How Well Do You Know God? | Northstar Church

“Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery …” – Hosea 4:1-2.

How well do you know God? Is it impossible to know God too well? He is the most important person who exists. Any strength or intelligence or skill or beauty that comes from any source comes from Him. On every scale of excellence, He is infinitely greater than the best person you ever knew or ever heard of. So given that, knowing God is not a laid-back spectator sport. It will require everything in our being, our hearts, and our emotions.

For most Christians, we go through life with a sense that we know God. One of the greatest challenges we face today is a lack of understanding about who God is. You may know about God, but do you truly understand what He says about Himself—and what He wants from you? Job 36:26 seems to suggest an answer: “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.” (Job 36:26 KJV) Hosea grabs this idea in Hosea 4: …no knowledge of God in your land…”

So how well do we know God and how well can we truly know Him? Some people believe it would be silly for people to think they can truly know God because, well, God is endless…indescribable…the Creator of all things. Scripture teaches that we can have a true and personal knowledge of God, but this does not mean we will ever understand Him exhaustively. The Bible is clear that God is ultimately incomprehensible to us; that is, we can never fully comprehend His whole being. The following passages show this: “No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.” (Isaiah 40:15). “Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.” (Psalm 145:3)

These verses teach that not only is God’s whole being incomprehensible, but each of His attributes—His greatness, power, thoughts, ways, wisdom, and judgments—are well beyond human ability to grasp completely. God’s love, grace, justice, holiness, patience, wrath, and jealousy are continually functioning in a perfectly integrated yet infinitely complex way. But that doesn’t mean God is a passive object of study for us to try to grasp with our limited knowledge.

How well we know Him depends on our relationship with Him. From the beginning of creation, God has desired a relationship with us. To know God starts with beginning a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. God loved us first and removed every obstacle that stood between Him and us through Jesus. So, it all starts with getting to know Jesus and building the relationship from there. That’s how you get to know God.

Discussion Questions:

Would you say that the purpose of life has to do with knowing God? Why or why not?
Why is sincerely following a religion not the same as knowing and loving God?
What areas of your life should see greater change because you know God?