Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In Psalm 113:5-6, the psalmist asks: “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”
We still are asking that question.
The self-help sections of bookstores and online catalogs offer seemingly countless books addressing ways to know God from Christian, quasi-Christian and other religious perspectives. Some of these books teach universalism; others teach pantheism or panentheism. Those with a New Age perspective inevitably promise keys to finding secret knowledge concerning God.
It seems that many people are seeking to know God or at least to connect with some sort of “higher power.” That should not surprise us since God created humans in his image, giving us a “spiritual appetite.” Theologian and philosopher Blaise Pascal is credited with saying that within each person there is a “God-shaped hole looking to be filled” [see footnote (1) for his actual words, translated into English]. That being so, one would hope that a person sincerely seeking to know God would receive clear direction from all Christian churches. Sadly, that is not always the case, as illustrated in this cartoon:
Given our limited minds, we humans are unable to fully comprehend all there is to know about God. Paul put it this way: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33). Though God lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), he has not left us completely in the dark. Note Jesus’ remarkable statement in Matthew 11:27: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” I love how the second-century Christian teacher Irenaeus explained this verse in Against Heresies:
No one can know the Father apart from God’s Word, that is, unless the Son reveals him, and no one can know the Son unless the Father so wills. Now the Son fulfills the Father’s good pleasure: the Father sends, the Son is sent, and he comes. The Father is beyond our sight and comprehension; but he is known by his Word, who tells us of him who surpasses all telling. In turn, the Father alone has knowledge of his Word. And the Lord has revealed both truths. Therefore, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father by his revelation of himself. Knowledge of the Father consists in the self-revelation of the Son, for all is revealed through the Word.
This means that no one can know God unless and until God reveals himself. And he has chosen to reveal himself through Jesus. The word reveal comes from the Greek word apokalupto meaning to take off the cover—to disclose or reveal. It is the opposite of kalupto, which means to cover up; hide. The Old Testament speaks of the Shekinah glory of God, present within the innermost part of the Tabernacle behind the veil. No one was allowed beyond that veil except the high priest, and then only once a year. For most of the time, God remained hidden behind the veil. So when Jesus said he had come to reveal the Father, his followers were understandably intrigued.
When Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father, Jesus replied: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). God sent his Son to “pull back the covers” and reveal who he is through his Son. We must be careful not to let preconceptions of what God is like determine our thinking and behavior toward God. Only Jesus has perfect and complete knowledge of God. And he shares that knowledge with us.
Through the life and ministry of Jesus, we get the best look at what God is like this side of our resurrection in glory. Jesus alone is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He alone brings “insider knowledge” of the whole of God as the eternal Son of God. He alone is God’s self-revelation in time and space, flesh and blood. In Jesus, God has come to us in person, meeting us face-to-face so that we may know him truly and personally.
Jesus shared himself and what he knew with his disciples, whom he called his friends. And he commissioned them, and those who follow them, to go into the world and make that knowledge known—not through books and programs offering esoteric, “hidden knowledge” or esoteric, private experiences. And certainly not through a complex web of philosophical arguments and counter-arguments. Jesus told his followers that they could come to know God through relationships, including relationships with each other and with those outside the Christian community. He said that the clearest sign that would point others to him would be the love that his followers have for each other—a love reflecting God’s own love for all people.
Your brother in Christ,
Joseph Tkach
We all “see” God from a preconceived point of view. Sometimes it is our own view and sometimes it given to us from another person or group. This probably explains why we have so many differing views of God.
As a child we cannot hope to understand God in the same way as we can as an adult. This is also true of our spiritual childhood and adulthood. Our image of God should be ever changing as we mature and are able to gain more insight into who He is.
I think the statement “We must be careful not to let preconceptions of what God is like determine our thinking and behavior toward God” might need to be tweaked just a little, given the we must start from somewhere in our thinking.
Instead of using the word “determine” why not use the word “stagnate”. Then the sentence would read “We must be careful not to let preconceptions of what God is like ‘stagnate’ our thinking and behavior toward God.” This would then give us the option of gradually learning more about God as we study His thoughts and actions from the Bible and begin to see Him at work in His creation.
We must all start from some place whether it be from what our parents taught us or what some church taught us, this is our preconceived starting point. If we stop here then we are indeed letting that “determine” our relationship and understanding of God. It is someone else’s understanding of God and not our own. This leads us to all sorts of legalism, self abuse, and misunderstandings of who this God is, and keeps us from learning more and more about who He is and how He thinks and how He acts.
I do understand where you were coming from in this excellent article and don’t mean to detract from its content or intent. I just thought that, from my point of view, there could be a misunderstanding at this point.
Building our understanding is a lifelong undertaking and is not complete at our physical death, but will continue even beyond that point.
It seems to me that the ever so pointed words of Paul well fit the description of those seeking “special and hidden knowlwdge” while subverting, distorting and attempting to suppress the TRUTH (who is Christ).
“The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
(2 Timothy 4:3–4 NASB)
It is common for Christian ministers to cite passages that explain that we know God through Christ. But we hardly know Christ. We have some very spare, highly condensed accounts that could be described as “the sayings of Jesus” with a brief timeline added. We do not know from these accounts even such simple things such as whether or not Christ ever laughed or smiled. I believe Christ made such statements for the people then living and were his witnesses rather than for those of us living two millennia later.
At the most superficial level, the level of appearance, physical anthropologists tell us that the average Jew in Palestine at the time of Christ was 5’1″ and weighed 110 pounds. I think most people in the Western World would recoil from the idea of a Christ who, as a typical Mediterranean, was small and olive-skinned with curly hair and brown eyes. Knowing God through Christ is easily stated but hardly to be accomplished.
Dear Mr. Anderson,
Deducing from your comments I would venture to say that you probably have a fairly low view of the Christian Holy Scriptures and traditional understanding, characteristics that many “higher critics”, atheists and skeptics share alike.
Perhaps you will find the article “The Search for the Real Words of Jesus” to be interesting. The material is posted on the GCI website at http://www.gci.org/jesus/realwords.
Joe this was a great article. Something I have had on my mind the last few
months. If God does not reveal Himself we have NO chance of knowing Him. Thank you for this very straight forward and easily understood article, I think this is a much needed article what with all the people out there that want to tell us who God is and what He is like. A prayer that I often pray while studying scripture is ” Holy Spirit lead me into all truths, Jesus show me your Father”. It is easy for me to read about God from someone else rather than allowing Him to reveal Himself to me. Thanks again for the article it was definitely something that I needed. Tim
Mr. Lange:
I appreciate your article about the validity of the information contained in the Gospels. But actually I was writing along a very different theme. That is the theme of the paucity of such information. My assertion is that the Gospels contain very little detail about the persona of Jesus. To use an analogy from literary criticism, do we find good characterization of the person Jesus in the New Testament? I believe the answer is that we know only what Jesus wants us to know of him and that is not very much.
And I do have a very high view of scripture, so much so that I refuse to augment it with my own views or give much credence to the views of scholars who take creative license in interpretation.
Dear Mr. Anderson,
Thanks much for your last response.
A couple of final comments…
I would submit that the gospels contain all the information we NEED about our Savior. Although the biblical records may not be exhaustive the evidence as to “who” Christ is remains powerful. Besides, it is not the quantitiy but the quality of available information about Jesus that is decisive.
I am glad to hear you say that you regard the Holy Scriptures highly. And, I do share your concern regarding private interpretations. God reveals Jesus to us through the Holy Spirit.