Is It Possible to Know God?
Some believe that God is a being who is completely unknowable, distant and aloof; He created the world, got everything started, but now is like an absentee father. Others believe that God is around us and in us; He’s an energy or essence in all things, and equally unknowable.
If you are reading this, it’s probably because you want to know: is it possible to know God, and can I have a relationship with God? The Good News is that you can have a relationship with God, and he wants to have a relationship with you.
In Psalm 139, the author describes God pursuing a relationship with us. They write,
God wants to have a relationship with you. In fact, He thinks of you so often that if you counted the times He thinks of you each day, they would outnumber all the grains of sand in the world (Psalm 139:17-18). That’s a lot of thoughts!
God wants to have a relationship with you; he wants you to know him.
What Separates Us From God
The problem is that the mistakes we’ve made, the wrong things we’ve done, and the hurt we’ve caused others—in other words, the sin in our lives—separate us from God. Just as lying to a friend breaks trust, sin in your life and mine breaks our relationship, our connection with God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.”
All of us experience this break in relationship with God. Romans 3:23 says, “Everyone has sinned,” and there is nothing we can do to restore that relationship.
What God Has Done
Thankfully, God does not leave us on our own; he wants to have a relationship with us. Romans 5:8 says that “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Through Jesus, our broken relationship with God is made right. Romans 5:10 and 11 say that Jesus’ death and resurrection restored our relationship with God.
Jesus, who is fully God and fully human, gave his life as the payment for our sin. Because sin always costs, and the payment for sin is always death, Romans 6:23 says Jesus pays the price for our mistakes, our wrongs, and the hurts we caused. Jesus pays the price so that we can know God—this is the free gift that God gives to every one of us.
Like every gift, it must be received. The gift of connection with God and the life he envisions for us is a gift, but if we don’t receive it, we remain cut off. So how do we receive this free gift?
How to Receive the Gift
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (ESV).
This act of believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth unites us with Jesus. Romans 6 describes it as being united with him in his death so that we can be raised to new life. The author writes, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin… So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6, 11).
Believe, Confess and Live
So, to know God, here’s what you need to do: Believe, Confess, and Live.
First, believe. Believe that Jesus is God and that he paid the price for your sin by dying on the cross. Believe it in your mind, in your heart, and in your soul. Let that belief begin to change how you think and act.
Second, confess. To confess is to articulate what you believe, to speak it out loud. The first step in confessing is to offer a simple prayer to God, acknowledging what you believe. It’s a prayer like this:
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says that if you prayed that prayer with me, then the old is gone and the new has come, and you have been reconciled with God. You have a new relationship with God and a new life to live, and that’s the third step in knowing God. Live.
Begin living the new life you received and experiencing your new relationship with God.
One word you will often hear when it comes to faith is repent. Repent means changing the way you think and act. Having a new relationship with God means doing things that grow that relationship. You need to get to know him. Living a new life means embracing thoughts and actions that build a relationship with God and others, instead of choosing thoughts, words, or actions that break it. Being a Christian means having healthy relationships with God and the people around you.
Just as you build friendships with the people around you by spending time with them, you need to get to know God by spending time with him. We do this through prayer, by reading the Bible and by connecting with others who are living in relationship with him. We’d love to help you do these things.
We’d Love to Talk With You
We’d love to help you live in this new relationship and new life. If you prayed that prayer or would just like to talk with someone about what you’ve heard, email us at Email the office.
May the knowledge that you can know God fill you with joy today and begin to shape the rest of your life.