How to Grow in the Knowledge of God.

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Before I begin this article, I want to honor and thank those who have suffered loss, injury, or death to protect the rights we now enjoy, that permit me to publish this article. May the Lord bless and comfort you and may these freedoms continue.

Now, on with the matter—the question—at hand.

How does a Christian gain a greater knowledge of God? We have known the answers since we were babes in the faith. Pray. Read the Bible, God’s word to us. Go to church. But Scripture doesn’t tell us how much to read the Bible or how much or how often to pray. Or how often to go to church. Books have been written about this, and no doubt good ideas are contained therein, although I’ve never understood the journaling thing. Where in Scripture are we ever instructed to do this?

Nowhere.

Regardless, no advice of any kind, no “how-to’s,” will have a significant impact on our spiritual lives unless we love God with our whole hearts. If we do not do this, all our praying, Bible reading, and church going become just rote exercises. Too many of us have not seriously considered Jesus’ commandment to take up our crosses and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-26). We have turned it into a metaphor: “Oh that’s just her cross to bear.” No. Picking up a cross and following Him means dying. Yes, certainly, dying to ourselves daily, but also the possibility that you may really have to die for Him. Will you? Jesus told us we cannot be His disciples unless we love Him more than our families, our stuff, and our very lives (Luke 14:25-34). I understand that no one can fully love God as much as we would like to (Matthew 22:34-40). However, we should set that as our goal in life. If we think we do not love God fully, we should be honest with ourselves and Him and ask for such love. Otherwise, Christian friend, you are just going through the motions, and your love will grow cold, no matter how much Christian stuff you are doing. To what Christian stuff am I referring? Not just praying, reading the Bible, and going to church. Serving in ministry. On the worship team. As a pastor. An elder. A leader. A prophet or any believer with gifts. A teacher. A home group leader. Serving in children’s ministry. Therefore, I recommend that you start right now. Ask for a love for Him that is greater than your love for yourself and this world. And keep praying it. Our love is like the morning dew:

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away (Hosea 6:4).¹

What’s next? You should consider how you think about Almighty God and about Jesus, God incarnate.

Think about God—about Jesus—as the Creator of all things (Colossians 1:15–16). When He was dying on the cross, the Creator of all things was dying bodily. When people hit Him, they were hitting the Creator of all things. When they mocked Him, they were mocking their Creator. When He walked on water, the Creator was walking on water.

Think of God as perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). Perfect in ability. Perfect in knowledge. Perfect in everything. He makes no mistakes. He knows what He’s doing—perfectly.

Think about Him as sovereign (1 Timothy 6:12-16). Perfectly sovereign. Nothing happens on the earth or in the universe that He does not cause or allow.

Think of Him as perfect in knowledge. He knows you perfectly. When you go in. When you go out. Your thoughts (Psalm 139:1-4). The names and numbers of the stars (Psalm 147:4). Every sparrow that falls. The number of the hairs on your head (Luke 12:6-7).

Think of Him as the perfect and good law-giver (Psalm 119:165). All His commands are for your good. Strive to follow them, although you will surely fail. Then you can thank Him for His grace, repent, and keep striving, asking for His help.

Think of God as eternal. He knew about what you are presently experiencing and the end of them before the worlds were. He loves you now, and He will love you forever. Because you are a Christian, you will live forever. The rewards you will be given are yours forever. Your sonship is yours forever. His rulership is forever, and His government will not change. No primaries. No elections.

Think of Him in these ways. Think about Him this way when you wake up and make Him among your first thoughts of the day. Say good morning to your Creator, your Savior, your Father.

Think of Him in these ways during the day. Thank Him for His creation. The flowers you see. The birds. The clouds. The rain and snow. The mountains, hills, rivers, and streams. All created things on earth, under the sea and in heaven. Thank Him for your salvation. Thank Him for ultimate truth. For eternal life. For His sovereign rulership in all things.

Think of Him in these ways when you lie down to go to sleep. Say goodnight to your Creator. Thank Him that, incredibly, you are able to know and talk to the Creator sovereign God—the only such Being in the universe—and that you could have never entered that relationship on your own. That you are a son, a co-heir with Jesus, through no doing of your own whatsoever. A holy one, a saint. That you have been given His righteousness, the state to which you would never have attained. Ever.

If you continue this path, I am deeply convinced that you will grow in your knowledge of God.

¹All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

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