Abundant Grace Fellowship
Knowing God
Knowing God
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant
Do you know God? I don’t mean do you know who God is. I mean, do you know God? Do you know His nature, His character? These are important questions to answer. As children of God (those who are born again believers in Jesus, Rom 8:15-17), we need to know God’s nature for two reasons: 1. So that we may properly relate to God as our Father (Heb 4:16). 2. That we may properly convey who God is to the world (2Cor 5:17-21).
Often times we get the wrong impression of God, because we spend too much time in the Old Testament, without balancing it out in the New Testament. For instance, we might start thinking we are to “stand in the gap” and be the “mediator” between God and man like Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, etc. We might think our pleading and crying with God is keeping Him from “letting us have it”. That mindset and way of praying is O.T. The N.T. says that Jesus was the appeasement (acceptable sacrifice) for our sins (Rom 3:25); that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1Tim 2:5); and that we have been saved from wrath through Jesus (Rom 5:9, 1Thess 1:10, 5:9). We need to glorify what Jesus has accomplished, and stop going back under the law: are we so foolish? (Gal 3:1-3).
Sure, there is a place for intercession in the N.T.; but it focuses on who Jesus is, and what He accomplished; and us getting a revelation of it. Look at how the apostle Paul “interceded” for the Ephesians (Eph 1:16-23, 3:14-21). It’s about understanding, comprehending, and knowing who we are in Christ; where we’re seated; how much God loves us; etc. That sounds a little different than the typical begging, complaining, and whining we often call prayer, doesn’t it? Hey, don’t get mad at me. I’m not saying I’m totally right and you’re totally wrong; but we need to think about these things.
If you want to truly know God; and truly know His nature and character: then you need to look at Jesus. Let’s look at Heb 1:1-3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”. Wow. Those are some awesome verses of Scripture. Notice God has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus. Also notice that Jesus is the “express image” of God. That means carbon copy, exact replica. It’s not the mean God of the O.T., vs. the sweet Jesus of the N.T. Jesus and God are One.
Jesus said if you’ve seen Him, you’ve seen the Father; that He and the Father are one; that He only does the works of the Father (Jn 10:30, 14:9, 5:36). What does this mean? It means God is love (1Jn 4:8, 16). That is God’s chief attribute. The Bible never says God is judgment; God is wrath; God is condemnation. His nature is love. Look at Jesus.
Yes, in the O.T., God had to deal with man in judgment at times; yet, at the root, it was still God operating out of love and mercy that He did the things He did. Expelling Adam and Eve from the garden; giving Cain a mark; flooding the earth; confusing the languages at