Knowing God
Thomas Edison once said:
“We do not know one-millionth part of one percent about anything,
We do not know what water is, we don’t know what light is, we do not know what electricity is, we do not know what gravity is, we don’t know anything about magnetism.
We have a lot of hypotheses, but that is all.”
You may say,
“well, Edison said that a long time ago long before they found out about all of these things.”
But have they truly found out anything?
Oh, I know that scientists have the break down on the components of water, but , where did these components come from.
We know how to generate electricity, but, if I am not mistaken, this was found out by accident, much like most scientific discoveries.
We know how fast light travels and we know how to produce man made light, but,
What is light?
My friends, all of the answers we need in life, are right here in the Word Of God!
The Bible tells us where light came from,
It is a creation from God. That is all I need to know.
The Bible tells us where water came from.
The answers are all there.
Friends, the Bible even reveals who God is and how we can relate to him.
I am going to reference scripture mostly in the entire eighth chapter of John this morning.
There will be some more passages here and there but the main points are in john chapter 8 and instead of trying to read the entire chapter I want to use the main focal passages as John 8:53-58
Read John 8:53-58
After looking at this passage of scripture I would like us to ask ourselves a question.
Do we know GOD?---
Can we truly say today, that we Know God?
it is a question each of us will have to answer for ourselves, but I feel like as we look at the Word of GOD today we will be able to get some help answering this question.
One of the first things I want us to look at today is who JESUS was talking to.
If you want to back up a little bit in the scripture here and look at verse 52 and even a little further and look at verse 48 then you will see that JESUS was talking to the JEWS.
Now the word Jew was first applied to a member of the kingdom of Judah after the separation of the 10 tribes.
The term first appears in the Bible just before the captivity of the ten tribes and we can find this in second kings 16:6.
Now, after the return of the Jews, the word started being used more widely, partly because of the predominance of the members from the old kingdom of Judah and partly from the identification of Judah with the religious ideas and hopes of the people.
Before long any Israelite was being called a Jew.
And a non-Jew was called a gentile.
Now it seems that JESUS was talking harshly to these people and according to the Bible these people were God’s chosen people.
Exodus 19:4-6
’You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. [5] Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, [6] you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
Deut. 7:6-8
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
[7] The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. [8] But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Psalm 105:43
He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
We know that these are God’s chosen people that JESUS is talking to .
We could call them the congregation of the church, the chosen church.
And We will look in a minute to see why JESUS is talking so severely to them.
Now JESUS was talking to someone else at the same time.
you can look back at verse 13 and see that the Pharisees are among the Jews and are asking questions and talking to Jesus
The Pharisees were the religious leaders of that time; both scribes and priests could be found among the Pharisees.
Their basic mission was to apply the Law of Moses to the everyday life of the people.
These guys new the scriptures inside and out, some of them probably had all of the scriptures memorized.
Paul was a Pharisee at one time. But the Pharisees had become basically political, they wanted to rule, they wanted to be leaders and they wanted to be admired because of their position.
And the claims of JESUS were a threat to their position and there power.
Now, we can plainly see who Jesus is talking to,
He is talking to the Jews and among the Jews are the Pharisees.
Or basically the religious leaders and the congregation of the chosen church of his day.
Now the next thing I want us to look at is what JESUS is saying to these people.
And the first thing I want you to notice is that Jesus said to these people that they did not know GOD!
John 8:54-55
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. [55] Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word.
let me back up a little bit and read verse 47.
John 8:47
He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
let me back up a little further and read verse 19.
John 8:19
Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
Here was this man called JESUS ,
he is kind of new to the scene as far as anyone is concerned, and here he is and he is telling the chosen church and the religious leaders that they did not know GOD!!
And if that were not bad enough, He also told these religious leaders and this committed congregation that they belonged to the devil!
Lets stay in chapter 8 and look at verses 42-44
John 8:42-44
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. [43] Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. [44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
JESUS told the chosen church and the religious leaders that they belonged to the devil.
Now why would he say such a thing?
Was he just trying to make enemies?
No.
He was not trying to make enemies any more than the doctor who tells a man he has a tumor in his brain and needs immediate surgery.
The truth sometimes hurts but it is the only way to be saved.
Jesus knew these people did not know GOD, not just because he was GOD even though he plainly states this in verse 58
John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
Now, the original Greek word used here is the word {Am-ane’} and it is used here in this context by Jesus as him stating a truth that everyone who heard him could be sure of…….
Some translations have it as we see it here, “I tell you the truth”.. some translations say “Verily Verily” but either way it has the same meaning…
Now, Whenever I read where Jesus used this word I think of the show cops.
Now while watching cops, you see the police officer in his car responding to the scene of a crime, you see him drive up at high speeds and you possibly see someone running from the scene, the officer jumps out of the car and takes off running after the suspect. The officer gets pretty close to the suspect, pulls his gun out and yells “FREEZE”.
Now is the moment of decision. The suspect is thinking
“I could keep on running and maybe I could get away, or maybe I could get shot and killed, the only other option is to stop, turn myself in, possibly face some severe consequences to what I have done wrong, but I would live.”
That is how I picture it when Jesus uses the words “I tell you the truth” or “verily”.
He is saying, “freeze, stop and listen to me, do what I ask, and live!!!
Jesus is really emphasizing His point here, and what He says to the people is….
I AM! I am…………
This is the same I AM used by GOD speaking to Moses in exodus 3:14.
Jesus is saying that HE is Everlasting,
He is eternal,
He is the beginning and end,
I AM.
Now, The people knew what he meant because in the next verse they picked up stones to stone him… they would do this because of what they thought to be blasphemy against GOD.
But getting back to my point, JESUS was saying that the people did not know GOD because of the fact that the people did not know who JESUS himself was.
Again you could look at verse 19 and verse 42 to see this.
Friends, I must say this….. If you do not know JESUS CHRIST personally, then you do not know GOD.
Let me read 1st John 3:7-10
1 John 3:7-10
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. [8] He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. [9] No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. [10] This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Now when the scripture says here that he who does what is sinful is of the devil it is not talking about sinning like true Christians do,
but it is talking about habitual sin, the person that sins all of the time and is not bothered by it.
But the point I want to make with these verses is that there are two types of families,
There is the family of GOD,
and there is the family of the devil.
Friends, Each of us belongs to one family or the other,….
the truth hurts, but knowing the truth can lead to salvation.
So, how can we know GOD??
The first way to come to know GOD is by accepting JESUS CHRIST as our savior.
We all know what the Bible says in John 3:16
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Let me also read John 14:6
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Friends, You cannot know GOD without knowing JESUS CHRIST.
And lastly, we can come to know GOD by obedience.
I am not saying we come to know GOD by activity.
Our Outward spiritual activity is not necessarily a sign of our inner spiritual life and health.
Obedience is a sign of inner spiritual life and health.
John 14:23 says,
John 14:23
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Our Obedience to God, is our outward expression of love for GOD.
Friends, Being a member of the church does not mean that you know GOD.
We can look at the Jews and see this.
Working in church does not mean that you know GOD.
We can look at the Pharisees and see this.
Knowing JESUS CHRIST and obeying him is how we come to know GOD.
I know people that have quit going to church because someone hurt their feelings,
I know people that have quit going to church because they did not like the preacher,
I know people that have quit going to church because they did not like the music or songs that were sung.
I’m sorry friends, but we don’t come to church to keep our feelings from being hurt
we don’t come to church because we like or dislike the preacher
we don’t come to church because of the songs we sing
we don’t come to church for the air or the heat,
we don’t come to church because of the color of the sanctuary
WE COME TO CHURCH BECAUSE WE KNOW GOD!
We come to church to be obedient to GOD!
We come to church to worship GOD!
Not far from New York there is a cemetery where there is a grave which has inscribed upon its headstone just one word,
FORGIVEN
There is no name, no date of birth or death
The stone is unadorned by the sculptors art.
There is no epitaph, no flattering eulogy
Just that one word, FORGIVEN
But that is the greatest thing that can be said of any man, or written upon his grave,
FORGIVEN
Are you forgiven today?
DO YOU KNOW GOD??
If you do not know GOD, you can before you leave here today. As we sing a hym of invitation, If you would like to know GOD, would you come this morning
and if you do know GOD but you know you are not being completely obedient to him, maybe you would just like to come and kneel here at the alter and ask for his forgiveness, and ask him to help you to know him better.
Stop!--listen to the Truth from JESUS, and live!
would you come
