiel 9:15; Psalm 145:17
- True - Jeremiah 10:10; John 17:3
- Unsearchable - Job 11:7; 37:23; Psalm 145:3; Isaiah 40:28; Romans 11:33
- Upright - Psalm 25:8; 92:15
Since God is knowable, there is no excuse for not knowing Him.
“For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
Though this may sound like bad news, it’s really good news because it means that everyone everywhere can know God simply by choosing to. The truth of the matter is that God knows everything there is to know about us.
O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. (Psalm 139:1b)
Since God knows everything about us, isn’t it only fair that we take time to get to know at least what we can know about Him?
So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. (John 1:14)So that we could know and understand Him better, God limited Himself in the form of a human being and visited the earth for 33 years in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus made it possible for us to see the attributes and characteristics of God at work in His dealings with everyday people. He even was tempted so that He could show us that it was possible for us to resist temptation.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)THE NAMES OF GOD
The names used in the Bible to identify God are significant because they give us insight into His divine nature and character. They are some of the ways we can know Him.
The most significant name for God in Scripture is “I AM”(Exodus 3:14)
Some other names of God are:
ELOHIM - “The Strong One” or “God” (Genesis 1:1)
JEHOVAH - “The Self-Existent One” or “Lord” (Genesis 2:4)
JEHOVAH ELOHIM - “Lord God” (Genesis 2:4)
EL ELYON - “God the Highest” (Genesis 14:18)
ADONAI - “Master” (Genesis 15:2)
ADONAI JEHOVAH - “Lord God” (Genesis 15:2)
EL SHADDAI - “Giver of Strength” (Genesis 17:1)
EL OLAM - “Eternally Existing One” (Genesis 21:33)
JEHOVAH SABAOTH - “Lord of Hosts” (1 Samuel 1:3)
EL GIBBOR - “Powerful One” (Isaiah 9:6)
There are eight names for God used in the Old Testament that combine the name JEHOVAH with one of God's special attributes, such as JIREH, which means "God is our Provision." They represent aspects of God's character that can be called upon to meet virtually every need that we could ever have.
The compound names of God are:
JEHOVAH-JIREH - “The Lord Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14)
JEHOVAH-ROPHE - “The Lord Our Healer” (Exodus 15:26)
JEHOVAH-NISSI - “The Lord Our Banner” or “Victory” (Exodus 17:15)
JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH - “The Lord is Holy” or “Sanctification”(Leviticus 20:7)
JEHOVAH-SHALOM - “The Lord is Peace” (Judges 6:24)
JEHOVAH-ROHI - “The Lord Our Shepherd” or “Protector”(Psalms 23:1)
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU - “The Lord is Righteous” (Jeremiah 23:6)
JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH - “The Lord is There” or “Ever Present One”(Ezekiel 48:35)
All of these characteristics are found in Psalm 23.
A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd (Jehovah-Rohi); I have everything I need (Jehovah-Jireh). He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams (Jehovah-Shalom). He renews my strength (Jehovah-Rophe). He guides me along right paths (Jehovah-Tsidkenu), bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me (Jehovah-Shammah). Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Jehovah-Rohi). You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies (Jehovah-Nissi). You welcome me as a guest, anointing my head with oil (Jehovah-M'Kaddesh). My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever (Jehovah-Shammah).Under the Old Covenant, people knew God mostly by His actions. Only a few were privileged to communicate directly with Him. Under the New Covenant, however, Jesus came to earth to live among us so that we could all have the privilege of knowing Him and experiencing more of what God was really like. Jesus was God incarnate--God, made flesh--so knowing Him was knowing God. Those closest to Him were able to see glimpses of God, the Father working in and through Jesus, the Son. The Apostle Paul summed up the importance of knowing Christ in Philippians 3:8-11.
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!
Knowing Christ, then, is the best way for us to come to know God. And knowing God should be the ultimate aim of every Christian.
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