How Can We Know God?

A well-beloved father died, leaving behind several grown children. He had done his best to teach them about life—about loving their families, hard work, and right and wrong. He had even filled notebooks with poems, proverbs, and his own musings and advice, hoping they would cherish and read his words even after he was gone.

His children grieved, but eventually moved on. They all felt and expressed their love for their departed father in different ways.

One son felt closest to his dad while hunting, fishing, and enjoying the outdoors. That was how he liked to remember his father, but he drifted away from his siblings and never bothered to read anything his dad had written.

One daughter remembered her dad fondly around the holidays and occasionally looked at old photos, but she cared little for her father’s old notes, which were full of old-fashioned ideas. The poetry went over her head, the advice seemed simplistic and failed to account for her modern lifestyle, and the jokes were too often at the expense of people she liked.

Another son had always been at odds with his father. They had fought, parted ways, and never reconciled. But when youth gave way to wisdom and maturity, he felt remorse for his behavior and read through his father’s old notes. He was stricken as he read the poignant poetry, witty and winsome wisdom, detailed records of family history, and sound advice for clean, happy living.

He rushed to ask his siblings if they had likewise read through their father’s notes. They had always been much closer to him, and perhaps, he thought, they could share some more insights and unwritten advice of his. To his shock, they scoffed at the idea of reading what their father had written.

“Let us remember Dad how we want to remember him.”

We often treat God this way—a fond idea shaped to fit our fancy. An outdoorsman might boldly proclaim that he feels closer to God in the woods than in any church. An “enlightened” thinker enjoys the spirituality but not the morality of Christianity. The list could go on.

Can we really know God without knowing His word?

1 Corinthians 2:11

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

2 Peter 1:20–21

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

A knowledge of God’s word—which the Spirit revealed to the writers of Scripture—is the only way to know the true God, and not a fantasy fashioned after our own ideas.

Luke Goad

Evangelist, Chestnut Ridge Church of Christ