Knowing God

By Jerry Olson
jerrydeanolson@yahoo.com

I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev
:22:13)

God the Father of our Lord Jesus the Christ – Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them
for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Mat 22:32)

God is a Creator. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).
So God created man in His own image. (Gen 1:27)

God as Patriarch. A patriarch is one who rules by paternal right. God our Father will
always be in charge and will always be our patriarch. He gave us life through His Son
Jesus. “Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

“The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy
to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in
marriage. Nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God,
being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:34).

Our Fathers plan, even from the very beginning was to have a family, and be a part of His
family.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the children of God” (I John 3:1).

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying
out, ‘Abba Father’. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an
heir of God through Jesus (Gal 4:6-7). “But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). “Do
you not know that we shall judge angels?” (I Cor 6:3 )

God knows His children. “For whom He fore knew, He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren” (Romans
8:29).

God is Love. (I John 4:8)

God is Faithful. (Heb.10:23)

God is a Giver. (I Cor 2:12) “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning” (James 1:17).

God is Pure. (Prov 30:5)

God is Peace. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

God is of Purpose. “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ
Jesus before time began” (II Tim 1:9).

God is merciful. (Deut. 4:31; Luke 6:36)

God is Judge. “They will give an account to Him” (I Peter 4:5). “So then every one of us
shall give account to himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).

God gives grace. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

God is Light. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).

God can be wrathful. “And the wrath of God is complete” (Rev 15:1).

My question to all that may read this, is this: Do we truly know God by what we read
about God? Can we really know anyone by just reading about them? If you want to know
anyone you must spend time with them. Talk with them. Get to know them by
developing a relationship with them. All good friends and close family members trust one
another.

How might we have a close relationship with God, so as to know Him personally? In
Hebrews 8 starting at verse 10 we read, ” For this is the covenant that I will make with
the House of Israel: ‘After those days’, says the Lord, ‘I will put My laws in their mind and
write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. None
of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Do you know the Lord?’
For all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them” (Heb. 8:10-11).

In Numbers chapter 14, we read about Joshua and Caleb who were both ordinary men.
But what separated them from the other men in Israel? Their belief in God! They said, “If
the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which
flows with milk and honey. The Lord is with us do not fear them” (Num. 14:8-9) . They
believed what the Father had told Israel. The others did not believe and
consequently, they all died in the desert over the next 40 years. All of them died except
for the youth. The older ones did not know God, they hadn’t learned to trust in God, in
spite of the fact that He had called them His special people and taken them out of Egypt
with a mighty hand.

In Acts 13:22, we read about the testimony of God: For God said, “I have David, the son
of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.”

We read in I Samuel 17 how Jesse, David’s father, had sent him to his brothers serving in
Saul’s army – the Army of Israel. David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that
he should defy the armies of the living God?” David’s brothers and Saul the King said,
“David you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight. For you are but a youth!”
But David answered them and said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion
and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from this Philistine” (I Sam. 17:32-37).

I believe that if a son is to know the Father, he must know the Father’s heart!

As children of God, we must come to know God in the spirit. “There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit… For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace… So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God… For
you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of
adoption by whom we cry out ‘Abba Father’ “(Romans 8:1-15)

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he who
comes to God must believe that He is, [not 99% but 100% belief] and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Stop for a moment and really think about it! Ask yourself, ‘What area in my life is there
right now that I have the opportunity to put all of my trust in the Father, so He will
become more real to me, in order that I may understand Him and know His heart?’ Our
opportunities and challenges will be different for each of us. For some it will be finances,
others perhaps possessions, a health issue, business, maybe family. Every Christian
struggles with something. Fear causes our faith to be in lack, but trust is what our Father
wants from us. It is fear, doubt, worry, and human reasoning that cause our faith to
diminish!

God loves us. He is our Father. He wants a close relationship with each of us. God is
real. He is not some distant idea or Being that we are to fear. He is our Father! Would
any Father fail to give good gifts to His children. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Life is very short. Why live it, without knowing God?

We lack because we ask not (Jam. 4:2). We have not learned who our Father is and that
He is real. God wants a relationship that is strong and meaningful with His sons and
daughters.

We must become as little children. Picture a small son who is being asked by his father,
“Just jump into my arms, son! Have no fear about the height, I will catch you!” Trust is a
powerful thing. Why is it so hard for sons that are full grown, to jump into their Father’s
arms? Little children do it without hesitation. If daddy said it, then it surely must be OK,
they believe.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalms 46:1)

“God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” (Psalms 46:8)

Are you ready to know God?
All sons of God could be ready to jump, without giving it a second thought. After all, God
does the catching! Remember God is a loving Father.

Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little
children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 18:3).

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust” (Psalm 16:1)

Did not God say, “Surrender your life to Me, and I will provide all of your needs?” (see
Matt. 6:8; 6:25-33)

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And
yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now
if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the
oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matt. 6:25-30)

Hebrews 6:18 says that it is impossible for God to lie.

What is it that we think we are protecting or saving anyway? Or maybe risking? Do we
think we are saving our life perhaps?

All men die, but not all men know God and really live.

Jerry
jerrydeanolson@yahoo.com