You can’t have God and not have Jesus Christ. Christianity makes the radical claim, and represents the remarkable reality, that through Jesus Christ, and by his Spirit, we know and enjoy the true God. Even in the ministry of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13; 1 Timothy 2:7), the stigma held. Jesus and God are one, as Jesus said in John 14:10 that He and The Father are the same. © 2001-2002 Josh McDowell MinistryJosh McDowell Ministry, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400, Plano, TX 75075, USATel: +1 972 907 1000 www.josh.org. In a friendship you spend time with the other person, and you have vulnerable conversations. “Do not be like [the Gentiles], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). It brings the lost man face to face with His need to be reconciled to this Holy God, and shows how that can take place only by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, It gives peace of mind and it enables joy unlimited. This book puts you through the need to know the Importance of God's Word, the Power of God's Word, the Benefit of the Word of God and the need to apply God's Word into your daily life. He does not empty them to fill himself. David Mathis is executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at. Sign up to our monthly email to get the latest resources to help you grow as a thinking Christian delivered straight to your inbox. Wright's, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament is the vehicle that transports the reader to a deeper understanding of God's ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. God’s word did indeed come true. Found insideComplete your experience with The Power of Knowing God DVD The Power of Knowing God Interactive Workbook In fact, it is the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ. To understand why this is so, we must go back to the beginning. Apart from special revelation from God himself, in his word, and in his Son, natural people assume we need to secure or earn God’s attention with “many words” — by heaping up pious sounding phrases. Just as we rightly Believe in God , we should believe also in [Him] (14:1). View all resources by Josh McDowell Ministry, The message / idea, that it is intolerant if you actually think that a particular view might be true and that all views should be equally…. His death illustrates the fact that there is no other way. 16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Six out of seven uses of this verb in the New Testament are on the lips of Jesus. Therefore, if someone does not know God, it is his own fault, not God’s. Jesus paints a vastly different picture of his Father, who “knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Instead of trying to reach God, he tells us how we can begin a relationship with him right now. Please be in my life from this day forward and I will serve you with all that I have left. As I said in the previous article, we need to remember that we do not have exhaustive knowledge about God and must not forget his otherness when talking about him. God spoke specially to his chosen people, the Jews. If we want to know what God is like, then we need to come to Jesus as the one who is fully God and therefore who reveals God to us. When Jesus prayed in John 17:3, He stated that eternal life is knowing the one true God and the Son whom He sent. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Discover the riches of the character of God in this special devotional format of J. I. Packer's classic that reveals the wonder, glory and joy of knowing God. © 2021 UCCF: The Christian Unions, Registered Charity number 306137 (England & Wales) and SC038499 (Scotland). I think this is helpful, Dave. Knowing God (eternal life) is something we can have right now (John 3:36). Therefore, no other religion or religious leader can bring someone to the knowledge of the one true God. You get to know Jesus through His Word, His works, prayer and even other believers. A study of God's attributes and their relevance to daily living. Found insideThe Gospels tell us clearly that Jesus himself, along with his earliest followers, understood who he was and what he came to do in the light of the story of Israel as told in the pages of the Old Testament. Yet at every turn in our journey to final glory, knowing him makes all the difference. Whether you pray through this book word for word, or use each prayer as a springboard for your own dialogue with God, you will… experience Him spiritually, emotionally, and personally recognize His handiwork in the world that surrounds ... “At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view,” wrote the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:16. Rather, in his fullness, he empties himself, without abdicating his lordship, for the good of his followers. That doesn’t start when we go to heaven. I know that God is my Father. First of all we need to remember that The Triune God is a someone not a something. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament uncovers Jesus' self-understanding as Son of Man and Son of God from his deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. Look at the birds, how he feeds them. This resource is reproduced here by the kind permission of Josh McDowell Ministry. At bottom, the issue is not ethnicity, but knowing God. One of Jesus’s most famous teachings is his startling call to enemy love. Found insideThis book will be treasured by anyone committed to the Christian faith. It bears eloquent witness to God's majesty and shows us new ways to experience and understand the wonder and the power of God's spirit in our daily lives. “How differently we know him now!” There’s another key way to know Jesus—and that’s through obedience. (Matthew 20:25–28). We automatically seek Him out (read His Word) and rely on Him to help us when we ask – and sometimes, even when we don’t (faith). Natural leadership lords it over those in our charge. His message must be not only timeless but timely. He must speak to his own generation. Tozer skillfully outlines the Attributes of God to draw his readers closer to God. Again, in John 14, Jesus himself says these words: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The book in your hands is not an instruction manual on the methods of fasting or on how to pray. Rather, Dr. Elmer Towns describes the spirit of fasting that leads to an intimate knowing of Jesus Christ. So, we have Gentile love. If we want to know what God is like, then we need to come to Jesus as the one who is fully God and therefore who reveals God to us. Christopher J.H. If you want to know God, He is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. There is a legitimate sense in which every believer has come to know God. Jesus calls his people, who know his Father, to rise above the base concerns of natural people to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), banking on their Father’s help and concern. Gentiles seek the things of earth without an eye to heaven. We are merely relating His claim, and the claim of the writers of the New Testament. And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Jesus was clear, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father except through me.” 7. John 1:18 says Jesus Christ “has made Him [God] known.” If Jesus made Him known, then obviously He can be known. There is no requirement to begin this journey besides accepting and … Never again will I confess "I can't" for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Maybe most revealing of all, Paul writes to believers “that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:4–5). How will our love, our prayers, our anxieties, and our leadership be different from the course of this world when we know Jesus? But against our natural instincts, and through the grace of God’s word and Spirit, Jesus calls us not to Gentile love (Matthew 5:47), not to Gentile prayer (6:7), not to Gentile fears (6:32), and not to Gentile leadership (20:25; also Mark 10:42; Luke 22:25). Will I ever just be normal again? She set out to search for answers. When she began, she assumed the Bible was little more than a storybook. But she finally became convinced that this Book speaks the voice of God Himself. If mankind could have reached God any other way, then Jesus would not have had to die. Christopher J.H. In The Covenant Maker you will: Gain a richer knowledge of who God is, how you enter into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, and how God views marriage in light of covenant. The first point to make is that we did not invent the claim that Jesus is the only way. Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Until the coming of Christ, Gentiles (non-Jews) were, by and large, merely natural, worldly persons, born under sin and still under sin, “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Living Books, 1980.Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. He does not surrender his authority but wields it for the good of those in his charge, not for selfish ends. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Join Ben in this second book as he discovers how to know God by exploring the life of Jesus. Learn about prayer, how faith works, what it means to be a light, how to find God's path for your life, Jesus' existence in history, and much more! Today on Radio; we can only know God as Jesus reveals Him to us. Calvin compared this to a parent lisping to their child. pray). 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.[3]. He Is the Only Way to God “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’” (John 14:6). Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Jesus makes it clear that He alone is the way to heaven and to a personal knowledge of God: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). John Piper, in the sermon series “Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ”, comments on Like 22. What could be more important than knowing our all-surpassing God? These five easy-to-use studies, based on J. I. Packer's bestselling classic Knowing God, explore the character and actions of God throughout Scripture. A look at some of the key Bible verses about the justice of God and the fate of those who have never heard of Jesus. And I know Jesus is continually clearly foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament. Just sentences later, Jesus casts a radical new vision for prayer, unlike the way a natural person prays. I think God’s thoughts after him, I say God’s words after him and so I use the language to talk about God and to talk to God that he gives me. Found insidethrough which Jesus had to reveal who he was and claim himself to be the completion of the feast. ... One who rejects the revelation through Jesus Christ cannot possibly know God, since knowing God is provided only through Jesus and his ... God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. Which is the same as tax-collector love. Found insideAfter exploring the identity and mission of Jesus in the light of the Scriptures he knew so well – our Old Testament, the book goes on to see how God reveals himself as Father in the same Scriptures, and works powerfully through his ... It shall not be so among you. Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. In short, he calls us to live like we know God. The point is clear here. People often ask the question “Don’t all religions point to the same God?” or “What’s so special about Jesus? The psalm calls us, as God’s children, to remember who He is, what He has done and who we are in Jesus. Christians will pray differently than those who can only speculate what God is really like. Please consider supporting Reasons for Hope*Jesus Psalm 103 is a psalm of remembering, written by King David. Knowing God is eternal life. When we know God personally, we naturally start telling Him stuff (i.e. It also means that the direction of travel in the language is from God to us and not vice versa. And there are no better prayer mentors than the men and women of the Bible who talked with God and touched His heart. Join bestselling author Jim George as he shares the keys to meaningful communion with God. In general, this is a powerful chapter for understanding the context of the dynamic between Jesus and his Father, but more specifically, it gives some highlights for how we can understand Jesus' mission and what it means to be a member of God's family. The gospel of John is different from the other three gospels. In response to that article, Daniel Blanche made these provocative remarks. To understand why this is so, we must go back to the beginning. As the Jesus who fulfilled the mission that God had given to Israel is revealed, we discover that the more we understand the Old Testament, the closer we come to the heart of Jesus. The Twelve Disciples - The Life and Ministry of Jesus' 12 Disciples If you do not desire to know Him through reading of His Word you are taking a chance of loosing eternal life. Two kinds of people populate our world: those who know God in Christ, and those who do not. But the story doesn’t end at the cross and with Jesus’ death. Meanwhile, the Gentiles, with rare exceptions, did not hear from or know the true God. Talking regularly is an important part of a relationship. The point is clear here. However, if we know God as Father, we know how he cares for his creatures and, all the more, his image-bearers. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). (Matthew 5:46–47). Gentile leadership exercises authority without self-giving service. God wants people to know … He is unchanging throughout the Bible, the one consistency we have in an inconsistent world. Knowing God through His Names will draw you near to the heart of God the Father while unveiling the connection to Jesus the Son. Found insideExamining all of Jesus’s prayers recorded in the New Testament, this book reflects on the content and structure of the Son of God’s words to his Father— helping us imitate his example as we commune with our heavenly Father as adopted ... In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus points to “the Gentiles” as those who do not know God. At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. No Gentile, no matter how far off he once was, is beyond Christ’s reach. We’re on a mission to change that. The final destination is the understanding that: Well, yes, I think there is a fair challenge to be answered here. Given enough time, the tree will bear fruit, or not. This means that it is exactly because Jesus is The Son that we know that we can approach God as Father. Love that doesn’t have its immediate reward in this life, but waits patiently for the heavenly reward. If you appreciate the resources brought to you by bethinking.org, please consider a gift to help keep this website running. Because of Christ's cross and resurrection, we can truly know God. Man and woman were placed in a perfect environment, with all their needs taken care of. “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Look at the lilies, how he clothes them. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament uncovers Jesus' self-understanding as Son of Man and Son of God from his deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus Christ Is God Jesus is eternal and one with the Father. Even Gentiles love their friends. Even Gentiles greet those who greet them. God’s transforming grace means there is great hope for Gentiles. More than a tract, Finding God in the Bible is a short Bible study that explains the plan of salvation and invites people to a personal relationship with Jesus. Knowing God ourselves bridges this gap that so many of us tend to envision in our minds as an impassable abyss. The most spectacular sin that has ever been committed in the history of the world is the brutal murder of Jesus Christ, the morally perfect, infinitely worthy, divine Son of God. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Teaching from John 17, Pastor Tim Chaddick briefly explains. John 14:6 ESV / 50 helpful votes. The greatest answer to life is knowing Him, as our Lord Jesus Christ prayed on the final night of His earthly life: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” You can know more about God than you do, and you can be closer to Him than you are. Jesus calls his men to another vision, the very vision of supernatural leadership he is living out as he walks toward the cross. Related Videos. It is filled with conversations, people, and incidents in the life of Christ that do not appear in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John’s Gospel was written so that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31). This means it is so important that we don’t think in terms of the true God as hiding behind the revelation in Scripture and the incarnation as a kind of cosmic puppet master. Enemy love is what our Father has shown to us (Romans 5:8, 10), and it is what will show the world that we are “sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). However, it is also worth recalling three other things. The word “know” is used in Scripture to describe the relationship between a man and his wife that produces a … It’s not that God is a father or that God loves a bit like human fathers, rather, human fathers love their kids a bit like God does. It is as we look to the relationship between the Father and the Son that we know what the words “father” and “son” truly mean. The negative references to Gentiles in the Gospels soon erupt into magnificent hope for the Gentiles in Acts and Romans, in the great “turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). To understand why this is so, we must go back to the beginning. Knowing Christ is a book calculated to enrich our twenty-first-century souls, and one that it is an honour to introduce. Through His Word, He also shows that our desire should be for Him. This is an audacious request, more so than she even knows. Paul wrote that Christ crucified was “folly to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23) and charged his converts to “no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Ephesians 4:17). Jesus calls his people to be distinct from the world, its patterns, and what’s natural. In fact, it is the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ. This book was especially written by Patricia St John for all young people who want to learn about God and get to know Him for themselves. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f] who is at the Father’s side,[g] he has made him known.[1]. Jesus said the same thing when He prayed, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). The final destination is the understanding that: At a time when popular atheism books are talking about the irrationality of believing in God, Willard makes a rigorous intellectual case for why it makes sense to believe in God and in Jesus, the Son. Hear God through illumined Scripture: Knowing God through the Bible is a vital foundation to hearing His voice in your heart, so you must have a solid commitment to knowing and obeying God’s written Word. This is a kind of footnote to my article that looked at what we can say about The Trinity and what we can learn from the Trinity. However, God promised to restore all of these things and gave His word that He would send a Savior, a Messiah, who would deliver the entire creation from the bondage of sin (Genesis 3:15). An infinite-personal God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and a man in … 1:8). Why is he the only way?”. Many do not trust and treasure Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ANd Jesus is my Lord and Savior. You see, this is what Scripture tells us about The Son. No one comes to the Father except through me. Love that transcends the expectations of this world, defying natural explanation, so that it eventually will be said of us that something is different about us. Christians are often accused of being narrow-minded because we assert there is no other way to get to God than through Jesus Christ. ” as those who know God three other things born only once ; others have been again. 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