First Baptist Church, Pell City
In his classic book “Knowing God,” J.I. Packer tells the story of a man who “had effectively forfeited his prospects of academic advancement by clashing with church dignitaries over the gospel of grace. ‘But it doesn’t matter,’ he said at length, ‘for I’ve known God and they haven’t’” (page 20). The sheer audacity of that statement is incredible and our familiarity with that phrase is even more astonishing.
“I have known God.” Can you imagine? The God of the universe! The Creator of all can be known. How is it possible that you and I can know God? How can the finite know the infinite? How can sons of Adam and daughters of Eve know the God who reveals Himself as the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present and sovereign Lord of the universe?
The first thing we must realize is that knowing God is indeed possible, but it is only possible because God has revealed Himself to us. In John 1:14 the apostle John said, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” God has revealed Himself to us through His Son and we can know Him only through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
The second thing we must know is that God sent His Son to save us because we could not save ourselves. In Galatians 4:4 Paul said, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Our sin separated us from God, but God sent Jesus to redeem us. On the cross Jesus accomplished the atonement that we desperately needed, enabling us to know Him.
To sum it up: we can know God because God revealed Himself to us and because He gave His life to enable the sin that separated us from Him to be forgiven. God took the initiative in revealing Himself to us. He paid the price that His holiness demanded of us and we can know Him by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
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