Knowing God in 2008: The Study of God

"As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London, drop him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square and leave him, as one who knew nothing of English or England, to fend for himself, so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it."

So notes J.I. Packer in ch.1 of Knowing God, entitled “The Study of God.”

The message: Don’t be cruel.

We should not be cruel to ourselves, or to others, by seeking to live in this world while disregarding God. This disregard may be out of malice or ignorance; but once we realize there is an opportunity to know God, we should seize it. We will not only come to know Him (what a privilege!) but also best know ourselves and our world.

Packer notes that entering into the study of God is to seemingly enter a battlefield; so many claim God cannot be known. Packer was writing in 1973, but clearly in this regard his book remains quite contemporary! Let me just say that between 1973 and today, I have come to know God – as have countless others around the globe. Don’t believe those who say it cannot be done: it is a falsehood and a cruelty.

Yet to know God is not an achievement that we can boast about. It is a relationship initiated by God, who gave His Son to provide the way. In knowing God, we know God's grace.

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Note: This is our first week of reflecting on Packer's book. We will try to cover one chapter per week, and you are invited to join in the reading or simply overhear these discussions.

Do Hard Things

Have you heard about the youth retreat?

Twenty-one of us drove to the D.C. area on Friday night, where we enjoyed a hotel stay and played "Marco Polo" and "Sharks and Minnows" in the pool. Ani, Noelle, and Ben were almost impossible to capture, so if you're a shark you might as well just give up.

Although "giving up" isn't much in the spirit of the conference we attended on Saturday...

The battle cry of the Rebelution conference was "Do Hard Things." The rebellion in mind is against low expectations for teens. It was a conference led by teens, for teens, though the actual message ultimately centered around the entire family.

But why try to describe it when you can see for yourself? Visit www.therebelution.com and check it out. There's a blog and a variety of resources there to help you learn about something wonderful God is doing in the lives of youth around the nation. And in God's grace He has allowed our youth to take a part as well.

Knowing God in 2008: Introduction

** Details on a new book reading project. You can join by following the weekly posts, or by reading along! **


One of the books that most helpfully shaped my understanding of God and the Christian faith, when I was a young believer, was J.I. Packer's modern classic Knowing God.

The concept of knowing God, however, is continually under attack. In the late 1700's, Immanuel Kant posited that we can know nothing of God -- whatever is "up there" is utterly unknowable to us, he claimed. This philosophy has been with us, not least of all in the sciences, ever since. Very ironic given that Immanuel Kant's first name points to God, who became intensely knowable by taking on human flesh!


But it's not just philosophers like Kant. Many in our day, including some hip young pastors, treat true knowledge of God as elusive at best. You may have faith, you may have spirituality, but you can't claim to actually know -- really, truly know -- the truth about God.

Certainly this much is true: Left to myself, who am I to say that I know something about an invisible God? That a mere mortal could speak of knowing God, let alone write a whole book about it, is possible only because of verses such as these:

"And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:1-3

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3

Other passages remind us that knowing God's love requires a divine work within us, it's not something we can attain to. This is true of Ephesians 3:14-19 and certainly John 3:3.

Starting next week, we will base weekly blogs on the theme Knowing God in 2008, based around the chapters of J.I. Packer's book. You are welcome to read along, or to simply follow the posts each week. (Note: We will post on other stuff too, but this will be a staple.)

I believe this will stimulate us to think about God more deeply and more clearly. We will cover some material that's neglected quite a bit in our day. We'll also pave the way for a class beginning in the Fall on the character of God -- details on that soon!

Lest We Drift

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
-Hebrews 2:1-3

Pretty powerful exhortation, eh? We are to pay "much closer attention" to the wonderful salvation found in the gospel of Jesus Christ - the Son of God who died to atone for sinners so that they would be considered righteous in God's sight. It is a "great salvation" because Christ, the "radiance of the glory of God," "the exact imprint of his nature," who "upholds the universe by the word of his power" made purification for the sins of sinners such as me! (Hebrews 1:3).

Thus, the gospel is not to be a one-time message to be forgotten after conversion, but it is to flavor every aspect of our lives. As Jerry Bridges has said, we are to preach the gospel to ourselves everyday, continually facing up to our own sin, confessing and repenting of it, and looking only to Christ and claiming his blood and righteousness only.

The author of Hebrews seems to be writing directly to me in warning us to not neglect the transforming power of the gospel. It must be at the center of everything. It must be clung to above all other idols or images in our lives. The sermon this past week on the second commandment included an exhortation to not have anything less or else than God in our hearts, minds, and lives.

But here I am, just a few days later, drifting and neglecting this already. I've again elevated myself above God; I've again been unfaithful to him; the "screensaver" of my mind has again turned away from his Word and his Truth and his Gospel. How much do I need to ask God for his grace and strength to pay much closer attention to the gospel and to not neglect the great message of Christ.

It reminds me of a sincere, convicting song: "Jealous Kind" by Jars of Clay:

I built another temple to a stranger,
I gave away my heart to the rushing wind.
I set my course to run right into danger,
Sought the company of fools instead of friends.

You know I've been unfaithful
With lovers in lines
While you're turning over tables
With the rage of a jealous kind.

Surpassing Worth

Often when we see something of value, we want to obtain it. Usually, we want to obtain it - whatever it may be - to add it to our treasures. Big companies want to obtain the smaller ones, so their resources can grow bigger. Children want the newest toy to add to their already vast collection. Pastors want the next book to set on the shelf alongside the other gently used (meaning "partially read") books.

But there is such a thing as a treasure that we obtain that cannot be added to our already overflowing collection:

"But whatever gain I had, I counted loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish..." Philippians 3:7-8a

Paul realized that gaining Christ meant losing everything else. In context, Paul is saying that he once based his worth on a host of accomplishments; but these were a bad joke in light of Christ's accomplishments, and he had to choose one or the other. With eyes wide open to the value of Jesus Christ in the eyes of God the Father, he wisely chose Christ - so that in the final day he would be prepared to stand before God.

To paraphrase a friend, Jesus cannot have a place among our pantheon of gods. He cannot even have prominence, as chief among our gods. He must have preeminence: this means that he must be, as Paul said above, Lord.

Paul does not say "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Savior," although that would be absolutely true also. He certainly does not say "Christ Jesus my ticket to heaven." He says that knowing Jesus as Lord is the surpassing worth. In other words, I would rather follow and obey Jesus than follow myself and obey my own appetites.

Can I say the same thing?

Prayer for the Fatigued

Perhaps you feel fatigued because you have served the Lord with your whole being, prayerfully and joyfully, and now it's time to rest in Him for a while. Or perhaps, like me, you find yourself fatigued because your service to Him has been too often accompanied by prayer but has not actually been the result of prayer. If you fall into this later camp, perhaps the following prayer may help you as it helped me:

Lord Jesus, whom I follow --
I am sorry, and I repent of my ways,
Which obscure your ways.
I repent of the self-sufficiency so embedded within me -
And of the prayerlessness, restlessness, busyness, and fatigue
That are its consequence.

I repent because I have not honored Your ways by drawing from Your strength.
I repent because I want Your ways to be known in the earth, not my own ways.
And in honesty I acknowledge that I repent because I know that I desperately need the fruits of this repentance.

Please receive me back as Your follower,
Though I have sought to lead the way.
Please deliver me from self-sufficiency and its fruit,
And cause me to know the gladness of service once again.
Whatever I have built with my own hands --
Tear down in Your jealousy
Or redeem in Your mercy
Either way, I praise You, O Lord,
For your gracious forgiveness and cleansing
Because of the shed blood of Calvary.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Weighs In

And now Dietrich Bonhoeffer weighs in, not only on the Ten Commandments (see previous posts) but on prompt obedience to Jesus Christ. He is commenting on this passage:

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:61-62)

Bonhoeffer:

The problem with this third would-be disciple is that at the very moment he expresses his willingness to follow, he ceases to want to follow at all. By making his offer on his own terms, he alters the whole position, for discipleship can tolerate no conditions which might come between Jesus and our obedience to him.

Furthermore:

Hence the third disciple finds himself at loggerheads not only with Jesus, but also with himself. His desires conflict not only with what Jesus wants, but also with what he wants himself.

How true!

This is from The Cost of Discipleship, a classic book written by this Christian martyr who lived during Nazi Germany. Since being in Reformed circles, I don't hear much about Bonhoeffer. Perhaps his theology is too mystical, or perhaps too neo-orthodox? But as I review my underlinings in my decades-old copy of this book, I find Bonhoeffer worth revisiting.

Two pithy sentences sum up the section of the book I've quoted from:

Discipleship is not an offer man makes to Christ.

And,

Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.

Doctrine and Hymns

Sometimes a hymn can explain difficult but beautiful doctrines of grace easier than any scholarly book. Take Isaac Watts' stirring hymn "How Sweet and Awful is the Place," written in 1707 and reminiscent of the parable in Luke 14 of the wedding banquet. It is a beautiful picture of God's sovereign election. This is fast becoming one of my favourite hymns, and moves me to tears nearly every time I sing it. I am jealous (not in a covetous way) of hymn writers like Watts who can so succinctly yet beautifully capture such glorious truths in rhyme and music.

How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
"Lord, why was I a guest?"

"Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"

'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O, our God,
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

Ten Commandments: The Discussion Continues

I don't know if it's because I quoted Tim Keller at length in my last post or what, but now there are others who are eager to voice their comments on The Ten Commandments.

First up is Clive Staples Lewis, who wishes to comment on why the psalmists do something extraordinary--not only submit to, but actually delight in the law of God. Perhaps he has in mind that phrase in Psalm 1, "His delight is in the law of the Lord":

"Their delight in the Law, is a delight in having touched firmness; like the pedestrian's delight in feeling the hard road beneath his feet after a false short cut has long entangled him in muddy fields."

(C.S. Lewis, quoted in Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be, namely DeYoung and Kluck, p.85)




Professor John Frame comments on the first commandment, no other gods:

In many ways, Christians have an easy time in the modern West. For the most part, we aren't asked to die or to suffer physically for our faith. But God does call us, on occasion, to hold unpopular beliefs. Can we not do even this much for Jesus? And if not, can we really claim to love God with all our heart? At this point, theology becomes a first commandment issue. It is a question of whether we value cultural trends more highly than God.

(John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, p.424)


We accept comments from all kinds around here.

Ten Reflections of God's Image

This past week we began a series on the Ten Commandments. Understanding the Ten Commandment (or "Ten Words") is enriching, because there is more here than meets the eye - not surprising given the pervasive influence of these commands for thousands of years.

Here's what Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, has to say about the connection between God's Law and human nature.

The law of God is an expression of His actual nature. When God says, "Don't lie" or "bear false witness," he says that because He doesn't lie; because He is a God of integrity; because He is a God of truth and He is utterly consistent.

But, since you and I are made in His image, you know what that means: the Law of God therefore reflects our nature.

We were made in His image and if the Law expresses His nature, it actually expresses what we need to be to be fully who we are. To violate the Law of God violates you.

If your doctor says, "Don't eat x, y, and z" -- if you eat x, y, and z, no one is going to give you a fine, no one is going to give you a ticket, no one is going to come and put you in jail. They won't have to. Because the consequences are natural. If you violate your doctor's order you are violating your own nature and you are unraveling your own fabric. And God is saying that here.

Don't think of the Law of God as arbitrary decrees. The Law of God outlines who you are. To violate the law of God sets up strains in the fabric of reality that only lead to breakdown.

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NOTE: This is from a sermon available at www.redeemer.com entitled "God's Law" from the series "Deuteronomy: Doing Justice, Preaching Grace." I'd encourage you to download this sermon and listen to it frequently.