The Crucial Knowledge of God

"Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives", wrote J.I. Packer in his book, Knowing God. In fact, knowing God is crucial to everything else in life!

May grace and peace be multiplied to you
 in the knowledge of God 
and of Jesus our Lord.
2 Peter 1:2

It's our knowledge of God that multiplies, that grows, grace and peace in our lives. I can persevere through all things, through hardships and temptations, because of my intimate knowledge of God. For example, knowledge of God is what kept me totally free of worry and anxiety as I walked through my cancer. It is my knowledge of God and Christ that causes me to stand in awe of His love for me. It is my growing knowledge of God that has wrought changes in my attitudes and behavior over the years—and continues to grow and change me. God's not through with me yet! I am still a very flawed human being in need of His constant transforming work in my life.

His divine power has granted to us
all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us
to His own glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:3

How often do we forget that knowing God means we have everything we need to walk this life on earth, everything we need to be godly.

Granted, this godliness is a matter of growth.  And we have to do our part.  In verse 5, Peter says to "make every effort to supplement your faith" and proceeds to list those characteristics that should be ever increasing in our lives (verse 8).

The apostle Paul is saying essentially the same thing in Romans 8:29:

And those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son...

How do we gain intimate knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord? Through our knowledge of Scripture, God's revelation of Himself. How else can we know what godliness is? How else can we become more and more like Jesus?

Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved, 
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

Finally, the verses I have so often prayed for myself and my loved ones:

And it is my prayer
that your love may abound more and more,
with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent,
and so may be pure and blameless
for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11

Notice that knowledge and discernment increase our love and our purity as we become filled with the fruit of righteousness. And Christ is at the center of it all. May you and I grow in our walk with God as we grow in our knowledge of Him.

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