“And I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” Exodus 33:19
There is a great hymn by J. Hart, which goes like this:
“How good is the God we adore, Our faithful, unchangeable Friend; His love is as great as His power, And knows neither measure nor end.”
Where did this brother Hart come to understand these very simple, and yet, eternal truths of God? We know they are written in the word of God, and expressed in many different ways, and applied in many different circumstances. But, how do they become real to the soul, almost tangibly accessible, with the great possibility of not only knowing about them, but experiencing them? They are born out of worship, when the worship is according to the truth by the Spirit. It is the Spirit of God who takes the specific eternal truth, and makes it wonderfully real, to be known in the heart, and expressed in the life. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, speaking of things that are impossible for man to know, or grasp, concerning God. But then he writes: “But God hath revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10) He continues, in speaking of true believers in Christ, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God.” (v.12) How then does the Spirit of God reveal to the believer the things of God, hidden in Christ?
First, and foremost, it must be realized that ONLY God can reveal the things of God to the natural man, but also, the believer. In God’s dealings with man, there is one principle which He never breaches. It is concerning His glory, and who shall be honored and worshipped when it is revealed. The glory, or the revelation of the nature and character of God, is revealed to man ONLY by the Spirit of God, and in such a way that God alone will be honored. It is as one Christian writer put it: “Every virtue I possess, and every victory won; every thought of holiness, are His, and His alone.” Scripture is very clear on this matter, as God will not give His glory to another. It belongs to Him and to Him alone.
Secondly, God is a God of truth, the absolute truth. He reveals Himself, whether by name, description, or works, as the God of truth. He cannot lie, nor will He. That which He declares of HImself is the absolute, irrefutable, immutable truth. Any contradiction of man, whether in thought, word, or deed, is a lie, if it does not conform fully to the truth that is in Christ Jesus, for He IS the truth. So, the Spirit of God takes the truth of God, and in a very real way, blows upon it, until it burns with life Divine, as we see in the Lord Jesus. He makes it real to us, not only revealing the meaning and the application to our lives, but He uses it to stir up the believer, to convince him of guidance, to convict him of sin when necessary, but most of all to bring him to the place of appropriating the living TRUTH, Christ Himself by the Spirit.
Over and over in the Old Testament we find the concept of KNOWING God. When we come to the New Testament, in particularly to the words of Christ, and the letters of the Apostle Paul, we find that we are called to know the objective truth, but also, the very power of Christ’s indestructible life. We are called to abide in Him, and He in us. It is as we follow Him, being led by the Spirit, submitted to His authority, that we truly come to know Christ.
Dear Father, Fill us with Goodness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.