The Knowledge of God

Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

I was reading an article by Pastor Jared Wilson on the importance of purposeful theological study of God by Christians … a Believer who is not a member of the clergy; one of the laity of Christ’s worldwide church body. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, by definition, we are Student/Followers of the Lord, which literally means that we constantly study God’s Holy Word and continually learn more about Him and his Way and Will for our lives. But there seems to be a misunderstanding of what is meant in this context of theology and it sounds “brainy”, but Pastor Jared explains that “Theology” comes from the Greek words “theos” meaning “God’, and “logos” meaning “word”, so simply means “the knowledge of God”. Every Christian disciple desires that anyway and understands that the longer we follow Jesus, listen to Him and experience Him, the more we learn about Him and, consequently, the more deeply we come to know Him and know Him more. In the chorus of a popular contemporary Christian song by Sonicflood, we sing:

I want to know You.
I want to hear Your voice.
I want to know You more.
I want to touch You.
I want to see Your face.
I want to know You more.

Philippians 3:8-11 “ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Pastor Wilson clarifies that every Christian is a theologian, in that they study God through His living Word of the Holy Bible to gain improved knowledge of their Sovereign Creator Father, but that doesn't mean that every Christian must be an academic, a biblical scholar, or give the impression of a church intellectual know-it-all. But at the same time, Lay people have no biblical warrant to leave the duty of doctrine (principles of belief) up to pastors, Elders and professors alone. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus said to the Pharisee Lawyer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” How much can you truly love someone that you do not know or know much about them? Pastor Jared puts in plain language that having a mind lovingly dedicated to God is notably required in the “Great Commandment”. To know God is to love God. Loving God with all our minds certainly means more than theological study, but it certainly does not mean less than that. We love God with heart, mind, soul and spirit. Our continued growth in the grace of God, our persistence as sanctified and consecrated brothers and sisters of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, is vitally connected to our pursuit of the knowledge of God’s character and God’s works as revealed in God’s Holy Word. It stands to reason that the more theological (study of God) facts we feast on in the sacred Scriptures of the Bible, the more assurance and conviction – and thus the more faith – we will cultivate. Sanctification resulting in continual discipleship to Christ necessarily includes purposeful study of God’s living and active Word. We do not believe in a vague God nor trust in vague spiritual cliches. We believe in the triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) of the Holy Scriptures and place our faith and trust, by the real Spirit, in the real Savior of the world – Jesus – proclaimed in the gospel. This is why we must pursue theological robustness, not just in our pastor’s preaching but in our church’s Bible Studies, Sunday Schools, music and prayers, both corporate and private. Theological study of God goes deeper than simple authenticating our worship in glory, honor and praise of God as true and godly – it also fuels this worship. Believers are changed in heart and, therefore, our behavior when we seek deeply after the things of God.

John 4:23-24 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Pastor Wilson concludes that purposeful theological study of God, as an expression of love for God, cannot help but deepen our love for God. The more we read, study, meditate on, and prayerfully apply the Word of God, the more we find ourselves in awe of Him.

In Christ, Brian