Want to know God?

Elkton Road Baptist Church, Athens

Do you want to know God? How we answer this question reveals the attitude of our heart. If someone responds with a “no,” do they really not want to know the One that loves them the most? Or do they not want to know the god they see in some religious people, who really don’t know God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? 

If someone responds, “Yes,” then there is only one way to know Him.

In John 3, we read about Nicodemus, a religious man who wanted to know God. From his observations of Jesus, Nicodemus concluded Jesus had come from God, but he wanted to know for sure so he asked Jesus directly. 

Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus was more concerned with Nicodemus knowing God than just answering a question about Himself. 

Nicodemus’ response to Jesus’ answer was not “why” but “how” could a man be born again. Yes Nicodemus really wanted to know God. Jesus further explained that this new birth came from the Spirit of God and had absolutely nothing to do with the physical flesh.

Though we, like Nicodemus, may not understand the “hows” in which God works, Jesus assures us, as He did Nicodemus, that He knows. The answer is the same for us today as it was for Nicodemus — which is simple faith, a believing and trusting heart, in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Jesus told Nicodemus in a way he understood that Jesus was going to be crucified and that only by believing upon Him could a person be saved and know God (John 3:14–15). 

Without doubt Nicodemus came to know God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as we see him setting aside his religion to put his hands to the body of Christ (John 19:38–42). 

If you want to know God, you must know Jesus. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).