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To "KNOW" God!

There are so many verses in scripture that talk about 'knowing' God; but in our western culture there is a common misconception about what these versus connotate.  Generally, when we hear or read the word 'know', we consider it to be an intellectual knowledge; and belief we consider to be an intellectual assent to a truth statement. Yet this is not what the scriptures allude to.  In many passages we bring in our 'western' understanding of the word 'know', but really knowing God means an intimate experience with Him.  It is the same kind of knowing as a husband and wife 'know' each other, a sexual knowing.  To know God so intimately that sex is the closest metaphor we can give to describe it.

The actual definition is : ginṓskō – properly, to know, especially through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance). 1097 /ginṓskō ("experientially know") is used for example in Lk 1:34, "And Mary [a virgin] said to the angel, 'How will this be since I do not know (1097 /ginṓskō = sexual intimacy) a man?'"

This is different then other words that in English translate as know. In Greek there are different meanings that we have made singular into one definition. For instance:
eídō (oida) – properly, to see with physical eyes (cf. Ro 1:11), as it naturally bridges to the metaphorical sense: perceiving ("mentally seeing"). This is akin to the expressions: "I see what You mean"; "I see what you are saying."
            -This is used in passages such as Matthew 24:36 "For no one knows the day or the hour." 

There are many places in scripture where the experiential 'to know' used.  Understanding its true definition radically changes the meaning of these passages.  Dwell on the following passages, think about the implications of what they mean with the new revelation of what it means to truly experience God! 

"Know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)."

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Philippians 3:8)."

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Cor. 13:12)."
                  -This is beautiful because every 'know' in this passage is an experiential knowing.  But the passage points to the future where we will 'know' God completely!

"He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him (John 1:10)."

This is not an intellectual knowledge!! This is an intimate knowing that only comes through relationship, from first-hand experience! 2 Timothy 3:7 says, 'Always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.' This is what we need to grasp! We need an intimacy that surpasses understanding and is fulfilled in experience.  "To have peace that surpasses understanding you need to give up your right to understand (Bill Johnson)." Go after that place, that intimacy with the Lord.  Spend time in the quite place and be refreshed through streams of living water. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' -Acts 17:28

Comments

  1. Steve ThorsonApril 1, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    In this blogpost and in the previous one (In the Presence of God) you hit on the same issue as you were discussing around the paper you wrote on Sacrifice and Atonement Theories. God does call us into a relationship with Him, a relationship we were made for, not to have us know Him from a distance or to know him as an object of research. And it does take time. Quite a bit of quiet time with Him, time we need to take frequently if we are going to know Him at all. We don't need to do NOTHING during those quiet times, but we do need to be separated somewhat for a period of time from the pressures of others. That's why fasting and other spiritual disciples are good. They separate me away and so when I am with others I can stay linked primarily to God and while at the same time I am loving others. I am learning so much about this right now, on these days after I spent time at Pacem In Terris. I look forward to future times like that. Some people do a once a week fast and I'm considering that too. Becky Sorenson and others from Prayer Watch International were doing a weekly fast on Thursdays for quite awhile... I might try that... like from Wednesday after supper until Thursday evening. I think even my weird eating habits (low carb) have helped my spiritual life in some ways because, again, they don't let me just melt in with the crowd. And melting in with the crowd is something we can't do if we're going to know God... but nor can we be entirely separate... We can't know or love God without also loving our brothers and sisters. It needs to be both.

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