Devotionals: Knowing God Archives - Page 2 of 3

Knowing God through Jesus

By Andrew YoungJuly 9, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“But as for this knowledge of the one, true God, we, like children, must let Christ give it to us.” Herman Bavinck Bible Reading: So far in this series of devotionals, we have seen that many Christians today hunger for a deeper knowledge of God. People yearn to have a sense of being personally acquainted with God, to have personal dealings with him much as one person has with another. How are we to get that knowledge? That is the point we have reached in our study, and an all-important point. It won’t help us simply to know more about […]

Why the Prejudice?

By Andrew YoungJuly 8, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“[There is] much prejudice against any attempt to reemphasize the experiential side of Christianity.” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: Romans 8:12-17 Why is it that so many people are wary of the subjective, or experiential side of knowing God? J.I. Packer offers a number of reasons. One is the fear that it borders on the mysticism of Eastern religions. Packer writes, It seems clear that the realised communion with God of which I am speaking is commonly equated with the so-called mysticism of Hindu holy men, who are pantheists, and for whom accordingly, the transcending and abolishing of conscious selfhood… is […]

Experiential Knowledge

By Andrew YoungJuly 7, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“In illumination, the Spirit… enlightens the mind…” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 The fact that God sends the Holy Spirit to live within us, and that the Spirit works upon our minds and hearts, makes it possible for us to know God in what is sometimes described as an experiential way. That is to say, we can actually know God by experiencing his work within us. One of the ways the Holy Spirit acts upon us is to enable us to see spiritual realities that we are otherwise blind to. Theologians speak of this as the Spirit’s work […]

The Holy Spirit’s Role

By Andrew YoungJuly 6, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“The Spirit makes known the personal presence… of the risen, reigning Saviour…” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: John 16:5-16 While there is much more that could be said about knowing God through knowing Jesus, I am conscious that it could easily lead us to become “bogged down” and lose track of where we are going in this series. So let me stick with my original intent – sharing notes on the subject of knowing God that I have gleaned over the years especially from J.I. Packer and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. We have seen that since the coming of Christ into the world, […]

Knowing Jesus

By Andrew YoungJuly 5, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“Knowing Jesus Christ still remains as definite relationship of personal discipleship as it was for the twelve when he was on earth.” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: John 14:1-8 In our last devotional, we began to reflect on what we might call a distinctively Christian knowledge of God – that is, a knowledge of God that is based on God’s revelation of himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Looking at the notes I have before me, compiled over many years, I see a long quotation from Herman Bavinck on God revealing himself to us in his Christ. However, […]

Our Triune God

By Andrew YoungJuly 4, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“[Our] knowledge of God has become knowledge of Father, Son and Spirit…” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22 So far in our study of what it means to know God, we have been thinking of God as the one true Being. And it is proper that we should begin in this way. However, in the course of salvation history, God has revealed that he exists as three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And it is clear from the New Testament in particular, that it is possible – and indeed necessary – for us to have communion with each […]

Communion with God

By Andrew YoungJuly 3, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“Our communion with God consists of his communication of himself unto us and our returns unto him…” John Owen Bible Reading: Psalm 84 The knowledge of God which we have been considering – a knowledge which is real, personal and practical – is sometimes spoken of as communion with God. That is to say, it is a knowledge in which there is a real communication of life, love and grace between God and ourselves. Often we think of communing with God as the same thing as prayer. “What have you been doing?” someone might ask when they interrupt us praying. […]

More than Just the Mind

By Andrew YoungJuly 2, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“[Knowing God] is a matter of personal involvement, in mind, will and feeling.” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: Psalm 73:25, 26 People like J.I. Packer who have thought deeply about what it means to know God stress that it is something that involves our whole person. It is not just our minds that are involved, but our affections (feelings) and will as well. Packer likens the relationship we have with God to that which friends have with each other. Friends, he says, commit themselves to one another, and to a deep interest in each other’s affairs. [Friends] have identified themselves with, […]

Personal, Practical Dealings

By Andrew YoungJuly 1, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“Knowing God is a matter of personal dealing, as is all direct acquaintance with personal beings.” J.I. Packer Bible Reading: 1 John 2:3-8 Few books dealing with what it means to know God have been as helpful to Christians as J.I. Packer’s Knowing God. In its opening pages, Packer stresses that knowing God is not the same as knowing about him. This is how he describes what it means to know God: [Knowing God] is a matter of personal dealing, as is all direct acquaintance with personal beings. Knowing God is more than knowing about him; it is a matter […]

“Awake… O Lord”

By Andrew YoungJune 30, 2017Devotionals: Knowing God

“Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?” (Psalm 44:23) Bible Reading: Psalm 44:1-26 We have been considering in the last two devotionals how real and personal God was to both Old and New Testament Bible characters. He wasn’t an abstract concept to them, but an intensely real and living being – more real to them than the visible world in which they lived. Furthermore, he was deeply involved in the daily circumstances of their lives. This idea was highlighted in another of the evening devotional readings I recently enjoyed with my friends in Singapore. On this particular night, my host […]