Answering a fundamental question: “Who is God?”

Pharaoh responded to Moses with a question that makes perfectly good sense, “Who is Jehovah that I should obey his voice? I don’t know this God Jehovah.” The ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered as gods. They were absolute monarchs of what was probably the most powerful nation on Earth. They exercised the right of life or death over everyone in their realm and were accustomed to having their every decree obeyed promptly and without question.

That question is still being asked today, “Who is God that I should listen to His voice?” Many people think that they are gods – that they are in total control of their lives.

It is the most important question you will ever answer because it will determine the outcome of your life. If God created the heavens and the earth, we most certainly should want to know Him and listen to His voice.

Understanding who God is has the potential to completely shift your life, your beliefs, and the way you view yourself and the world.

When we speak of knowing God, it is important to understand that we are not talking about abstract or speculative thought concerning God or mystical experiences but about coming alive to God through Jesus Christ and surrendering ourselves to Him in grateful love (Rom. 12:1). As John says, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).

Can finite man know the infinite God?

The incomprehensibility of God could lead to despair or apathy in the quest to know God, but the Bible also teaches that God is knowable. While God can never be exhaustively understood, he can be known truly, personally, and sufficiently. God is personal, has definite characteristics, and has personally revealed himself so that he can be truly known.

God revealed a lot about himself in the Bible. Yet, because we are human, there is a lot we cannot understand about God because He lives outside of the natural world. For a person to know God completely in this life is like an ant learning arithmetic. It’s just not possible.

But this where God made it possible by sending His Son Jesus into the world so that we can know God. By knowing Jesus we know God. When we know God the miracle at the heart of the Christian Gospel begins in our lives.

Knowing who God is leads us to worship and obedience. Until Pharoah found the answer to his question “Who Is God,” he was not in a position to obey God and let His people go. God then demonstrates through the different plagues who He really is, by showing Him His supremacy over the Egyptian gods.

Similarly, even in our own lives our understanding of who God is will reveal our obedience and worship of Him.

Is your God too small?

Application Question:

God can work through our pain to show us things about ourselves and about Himself. What’s one thing you want to learn about God in this situation? What’s one thing He might be teaching you about yourself?

Quote:

Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord. - J. I. Packer

Prayer:

Lord, to know that You are aware of what is happening, gives me immense peace. Help me to hold on to you even this day. Amen