I didn’t
always want to know God. In fact, I ran from him for quite some time. All I
really understood about him was that he would not tolerate sin. Since I knew I
was a sinner, I was doing all I could to avoid him. Like the prodigal son, my
ultimate intention was to get away from him if I could.
Then, the
Lord God began to make himself known to me, and as I began to understand more
about him, I started wanting to know him. Here are several things about this
amazing God that caused me to desire to be acquainted with him and why I hope
you will too:
1. The Fact
that He is Our Creator
Talk about a VIP! There is no one more important than the Lord our God:
no King or Queen, star entertainer or athlete, politician, rich person; no one
with great beauty or personality could usurp the importance of having a
personal relationship with our magnificent Creator. What wisdom is his, what
knowledge! “How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.”
Most adopted children, when grown, will want to know their biological
parents because they want to know where they came from and find the answer to:
“What makes me tick?” Wouldn’t we also want to know our Creator?
As our Creator, he also wants to help us:
Thus says the LORD who
made you
And formed you from the
womb, who will help you:[i]
2. The Fact
That He Knows Us Best
We are told in the Psalms:
O LORD, You have searched
me and known me.
You know my sitting down
and my rising up;
You understand my thought
afar off.
You comprehend my path
and my lying down,
And are acquainted with
all my ways.
For there is not a
word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it
altogether.[ii]
Understanding that God knows all about us can be daunting if we’re
running from him but if we return to him, he will be the first to meet us on
the path home.[iii]
I am amazed in the fact that no one knows us completely as the Lord does,
yet no one loves us like he does.
3. The Fact
That He is Good.
Oh, give thanks to the
LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures
forever.[iv]
Just how good is God? Nobody has ever found that out yet. But here’s what
I do know:
He is kind and gracious to every person in this life no matter if they
believe in him or not. “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”[v]
and he “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”[vi]
“He is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.[vii]”
“He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain
from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”[viii]
I can tell you something about how good God has been to me. I have never
gone one single day without at least something to eat. Some may have but that
doesn’t make God any less good. Even those who have experienced great tragedies
in life such as the death of a loved one – maybe a child – have still
experienced some measure of God’s goodness every day of their lives. I had some
days when I questioned whether God was there or if he really cared yet I know
that he is and does.
4. I Wanted to
Know His Forgiveness
I knew I had sinned and knew God was offended. I knew that I didn’t want
to remain on his side of disfavor. I learned that he had paved a way for me to
be reconciled to him and justified (as if I’d never sinned) because of Christ’s
death in our behalf.
5. The Fact
that He Promised us an Eternal Home of Perfect Blessing.
There is no doubt that we live in an imperfect world – a world corrupted
by sin. Murder, hatefulness, pride, oppression, evil, pain and death abound all
around us. But this is not the end for those who know God. In fact, God’s word
tells us that he causes all things to work together for the good of those who
know him – to those who are the called according
to his purpose.[ix]
He was good enough to send his Son to die on the cross for sinners who
had no other hope of forgiveness.
The Most Important Reason
Sometimes we think there is something in us innately which causes us to want to know God but there is not. There is something in us that causes us to want to run away from him and rebel. it is called "sin."
I wanted to know God because he wanted to know me. And because of his eternal love for me, his relentless pursuit of me and the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, he put something inside me that caused me to want to know him. He gave me his Spirit.
If there is a God, wouldn’t you want
to know him? Don’t shut him out of your life with unanswered questions. We will
always have those. We can know him by faith in the work of atonement Jesus
Christ performed in our behalf on the cross of Calvary.
