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And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God. John 17:3 ESV
The purpose of Christianity is knowing God.
It’s not about dry traditions, stultifying obedience, or empty repetition of creeds — Christianity is a relationship with God. And the purpose of this relationship is knowing God.
When Jesus teaches in John 17:3, “That they [we] know You [Father],” He uses a word for “knowledge” that in the Greek means a “knowing” that only comes through a personal relationship. The Author and Creator of the universe wants us to develop intimacy with His character, ways, and thoughts!
J.I. Packer writes one of my favorite books, Knowing God. He illustrates in the book why we should study and know God. . .
Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives. As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London, put 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. The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded.
Years ago, I memorized the following verses of Scripture for their value in knowing the practicality of my relationship with God.
God will lead me. . .
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14).
God wants me to talk to Him. . .
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done (Philippians 4:6, NLT).
God will give me wisdom and revelation for my decisions. . .
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him (Ephesians 1:17, ESV).
Christianity is a relationship with God, with communication being the most important aspect of this relationship.
We can personally talk to our Father, through Jesus, who reconciled sinful “us” to a perfect God, restoring the relationship and enabling our praying as partners in God’s eternal purposes.
If we lived without effort or accomplishment, and one morning we’re dragged out of bed, made to stand on a podium during a loudly cheered ceremony, have a gold medal placed around our neck, and then told that we’d just won the Olympic 100-meter race, most of us would decline the medal knowing that we had done nothing to earn the honor.
Someday, we will wake up to find ourselves in heaven, standing before God (a greater experience than the gold medal ceremony). We still don’t deserve the honor, but because of Jesus, we accept it.
Why? We know God and have, by the power of the Spirit, obeyed His voice. From these earthly struggles of listening and following, we celebrate His grace and our eternally growing knowledge of Him.
Knowing God continues in heaven, and now and forever, we want to know Him more and more.