Can we really know God?

There are many religions in the world and all of them have some kind of a god. Muslims worship Allah for example and Hindus have  330 million different gods. Can anybody really know 330 million gods?

Muslims say that they know Allah and that he is the true god, yet they have no personal relationship with Allah. A Muslim can never be sure if Allah is pleased with them. Muslims have no assurance of Allah’s love for  them. They weight out their good and bad deeds and hope that the goods deeds will outweigh their bad deeds.  They hope that Allah will be merciful to them. They also have no assurance to make it to heaven i.e paradise. All religions are either based on a works based or man centered relationship with their god(s). That is what religion is,  man trying in vain to reach God on their own merit.

How about Christianity?  Can a Christian truly know God?  When I talk about God, I am referring to the God of the Bible,  the Creator of all things.  The only true and living God.  In all reality, there is only one true God, all others are man-made and do not exist. I know that will offend many religions and religious people, but it is the simple truth. There is only One true and living God and it doesn’t matter how many different gods people worship. Ultimately they will all face the true God, at the day of judgment.

Many people believe that it is impossible to know God. They say that God is incomprehensible, which He is. How can one know Almighty God that spoke the universe  into existence, simply by His Word?  It is way beyond our finite minds. When God spoke, His word traveled in the speed of light which is about 186.000 miles per second.  Awesome, incredible and incomprehensible.  God in the OT was know by Abraham as YHWH and to Moses God revealed Himself as the “I AM that I AM” in the burning bush.  God revealed Himself and His awesome powers through various ways to the OT Saints. Adam and Eve before the fall,  walked with God in the cool of the evening.  How can somebody walk with God Who is Spirit?  Moses wanted to see God and ask Him to show His Glory. “And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Ex33:18, 20.

God did show Moses some of His Glory, by passing by,  covering the eyes of Moses and Moses saw the back or afterglow of God.  The result of that was that the face of Moses was glowing when he came down from the mountain. The children of Israel saw the presence of God as a flame of fire at night and a cloud during the day after the Exodus from Egypt.  God is so Holy that we as fallen human beings could not stand in His presence and live.

How than can Christians claim to know God personally and have a loving relationship with Him?  A Christian knows God because of Jesus Christ. He has revealed God to them.  Jesus, the second person of the triune Godhead became flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14).  Jesus is the exact image of God, His character, nature and all attributes. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Col 1:15-17.

In the OT times God  appeared to man as the Angel of the LORD. He appeared and spoke to Abraham in Genesis 18. Whenever God appeared to men in human form, it was through the person of Jesus i.e.the  pre-incarnate Christ.

He was the Angel of the LORD that spoke to Haggar after leaving Abraham with Ishmael. The Angel of the LORD  appeared to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3:2). The Angel of the LORD appeared before Balaam riding his donkey in Numbers 22. He appeared to Gideon (Jdg 6). Manoah, Elijah and many others throughout the OT.

Whenever God communicated with men in human form, it was the person of Jesus. In the gospel of John in chapter 8 the Pharisees once again attack Jesus accusing Him of having a demon.  Jesus is making one of the most profound statements to them: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jhn 8: 56-58.   Jesus took the very name that the Angel of the Lord revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. “I AM.”   The Jews understood perfectly well that He said that He is God. That’s the reason they picked up stones to kill Him. Jesus is the great  “I AM”  or the becoming One.

Christians can know God the Father because Jesus declared Him and we know God because we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus left heaven to dwell with man, He humbled Himself and became one of us. He willfully came to the earth dwelled among us and gave His life on the cross. He came to die for  those that would believe  in Him through faith.  Believers in Christ Jesus are forgiven of their sins. The scriptures are very clear, only God can forgive sins. “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Mark 2:7. They were right, only God can forgive sins and Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. They called Jesus a blasphemer.  What they failed to see is that Jesus is God. The Apostle John makes it very clear who Jesus is:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-3.

Christians believe in the trinity or the triune nature of  God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Co-equal, Co-existent, Co-eternal. One God in three distinct Persons but of One Essence.  (please see my article on the trinity).

Jesus showed us God. If we know and learn from Jesus we can know God and have a meaningful and personal relationship with Him by abiding in Christ.   “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mat 11:27-30.

As true biblical Christians we can boldly claim to know God, because we know and believe in Jesus who is like the Father and He has shown us the Father. One of His own disciples was asking Jesus: “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Philip wanted to see God, not realizing that God was in their midst. Jesus said: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” John 14: 9,10.

As Christians we can have assurance of forgiveness and eternal life because of our Lord and Savior. We can also come boldly before the throne of God because Jesus opened the way to the Father, He opened the veil to the Holy of Holiest.

The answer to the question in the beginning is a big YES. True believers in Jesus can know God, His Character, attributes, His kindness, His love, mercy and grace towards those who receive the Son. There is only one way to know God and there is only one way to God.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6.

Related articles

• Jesus or Muhammad? (media4lifeministries.wordpress.com)
• Christianity; the oldest “religion” in the World. (media4lifeministries.wordpress.com)
• The Muslim Dilemma (media4lifeministries.wordpress.com)