Knowing God Week 2 (Sept. 19)

Knowing God Week 2 Chapter 1 (part 1)

Introduction –

Spurgeon quote from Knowing God:

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe….The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soulf of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subjest is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a cough of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.

Exhortation – The Bible clearly speaks that God is the only one who can satisfy our souls!

Psalm 73:25-26 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart aand my portion forever.”

Roger Yoderan’s wife quotes this passage of Scripture when her earthly husband is taken from her.

Philippians 1:20-21 “as is is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

For Paul, death was gain, because he got Christ; the caretaker of our souls. Maybe your world is being rocked right now, maybe it’s not. But it’s just a matter of time. Where’s your treasure?

Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heave is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heave is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

‘Theology’ – composed of two Greek words: Theos (God) and Logos (word, or meaning, or rationality)

God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. And not only that, the God of the universe planned to enter into a relationship with us. Our heavenly Father has revealed Himself to us. And the best way to know God is to know Christ (2 Cor. 4:4-6) – In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in hour hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The best way to know God is to Know Christ! To study Christ, because Christ and the Father are one, and Christ does the will of His Father!

Draw your attention to Luke 24:13-27 where Christ walks with two of his disciples from Jerusalem to Emmaus testifying how the OT Scriptures testify about Him.

-“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

All of the OT is the revelation of the character of God and His unfolding plan of redemption. It’s all about God and it’s all about Christ and the Spirit. Christ appeals to Scripture as the way to know Himself. He doesn’t give them a Charismatic experience. He doesn’t perform a miracle yet, he simply opens up the Scriptures to show authority about God. We should do likewise. As we seek God, we should keep the Scriptures in the forefront.

Q: What attitude does Packer say we should assume when someone tells us “there is no road to knowledge about God”?

5 Foundational Truths Christians have of the Knowledge of God according to Packer:

1.) “God has spoken to man, and the Bible is his Word, given to us to make us wise unto salvation.”

2.) God is Lord and King over his world; he rules all things for his own glory, displaying his perfections in all that he does, in order that men and angels may worship and adore him.

Q: Is it egotistical for God to rule all things for His own glory.

This points to what Piper said in Desiring God: “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

3.) God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as his children and to bless them accordingly.

I like how Packer phrases that. We are all “rescued” through the Gospel. We all, but for the grace of God, would have made shipwreck of our lives if it weren’t for our sovereign rescue.

4.) God is trinue; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.

Q: Does anyone have a good explanation of the Trinity for the class?

5.) Godliness means responding to God’s revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. Life must be seen and lived in the light of God’s Word.