We Can Know God

This is the first part of the section in Berkhof entitled The Being of God.  In our age, an age saturated with a rationalistic and relativistic worldview, it is not uncommon to hear many different definitions of God.   We often ask (at least ourselves) "Who is God?" "What is He like?" "How can I know Him?"  The answers to these questions are vitally important, and must not become diluted in the pool of subjective conjectures.

The Knowledge of God.  While we can never fully comprehend God, we can have a partial knowledge of Him that is both real and true.  This is possible only because God has chosen to reveal Himself.  If man were left to his own resources and abilities, he would never have been able to discover or to know God.  The fact that we can know God is a gracious gift.  As sinners, we do not deserve it.

Everyone Knows God.  Everyone has a knowledge of God that is very general in nature.   According to Romans 1, everyone knows of His invisible attributes - His eternal power and divine nature - having been clearly perceived by them in the things which have been made (vv.18-21).   While this "general" knowledge is enough to leave one without an excuse, it is not enough to save.  It destroys the myth of the "neutral ground" and actively places every person in a relational category.  We are either a covenant-keeper or a covenant-breaker.

For many, this is a hard pill to swallow.  We typically don't like to learn of our guilt; but would rather stay in a state of rational limbo saying, "What I don't know won't kill me."  Well...yes, it will.  That's why we must embrace the wealth of redemptive knowledge found in the Scriptures.

We Must Come To Know God in Christ, Through the Scriptures.  Only the sacramental cup of Christ enables us to swallow the jagged pill of our sin, shame and guilt.  The Scriptures tell us that God created everything, that man fell into sin, and that God is on a relentless mission to rescue man from his sinful plight.  The Scriptures are about Christ, the redemptive "He" found in Gen 3:15, the great prophet who is to come (Deut 18), the priest who is both the King of Righteousness and of Peace (Gen 14:17-24), the King who will forever occupy the Throne of God's kingdom (Num 24:17; Ps 89).  The Word is alive.  When it is read, Christ is speaking.

Christ Exegetes the Father.  In short, we cannot see God because He is Spirit.  And because we are so confessedly empirical, we conclude that God cannot be known at all.  The Scriptures, however, tell us otherwise.  We can know God.  While we cannot see Him, Christ has made Him known.  As we learn about Christ, we learn about God.  As we hear the words of Christ, we hear the very words of God.  Christ, the God-Man, the Son of God, is the mystery, which was hidden for ages, but has now been revealed to His saints (Col 1:26).

This simplifies things a bit doesn't it?  If we really want to know about God, we must come face to face with the Lord Christ Himself.  If we desire to remain ignorant, we need only to look the other way.  But even there, you see what He has made.  That's why looking the other way is not ignorance, but rebellion.