“And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.” Isaiah 64:7
Dear Ones:
God is not easily known. If Jesus told His disciples that the conditions of following him were the denial of self, and the taking up of one’s cross, then there is evidently something wrong with our reasoning if we think that knowing God will be easy. In addition to this is the fact that God does not begin with our culture, and the “thoughts and ways” of sinful men, in order to reveal Himself to us. It is true that God’s truth, as revealed in His word, and supremely in the Lord Jesus Christ, convicts man of the difference of his way of life, from that of God. It also reveals the very opposing disposition of his nature to God, his sinfulness and lost condition. But God does NOT begin, nor continue, to seek to reveal Himself to us according to humanity, which has declared every man a liar. How then is God to be known truly?
Throughout the Old Testament, and the New Testament, we find the call of God for man to SEEK Him. In Jeremiah, we find written: “And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) The Lord Jesus said basically the same thing: “…Seek, and ye shall find.” (Matt. 7:7) God is found when He is SOUGHT by the individual heart and soul. David’s experience and knowledge of God is the direct result of his practice of seeking Him. “O God, thou art My God, EARLY will I seek Thee.” (Ps. 63:1) David became a man who set his highest priority, the “first thing” in his life, to seek God. The result is very evident by the knowledge of God as revealed in the Psalms. What does it mean then, to truly SEEK God? And how shall we FIND Him?
First, we need to see how God is NOT found. Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth: “…the world by ‘wisdom’ knew not God.” (1 Cor. 1:21) What is this “wisdom of the world?” It is that which is explained later in Paul’s letter to the Colossians: “…philosophy and vain conceit, …the tradition of men…the rudiments (principles) of the world.” (Col. 2:8) God does not take that which has its origin in sinful man to reveal to us the truth of His nature, except as a comparison. One can only truly seek, and find God, according to the revealed TRUTH of His Person, and Nature. Is it not logical that the God of truth can be known by anything but the truth. This is one of the reasons for which the Lord Jesus declared to His disciples: “I AM THE TRUTH.” The first thing in seeking God early, is to seek Him according to His Word, the revelation of the truth of God in the Scriptures. There is no finding God in truth beyond the limits of the truth of the Scriptures, and the truth of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, we find throughout the entire testimony of Scripture, that we are to “pray” unto God. God is NOT a thing, but a Person. Man was created in His image, in order to KNOW this Person, to fellowship with this Person. How? By prayer, this verbal expression of our deepest thoughts and needs to God. It is in the “cry” of the heart, the “calling upon God,” the asking of God in faith, that He responds, and reveals Himself to the spirit and soul of man.
Lastly, if we would truly KNOW the God that we seek, there must be the bending of the knee. Kneeling before God is an outward expression of an inward attitude towards God of submission to His authority, and entire trust in His faithfulness. If we believe that He is God, our Maker, and the very Redeemer of our souls, who has loved us with an ever-lasting Love (Jer. 31:3), having done EVERYTHING in the giving of His very Son to win us “…on the Cross of shame,” then we have no other recourse than to fall at His pierced feed, in praise, worship, thanksgiving, seeking and receiving His mercy and grace. What is the result? ABUNDANT pardon (Is. 55:7), and ABUNDANT life, (Jn. 10:10) …the true knowledge of God in Christ, by the Spirit.
Dear Father, give us grace to stir ourselves up to seek Thee early, every day. Grant to us the knowledge of Thy truth in Thy word in our pursuit of Thee, enabling us to truly, and always, bend the knee. Then we shall increasingly, assuredly, know Thee, in truth. We praise You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad