“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” — A. W. Tozer
“No man can understand himself without first turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves.” — John Calvin
You believe in God, but do you believe the truth about him? We must all work to deepen our knowledge of who God is and what he has done. Because it’s not enough to merely believe in a god, we need to believe in the true God.
Studying who God is and what he has done is called “theology.” While some people think theology is just a boring task for Bible nerds or seminary students, everyone is a theologian. Everyone believes something about God. But do you believe the truth about God?
There’s a famous, ancient, non-Christian parable about a group of blind men finding an elephant and groping around to figure out what it is. One of them grabbed its trunk and thought it was a snake, one of them grabbed the ear and thought it was a fan, one of them grabbed its leg and thought it was a tree trunk. Today, people tell that story to describe how all religions are equal as if none of us really know the truth about God and we’re all just blind men trying to describe an elephant.
On our own, we are blind and unable to know the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4), but God has not left us on our own! He has revealed himself to us. He has told us what he is like in the pages of Scripture. We’re not randomly guessing or pridefully asserting that we’ve got it all figured out — we’re humbly trusting that God has truthfully revealed himself to us.
This is just a small sampling of the many attributes of God revealed in Scripture.
The center of the Christian worldview is the kindness and mercy of God, which is seen supremely in the work of Christ (Exodus 34:6–7, 1 Corinthians 2:2), so every session will include a reminder of how this topic points us to God’s unfailing kindness.
God has revealed himself to us. He hasn’t left us alone to figure it out (we couldn’t). He hasn’t abandoned us to seek him on our own (we wouldn’t). We were lost in the dark without him, and he has graciously turned on the light. And now he calls us to know him, not just know about him. He’s invited us into personal relationship — like a rebellious peasant invited to eat at the king’s table. Our God has made himself known and knowable.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Each day this week, while reading the Bible, I will make a list of THREE THINGS that the passages I read teach about God.
Pray that God would help you to know him and increase your love for his Word.
Pillar Church is part of The Praetorian Project. The Praetorian Project is a family of Gospel centered churches near military installations worldwide. To learn more about our effort, visit praetorianproject.org
Made by Zellous Design