“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
When I first met my wife there were many things I knew about her. I, being a man, first noticed her physical features. She was a gymnast. But I also observed her personality. I observed how others interacted with her; I learned her tastes in food, décor, clothing, etc. I experienced life around her, I knew about her, but I did not know her and I certainly did not understand her at that time. Romans 1 has an impactful passage that reveals how man can know God yet distance himself from Him, Romans 1:19 reads “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” He has made sure we know about Him. The more I had opportunity to experience my wife, the more I fell in love with her. The first things I noticed about her began to reveal over time deep truth about who she was. Our relationship moved from knowing a lot about each other to an intimate knowledge and understanding of each other. Paul uses the same type of language to drive the exclamation point into man’s heart in Romans 1:21. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him...” The word “knew” here is to experience, contrary to “known” in verse 19 which is simply “to know about.” Though man can disregard Him, verse 21 does speak of a personal, intimate knowledge of God through our experience with him. God has revealed himself in an infinite and intimate way. He is beyond anything we can imagine, yet He is relational and accessible. We are created first and foremost for his good pleasure. He also has our best interest in mind, which is to know Him and his Son, as Jesus prayed in John 17.
Question: Do you know a lot about your Creator? Or do you know your Creator?
Challenge: Read Psalm 144. Take a spiritual inventory.
Prayer: Pray with Jesus that you may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
Steve Sisco -- BC Staff
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