Many people do not know the true God. Some do not want to know Him. Others think they know Him but only know facts about Him, or their conduct shows they do not really know Him. What does it mean to personally know God according to the Bible?
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Introduction:
Acts 17:23 – In Athens Paul found altars to many gods including one to “the unknown God.” Paul used this as an opportunity to teach the people about the true God whom they did not know.
The purpose of this study is to consider what is involved in knowing God.
Like the Athenians, many people do not know God. Other people may know about God without knowing Him personally.
The gods of Athens were idols that could not hear, speak, or think. But the true God possesses the characteristics of a living being: He hears, speaks, loves, knows, wills, etc. So it is possible to establish a personal relationship with God.
Various expressions are used in the Bible to refer to this kind of relationship: knowing God, having fellowship with Him, abiding in Him, walking with Him, etc. We are described as children of our Father, sheep in His flock, friends of God, etc.
Consider what is involved in developing a personal knowledge of God:
Importance of Knowing God
God Desires for Us to Know Him.
As with the men of Athens, God wants us to come to know Him.
Jeremiah 9:24 – God says: Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
Philippians 3:8-10 – I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Knowing Christ was so important to Paul that he was willing to suffer the loss of all other things, counting them as rubbish.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 – In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Failure to know God leads to eternal punishment.
Knowing God is fundamental to the purpose of life, especially to the hope for eternal life. We seek to know God in this life so we can be with Him forever in the next life.
God Blesses Those Who Know Him.
Psalm 36:10 – Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You. So God’s lovingkindness is for those who know Him.
Jeremiah 31:34 – … they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. So God forgives sins for those who know Him.
2 Peter 1:2 – Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
John 17:3 – And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Knowing God leads to eternal life. ( 1 John 5:20)
Like the people of Athens, we need to come to know God. Knowing God is essential to receiving important blessings, including avoiding eternal punishment and receiving eternal life. Paul said he would give up everything else in order to know Jesus.
Necessity of Faith and Trust
Some Do Not Believe in God or Desire to Know Him.
Acts 17:23 – The Athenians worshiped many gods but did not believe in the true God.
Exodus 5:2 – Pharaoh said, “Who is the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” Pharaoh was an enemy of God who refused to believe in Him.
John 1:10 – Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Jesus existed as God with the Father from eternity. He was in truth the Creator of all. Yet when He came as a man, people did not recognize Him as the Son of God. Some claimed He was a sinner and ultimately crucified Him.
Knowing God is more than just believing He exists. Nevertheless, believing in God is fundamental to knowing God. People cannot personally know God if they do not believe God exists. We will see that the more you know about God the better you can know God.
(Isaiah 45:5; John 17:25; 15:21; 16:3; 7:28,29; 1 John 3:1; Jeremiah 9:6; Hosea 5:4; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Job 21:14)
Some Who Know God Turn Away from Him.
Romans 1:19-22,28 – What may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. Some knew God (through the creation), but they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful. Professing to be wise, they became fools… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to practice evil.
2 Peter 2:20 – Some escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but were again entangled and overcome. Their latter end is worse than the beginning.
When you know God, you know He rules the universe and requires obedience and service. But some reject the knowledge of God because they do not want to be restricted by His teachings or because they enjoy the pleasures of sin.
Knowing God Requires Trust and Commitment to His Service.
Psalm 9:10 – Those who know Your name will put their trust in You.
Hebrews 8:11 (Jeremiah 31:34) – None of them shall teach his neighbor, and his brother, saying, “Know the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord,” for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
Under the law of Moses, the Israelites were God’s people. Everyone born as an Israelite was physically born into a covenant relationship with God. But from birth they did not know God, so they had to learn about Him as they grew up. Under the gospel, we are not God’s people by physical birth. We must learn about God and believe in Him to come into covenant relationship with him. So every disciple of Christ must know God.
Jeremiah 24:7 – I will give them a heart to Know Me, that I am the style='text-transform: uppercase'>Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
Knowing God is another expression for being one of God’s people. The people of God know God. At the point of conversion, one enters into a relationship with God as His child. Just as a child ought to personally know his father, so God’s people should know Him personally. However, as with any relationship, we can have degrees of how well we know someone.
Knowing God Better
Christians should grow in many ways: faith, love, knowledge, patience, etc. The same is true regarding knowing God. We need to put forth the effort to grow and develop a deeper relationship. How do we learn to know God better and develop a closer relationship?
Study the Word of God
Acts 17:23 – The men of Athens did not know God, so Paul needed to proclaim the message about the true God. This inspired message is now revealed in the Scriptures; we learn who God is through studying the Scriptures.
1 John 4:6 – Inspired men are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us.
Proverbs 2:2,5,6 – Incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; … Then you will understand the fear of the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
1 Corinthians 1:21 – Since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
I read a book about famous philosophers, many of whom tried to prove by human wisdom whether God does or does not exist. You can know God exists and some of His characteristics through observing nature, but to know God better you must learn the message of the gospel.
(1 John 5:20; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Acts 13:27; Hosea 6:3; Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:10)
Understand and Value the Character and Work of God
Acts 17:23 – Paul told the Athenians he would proclaim to them the God they did not know. He proceeded to tell the people about the character and works of God. He taught them:
Verse 24 – God made the world and everything in it and is Lord of heaven and earth.
Verses 25,28 – He gives to all life, breath, and all things … for in Him we live and move and have our being. So God is alive (unlike the idols) and is the Giver of all life: all life comes ultimately from Him. Furthermore, everything we need to sustain life comes from God.
Verse 29 – We ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone. We are God’s offspring, so He is the origin of living, intelligent beings. Idols cannot be God.
Verse 31 – Someday He will judge the world, so we should all repent of our sins (verse 30).
Jeremiah 9:24 – “But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the style='text-transform:uppercase'>Lord. God is loving and merciful, just and righteous.
People think about what interests them: sports, jobs, cars, food/recipes/restaurants. We appreciate many things more when we understand them better.
Studying Scripture teaches us the character of God to give us reason to praise God and love and appreciate Him for all His great qualities and His blessings to us.
(1 John 4:8; Judges 2:10; Job 21:14)
Understand and Value the Life and Teaching of Jesus.
John 1:18 – No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. People may wonder how to know God when you cannot see Him. Jesus said you know the Father by observing and listening to Jesus.
Matthew 11:27 – All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. To know God, we must know what Jesus reveals about Him. You can really know God only through Jesus, not through Muhammed, Buddha, etc.
John 14:6-10 – Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him … He who has seen Me has seen the Father … I am in the Father, and the Father in Me….
We know God better as we come to understand better His character and works. We understand Him through learning Bible passages that describe Him and through learning about His Son Jesus whose life illustrated the character of God. The more you study the life of Jesus, the better you know Him and thereby know God.
(1 John 5:20; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; John 8:19; 10:14,15,27,30,38; 12:45)
Importance of Obedience
Knowing someone also involves how you act toward them. As a young man and woman get to know one another, as they know one another better, it is reflected in how they act toward one another. Likewise, how well you know God is reflected in how you act; especially this requires obeying Him as the Ruler of the Universe.
1 Chronicles 28:9 – David told his son Solomon: “Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the style='text-transform: uppercase'>Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” Truly knowing God requires serving Him willingly.
John 10:14,15,27 – Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. … My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Shepherds develop a personal relationship with each sheep. They know each sheep, and each sheep knows the shepherd’s voice and follows it. Jesus said this illustrates his relationship with us. We have a personal relationship with Him in which we know one another and we follow Him.
Titus 1:16 – They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Those who claim to know God but do not obey Him are actually denying Him by their works. So truly knowing God requires obedience.
1 John 2:3,4 – Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. We show by our conduct whether or not we truly know God. To really know him requires an obedient life. If we do not obey, then we do not really know Him no matter what we may say.
Acts 17:30,31 – God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.
Paul taught the Athenians the importance of obedience by warning them that everyone will be judged for their lives, so they must repent. That is, they must change their minds about living in sin and determine to serve God obediently.
(Hosea 4:1; John 8:55; 1 Samuel 2:12; Jeremiah 2:8; 4:22; 9:3; 22:16; Romans 1:19-22,28; Philippians 3:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:5;1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 15:34)
Conclusion
Many people think they know God because of how they feel. “I just feel so close to God in my heart.” Not all feelings are wrong, but they are unreliable and misleading. Knowing God is not primarily a matter of emotions or feelings. We do not really know God unless we understand and believe what the Bible says about God.
On the other hand, knowing God is not just a matter of understanding some facts about God. We must honor and glorify God: value and respect His character and works so that we determine to devote our lives to God’s service with faith and obedience. Then we grow in knowing God as the living, divine, all-wise, all-powerful Creator and Ruler of the Universe who loves us, seeks our wellbeing, and willingly sacrificed His own Son so we can be with them forever in eternity.
So, how well do you really know God? Have you become one of His children? Are you living a life of faith and obedience, studying His word, and giving your life to His service?
(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 2025; gospelway.com
