KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
HOSEA 4:1 6
I want to begin this morning by asking you life's ultimate question. Be as honest as you can be with yourself...Do you know God?
Notice that I didn't ask, "Do you believe that He exists...or do you believe in Him...
I didn't ask if you are trying to live a good moral life. The question is, "Do you know God?" Now if you say yes, then what evidence do you have that your answer is authentic? [If you were arrested...]
There is no more important question in all of life than that very question...Do you know God. It is the secret of true success...the source of wisdom beyond our understanding...the strength to endure in hard times.
It is the one thing that should demand our constant attention and the focus of our lives. It is of more value than power or position...yet nothing is more needed in Christianity today than knowledge of God.
Hosea was called to prophesy to the nation of Israel because this quality of life was lacking. The sins of the nation came from the absence of it...the people had been destroyed because they had rejected it.
And the people of God today are no different. Look at the church today and you have to agree that the lack of the knowledge of God is the cause of wavering spirituality...inconsistency between the walk and the talk of believers...ineffectiveness in prayer...and even social righteousness, the way we act toward others, those outside our "group"
What does it mean to know God...and to live with a knowledge of Him?
Knowledge of God involves two things: intimacy...and integrity.
1. First, let's look at intimacy...
To experience the kind of relationship with God that He meant for us requires us to open up our innermost being to Him...just like He revealed Him innermost nature to us. In fact the word intimacy means "proceeding from within...inward...internal.
And so knowledge of God is more than an accumulation of facts...it is more than ideas about Him...or some broad concept we've developed... ex. I am your pastor. And some of you probably think you know me fairly well. But do you really?
I've been preaching to you for 16 months...and from that you may have an idea of where I stand on certain issues...a little about my background...my temperament. But most of you don't know me personally very well.
For instance, how many know that I love classical music? Tchaikovsky and Mozart, Rossini and Verdi...How many know that I love to read the Puritan writers and more modern works by Andrew Murray, Tozer, Ravenhill and others...that from these men of God I get much of my hunger for enthusiasm and fire, my drive for a closer walk with God?
You wouldn't know these things about me unless you had a much closer relationship than we do. It's the same with our knowledge of God. It is easy to get a surface knowledge and think that will suffice.
Knowledge of God involves the total person: intellect, emotion, and will. And the beginning of our knowledge of God and our relationship with Him comes when we know that !we„Ç are known by Him.
Our understanding and our awareness of God are met in response to our being known by Him...absolutely and thoroughly. David's understanding of this gives us a good example...Ps. 139:
1; 23 24 READ
And this is something we resist and rebel against. We don't want anyone...especially God, to know us..deep down inside. I'm sure most of you wouldn't want me to know what goes on inside your heart and mind...(boy, wouldn't that make for some interesting sermons...)
And yet somehow we get this idea that we can fool God...we can buffalo Him into believing all our rationalizing...our excuses...our justifications for the things we do...or don't do...
And we can never begin to develop that knowledge of God until we realize that He already knows us...He knows everything...the good and the bad. Once we come to that realization we can begin a relationship with Him as it was meant to be.
A true, intimate relationship must be based on truth and honesty. And we must take a true and honest look at ourselves before we can begin to experience an intimate union with Him.
2. Now let's look at integrity...because knowledge of God demands integrity. The word integrity means "wholeness..undivided, unimpaired, ...Completeness.
Integrity is consistency of behavior...consistency between what we believe and what we do. If we are Christians and we claim to know God, then His character and His commands should be...intertwined with ours. Knowing God requires integrity and a consistent life of faithfulness.
And what it boils down to is obedience...obedience is the secret of a growing knowledge of God.
Hosea addresses the lack of both intimacy and integrity in Israel. And what is said is just as true for the world today. Few Christians live in a daily intimate relationship of being searched and known by God. Opening ourselves up and daring to be real with God is very difficult for us...in a nutshell, we lack integrity.
Earlier in Hosea God clearly stated His plan and His desire for His people to have both the intimacy and integrity of knowing Him. (Ch. 2)
Now in chapter 4 the Lord confronts Israel with their denial of His purpose for them:
READ 4:1b, 6a
This chapter is like stating a case in a court of law...the language is that of a legal dispute... "because the Lord has a charge to bring against you." And here we see God filing a lawsuit against Israel, and the charge is that there is no faithfulness...no love...no acknowledgement of God in the land.
And these are the basic requirements for generous and forgiving treatment that makes it possible to live in harmony with other people. Knowledge of God in Hosea implies knowing and obeying God's commands.. and lack of that knowledge is evidenced by actions that go directly against the standards set forth in the word of God.
Verse 1 characterizes Israel's guilt as an absence of faithful relationship among the member's of God's people...and this has its roots in contempt for God's will.
And what was the result of their lack of faithful relationship with each other? A lack of integrity. The absence of that inner character that comes from knowing God showed itself by their cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery.
There was a breakdown of community life...just like we have in America today...and it was caused by a lack of truth, mercy, and knowledge of God in the land.
I find it interesting that swearing likely means "taking an oath" like it does later in chapter 10. Were these people of God just using bad language? No...they were deceiving each other. "Yea, I'll do such and such"...never intending at all to do it.
Kind of like many of my "leaders" who stood before this congregation and before God and promised to faithfully attend all the services and participate in the ordinance services...most of you never come to Bible study, and when it comes to ordinance services most of my council wouldn't dream of showing up, let alone participate.
And I'm here this morning to tell you that your excuses don't hold any more water than Israel's did. If you aren't working or on life support then I have to assume that the reason you never come is because you have no real knowledge of God...no intimacy...no integrity!
Hosea goes through these charges and there is a mounting intensity as he lists the offenses. And he says, "without a knowledge of God they break all bounds or all restraints" ...and what happens as a result of this...bloodshed follows bloodshed. Literally, this means "blood strikes (or touches) blood...and the idea here is continual violence.
And it seems to be a more general charge that indicates the total breakdown of the community as a whole...the cursing, lying, stealing and the others are just a part of it.
Hosea goes on to say that the whole nation...even the animals, fish, and birds suffer because of their lack of relationship with God and each other. And it's interesting that we see the same thing happening in our world today.
Today we have such a complete disregard for the sanctity of life. We legally murder millions of unborn babies...now we're starting to kill off anyone who is not up to certain standards of mental or physical health...and we've become so desensitized to violence that no life is sacred...whether human animal or what.
But if all that wasn't bad enough we get down to verses 4 6 where the focus of judgment is on a priest...maybe even the chief priest.
Verse 4 begins with what seems to be the quote of a rebuke from a priest or leader in Israel who objected to Hosea's accusation. READ 4a...
And this is something we Christians do so wonderfully..."Don't judge, don't point a finger at someone else because you're not perfect either." And we must be very careful about this. But that is why a knowledge of God is so important.
Because God has most assuredly called, equipped and sent out men who know Him to speak words of correction, rebuke, and instruction not to put down, or ridicule...but to bring them to repentance and a return to God. The heart of all true rebuke and judgment is REDEMPTION.
And it is only a man who truly knows God that can be a vessel God can use to accomplish a task such as Hosea had. Only one who has a knowledge of God can have such a broken heart for the lost soul of a man or woman that they will be willing to address such issues.
Then Hosea picks up with God's reply...READ 4b...people always want to bring a charge against the very one who is sent to help. Verse 5... shows that the consequences will be a continuous thing.
The reference to the priest's mother and later on to the children emphasizes the seriousness of the judgment...that it will cause the whole family to suffer.
Again in verse 6 we see the anguish of God as He looks at His people.. READ 6a...Is it true for us today? We live in an age where knowledge abounds. We're much smarter at a much younger age...just ask any teen.
But we are not destroyed by a lack of education...but rather a lack of in depth study of the Scriptures, prayer, and living out the will of God for our lives. Our character is shaped by cultural values rather than knowledge of God.
Church members who don't live out their faith are people who have little or no relationship with God. Thomas Torrence said that „ªthe great issue facing the church in the 1990's is evangelizing church members...and I agree.„«
We must begin to know God...because without that intimate knowledge there is no inner peace..no cure for restlessness..no guidance for daily pressures..no absolutes for moral integrity..and no certainty in life or death.
We were created to know, to love, to glorify, and to serve God. Knowledge of God is our purpose...we were meant to experience intimacy with God...to know His heart...His desires...His wonderful plan for our lives. Without that knowledge we are destroyed.
The good news is...God always makes the first move. Every discovery about God and His nature is just our response to His revelation. The people of Israel were destroyed because of a lack of teaching by the priests about God.
Today our problem is not lack of information...but lack of knowing Him as He has revealed Himself to us. Our knowledge...our relationship with God begins with Christ...He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life...no man comes to the Father except through Me"
To know the Lord intimately is not just to hear about God's grace offered to us through Christ...but to accept and experience it first hand.
