Knowing God

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you...

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them (Jn. 17:25)

 

When Jesus prayed to the Father the night before He died, He said that the Father had given Him authority over all people, so that He [Jesus] might give eternal life (zoe) to all those the Father had given Him:  Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (Jn. 17:3). 

 

If we believe the words that Jesus spoke, we must believe the fundamental truth that the world does not know God, nor can it know God except that Jesus make Him known to us.  We must believe that, though all men can have some inkling of God's qualities, as spoken of by the Epistle to the Romans, they cannot know God directly, except by revelation from the Spirit of Jesus Himself.  Paul says in Romans 1: 19 that God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen in nature, so that men are without excuse for not glorifying Him and giving thanks to Him.

 

The Greek philosophers, the Indian gurus, and anyone who has gazed upon the immensity of the stars at night have had some knowledge of the Creator of our minds and souls.  Many men--poets, philosophers, painters, musicians, etc. --- have pointed the way to God, but only Jesus has given to us the knowledge of God as a Person who loves -- that the love you have for me may be in them....

 

Thus it stands that if we want to 'know" God, not just know about Him, we must sooner or later, ask Jesus to reveal the Father to us.  There is no other way to the Father except through Jesus. 

 

 The world does not want to accept the truth; it still wants to argue that we can, by our own efforts, approach God.  It still wants to carve out its own path to the Father through its own understanding:  "but what about those who have never heard of Jesus?" they will cry.  "Surely God will not penalize them for their lack of opportunity."

 

This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (Jn.3:19).

 

If we study the Scriptures, we will find that in the Old Testament, there were many non-Jews who came to be connected to the chosen people through their love and compassion:  Rahab, Ruth, for example.  And in the New Testament, we find "righteous men" of all races to whom God sent His truth:  the Ethiopian in Acts 8; Cornelius, the Centurion, who sent for Peter, and all the Greeks and Gentiles to whom Paul was sent throughout the known world.

 

I don't think we need to question the wisdom and power of God to call into His love and fellowship all who love the truth.  If we know God as Jesus knew the Father's love and compassion for the world, we know that He will not refuse the truth to anyone who sincerely seeks Him.  The testimonies from around the world tell of the miraculous arrival of the Truth to all who seek Him.

 

Faith in God means believing that He is greater than we are, and that He is able to do what man cannot do.  He is able to save those who have never been in contact with missionaries and Christians.  The message of the angels at the birth of the Savior was Peace on earth to men of good will. 

 

Where do we find men of good will?  That is the question we need to ask, for when we find men of good will, we will surely find the saving action of the Most High, who so loved the world that He sent His Son not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him (Jn. 3:16).