Tag Archives: knowledge of God

Born Again, Faith

THE DANGER OF RELIGION

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A great responsibility and burden are on the shoulders of those who profess Christ.  How we present God in our lives speaks of Him.  How we interpret and apply portions of scripture can either draw our neighbor, or a stranger, to seek God or reject Him completely.

The danger of being religious and stiff is in the misrepresentation of God. These know not Christ. How many people have been turned away from God by such religious people?

Spiritual Abuse

Recently I met a married couple in their late 50s who had two different experiences with religion. The wife was raised in a strict and legalistic environment. He was not. In fact, he considered himself, as I do, as once a “heathen.”

Her experience with the God of her mother’s religion left her confused. God did not seem to be forgiving and merciful. She had to do everything just right to have title to the kingdom of God. What bothered the wife the most was how her mother’s small church treated her beloved father. After much pressure, the father joined the church and was baptized. But, he was later disfellowshiped because it was discovered that he struggled with smoking. He could not seem to quit, but the father’s heart was gentle, loving, and giving. Eventually, the father died. At the funeral, the legalistic pastor preached a 2-hour sermon, which was bad enough, but the evil pastor also condemned the father to hell because he smoked!

In my meetings with this couple, we have studied the character of God. This spiritually abused young mother and wife had to see God for who He really is and unlearn what her highly religious mother had taught her. She wants to protect her children from what she experienced, the manipulation, control, and guilt placed on her. Her encounter with religiosity is often repeated in a similar fashion in many churches, regardless of the denomination, whether Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, or Jewish. These groups of people do not know God, but they know how to be religious. As a result, their circle grows older and smaller. They are not the salt of the earth but rather a mud puddle that is avoided.

Followers of Christ who have been born-again understand and KNOW Christ.  They are a reflection of His goodness.  On the other hand, the unconverted religious people KNOW religious instruction, dogma, ceremonies, religious discipline, denominationalism, and even theology, but they lack an effective influencing knowledge of God.

The Word of God reveals His character.  It is possible, however, to KNOW God’s word (small letter) but not KNOW The Word (Capital letter).  Herein is the line between being real and being REALigious.  Two different kinds of real.


And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24

God’s Glory

When Moses prayed, “Show me your glory.”  Moses saw the goodness of God.  This is His glory.  Moses didn’t ask to see his form but rather His glory.  This glory is what we must first know about God to be real.   

“I will make all my goodness pass before you.” Exodus 33: 18-19.

God’s glory equals His goodness.

After the Lord passed by, Moses exclaimed,

“The Lord, The Lord God, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” Exodus 34: 6,7

He is “slow to anger and great kindness.” “Because He delights mercy.” Jonah 4: 2, Micah 7:18

No one is attracted to an angry, vindictive, torturous, controlling, and legalistic god.  Yet, many religious people portray the Creator as such and demonstrate the same traits in their lives and character.  They don’t KNOW God. because they don’t show His glory of goodness.

Knowing the real God has a transformative power that extends to others without motivation to make them members of their denomination.  Jesus used some harsh words about those who do such things:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte (a person who changes religion or denomination), and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”  Matthew 23:15

Ouch!  Tough words to the religious people!  But Jesus spoke the truth with tears in His voice.  He could see the heart of those hardened by religion and pride in their traditions.  Jesus also had this to say to the religious teachers about traditions:

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” Mark 7:13

I would hate to think my religious traditions made God’s word of no effect! Wow! Have mercy on me, Lord!

A summation of their negative religious actions is found in the previous verses of Matthew 23: The question is, “Do I have any of these traits?”

  • They tell you what you should do but don’t do it themselves.
  • They put heavy burdens on you but don’t lift a finger.
  • All their works are to be seen by men.  It is all about themselves and how they look.
  • They love the best seats and titles, i.e., being greeted as “Rabbi,” “Teacher,” Pastor, etc.
  • Prevent people from learning and going into the kingdom of heaven and don’t go in themselves.
  • They take advantage of widows and those who are vulnerable.
  • They make long prayers to show how righteous they are.

They like control, appearances, and religion that suits them and their traditions.

In verse 27, Jesus describes these religious people using a tomb as a symbol. He says they look one way on the outside but are different on the inside.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.,

In conclusion, religious people think highly of themselves and their religion.  They are good at it…in their own eyes.  But what matters most to God are those who really know Him.  To know Him brings peace, joy, and a genuine concern for others.  They have no other motivation than to bring people to Christ so that they too “may be able to comprehend with all the saints (God’s people) what is the width and length and height and depth and to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which surpasses KNOWLEDGE, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 2: 18-19

But let him who glories glory in this, That he UNDERSTANDS AND KNOWS ME, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these, I delight,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24

The non-religious people have this one simple directive:  “…grow in the grace and KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. ”  2 Peter 3:18

If you are religious today, stop it!  And turn to Jesus for forgiveness.  Learn of Jesus and start to know Him.  Know what delights Him and pleases Him!  When this happens, suddenly, your eyes will be opened, and you will see others in a different light because you see God for who He REALLY is.

Faith, Reasons to Believe

KNOWING GOD-PART 2-WISDOM IN THE BASICS-THE FACE OF A CHILD

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And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

In the last article, we looked at the idea that it is possible to know God. Keep in mind that this is different from a complete understanding. We will have an eternity to contemplate the love of God expressed in God the Father’s sacrificial love…Jesus’ life, death, burial, resurrection, mediation, and His creation of a new earth,

God Wants Us to Know and Understand Him

God wants us to know and understand Him, but mastery of this knowledge is impossible because of who we are (His creation) and who He is (The Creator). But, it is the basic things about knowing God that is important anyway. The most powerful and simple intercessory prayer recorded in the Bible came from the heart of Jesus before His death on the cross. As we read it in John 17, we will begin to know the basic things about God the Father and Jesus. These elementary things are powerful and dynamic. Let’s read the first five verses of Jesus’ prayer

Jesus spoke these words, lifted His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 17: 1-5

What can easily be seen in Jesus’ prayer is His acknowledgment and acceptance that His time had come. His pending painful death for our sins is only hours away. Jesus wants to avoid this death. He wants the cup of suffering to pass over Him. Nevertheless, Jesus defers to the Father’s plan that the sorrowful cup of sacrifice is drunk to the last drop. Jesus, the innocent lamb of God who knew nothing but love, and compassion, would die the death we deserve so that we can enjoy the life He deserved. We won’t have scars on our palms or side forever.  He will. The only imperfection in heaven will be those scars on the glorified body of Christ. These scars will remind us of our redemption from a sin-crazed world. That is why sin and rebellion will never raise their ugly heads again. See the source image Jesus’ death on a splintery rugged cross would bring glory to both the Father and the Son: even though the enemy thought it would scare Jesus away.  But love was stronger. In Jesus’ prayer, we can see that authority over all of us is given from God the Father to Jesus.  This is not a “bossy” authority but a protective authority.  Jesus, in turn, Jesus provides eternal life for those given to Him. But this eternal life is not arbitrary, by chance, ancestry, or anything else; it is through a developed knowledge of God the Father and Jesus. How does this life-saving knowledge come to the saved?  It is by learning about God through at least three basic sources in this world. Today, we will describe the first 2:
  1. God’s communication through His creation.
  2. The face of a child.
  3. The preserved word of those God inspired to write about God’s dealings with humanity from the very beginning. The story provides understanding.
    •  The life of Christ
    •  The faith of those who knew God.
Any of these are sufficient to create faith (trust) in a Creator God. This faith will lead to a changed heart.

His Creation

Anyone with eyes and ears can learn about God through His creation, or what we call nature. A simple walk or hike will lift the heart upward. As a young man with job responsibilities and a family, I would sometimes need to escape. This I did by hiking with a couple of Chrisitan friends for a few days in the Great Smokey Mountains or other such places near home.  I can still remember the burden removed from my shoulders as I walked only a hundred yards on the path into the woods. Today, the daily habit of short walks in the country setting of my home re-connects me to the reality of a Creator God. May be an image of tree, nature and grass Paul tells the Romans in the first chapter that God’s creation is sufficient proof of God’s existence and that we have no excuse for believing otherwise.

For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Romans 1:20

Nature can help us understand the great mystery of His eternal power and even the Godhead!  Wow!  Think about that for a second or two.  But many will reject this knowledge.  Paul continues…

…because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

Romans 1:21-22

So even though the evidence is right there in their faces, they choose to be unthankful for the things that reveal God and sustain them.  Their thoughts become futile and dark.  They think they are wise, but they are fools—such a sad train of reasoning of the lost.  But God searches for ways to appeal to their intellect.  He draws them to Himself with kindness and the deep meaning of sacrificial love, as shown on the cross.

With everlasting kindness, I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

Isaiah 54:8

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, with lovingkindness, I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

Yes, even the modest of God’s creations tells of the character of God.  Because of this, no man has an excuse to wonder about God.
“God is love” is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green — all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy The word of God reveals His character. He Himself has declared His infinite love and pity. Steps to Christ, p. 10

The Face of A Child

Perhaps nothing can reach the heart of anyone like the face of a child. There in that little t face with those bright eyes is the unspoiled, innocent face of God looking back at you. The love that a Mother and Father have for a child is evidence of a loving, caring, protective Heavenly Father. The righteous feelings and pride of parents explain the necessity of the sacrifice of their own lives and the overwhelming desire to protect to the uttermost. To parents, the life of that child supersedes anything else in this world. In the same way, God calls us adults, his children. How Jesus treated the little children of His day tells us how much He cares for us.

 Once when some mothers were bringing their children to Jesus to bless them, the disciples shooed them away, telling them not to bother him.

 But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very much displeased with his disciples and said to them, “Let the children come to me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they. Don’t send them away! I tell you as seriously as I know how that anyone who refuses to come to God as a little child will never be allowed into his Kingdom.”

Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and he blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

Image result for images of the face of a child
“Let the children come to me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they” Jesus
Some of the most direct and threatening words of Jesus relate to those who would abuse a “little one.” There is good evidence in Jesus’ words that the little ones are not just children but adults who are tempted by another person

 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.

Luke 17: 2-3

If you want to know God, observe the innocence of a child and how Jesus relates to them. If you want to see Satan, look at how he and his followers treat a child for selfish sake. Jesus is our protector and the apple of His eye. He, as our Heavenly Father, looks upon us as His children. This is what we can know about God through the face of a child.