The Knowledge of God
“God is the highest good of man—that is the testimony of the whole scriptures.”[1]
I like carpentry even though I’m not very good at it. I like the sense of accomplishment after building a planter box. After working with words all day, it’s nice to check an item off the to-do list. There’s value in knowing a skill, which is why some people think public schools need to focus more on trade skills because of the value trade skills bring. If we reduced the number of liberal literature classes and increased the number of shop classes, students would know how to make money after high school. At least that’s how the argument goes. But sadly, knowledge doesn’t work that way.
Knowledge is transformative and relational. When the detective learns the truth that the butler did it, he transforms from a man looking for answers to a man who found answers. Knowledge is also relational. Tom and Jim both learned how to farm from each one of their dads. But Tom hates farming because it reminds him of his alcoholic father while Jim loves farming because it reminds him of his supportive dad. We all learned something from someone and it affected us in some way.
Ultimately everything we know comes from God. He made the world for us to know Him. The Bible begins with man knowing God and the Bible ends with man knowing God. In the middle of the Bible is the story of God revealing Himself through His son.[2] Everything you can know about God, He has told you through Jesus. “Christ is God expressed and God given.”[3] Those who know God through Jesus have faith. Faith is the only way to know God because true knowledge of God is faith. Relationally, faith is the experience of God in one’s life.[4] Transformationally, faith is eternal life (John 17:1-3). God gives you eternal life so you can give your life to Him for eternity. “God gives Himself to His people in order that His people should give themselves to Him.”[5]True knowledge of God isn’t neutral. It changes you for ever.
R.C. Sproul wrote a theology book called Everyone’s a Theologian. It’s probably my favorite book to introduce theology to Christians. Sproul had a unique gift to simplify doctrine into the vernacular of regular Joes like you and me. But the title itself also reveals that everyone lives out what they know about God. They can’t help it. Sadly, most people’s knowledge of God is suppressed by sin and falsified with lies. But Christians should live in light of the one true God they know by name. Christians should be true theologians. “A theologian, a true theologian, is one who speaks out of God, through God, about God, and does this always to the glorification of His name.”[6]
[1] Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God, 8.
[2] Ibid., 8.
[3] Ibid., 8.
[4] Ibid., 9.
[5] Ibid., 9
[6] Ibid., 14.