25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.”
Certainly, the precious and dear knowledge we have of the Almighty is one of the foundations of our Christian faith. Yet, there remain so few subjects we know as amazingly little about than the glorious attributes and character of God the Father. It is no wonder we are told by Jesus in Matthew:
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matt 11:27 (NIV)
Our Lord also teaches us the following Truth earlier in John – Jesus came to make God known to man:
18 “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.” John 1:18 (NIV)
Indeed, in His great High Priestly Prayer Jesus tells us that to know God the Father and God the Son is the very essence of eternal life:
3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (NIV)
The world is woefully short of those who possess a greater depth of the Almighty. Our Lord Jesus has promised a broader illumination of God the Father by means of God the Spirit to all who would earnestly seek Him and we must continue to pray towards that end. The perfect fruition of knowledge is reserved for heaven yet Jesus tells us we can avail ourselves of much of it in the here and now. We must continue to fervently petition for this wisdom as Scripture gives a strong “Woe” to all whom are merely wise in their own eyes. Those who unwisely fill in their descriptions of God – defining Him by their own delusions and bias’ – and continually refuse to rely on God’s power to open their eyes of understanding and thereby come to a sound knowledge of the Truth:
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Isaiah 5:21 (NIV)
James tells us where wisdom is to be discovered – assistance is always readily available by our giving God – it is just a believing prayer away. God always gives generously, not grudgingly. Unbelief receives nothing yet faith opens all the treasures of God and will never go away empty:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:5-8 (NIV)
Prayer and God’s Word - illuminated by the precious Holy Spirit are fundamental in our growing deeper still. Our goal as believers is to be intimately acquainted with God – His character, His attributes and His ways. The more we receive the more we are enlightened to see how much we are still wanting in this area. He is measureless yet it is His delight for us to dig and discover more and more of the “depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God”. The Holy Spirit will illuminate the greatest and deepest Truths in the simplest terms.
Our God is about relationship. He is a “with us” God and a relationship is always two sided. Remember how He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day? And after the fall He calls to the man “Where are you” – (as if He did not know). Man’s sin had separated the relationship – he was hiding from God because of it and God desired for it to be restored. Initially, God temporarily covered their sin with the skin of an animal then later permanently by covering man’s sin with the blood of His Son to all who would believe in Him. God has gone to the greatest lengths and deepest depths for restoration and reconciliation of relationship with us. e H This is certainly not something inconsequential to Him. Yet sadly many turn a deaf ear and willingly embrace their own ruin. We must be ever conscience of the higher glory and the larger life.
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)