Our Knowledge of God
To grow spiritually, we must have an increasing
and deepening knowledge of God--
who He is and what He has done for us.
Here now is Gene Getz:
When Hosea prophesied relative to
the northern tribes, they were doing just
the opposite of what we read
in this Principle.
They did not have a deepening
knowledge of God.
In fact, they didn't retain God in their knowledge.
And right from the very beginning
of chapter 4, verse 1 we read about this.
This is what I've called Hosea's Indictment:
Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel,
for the LORD has a case against
the inhabitants of the land: ...
Now notice this indictment.
It's incredible.
...There is no truth, no faithful love,
and no knowledge of God in the land!
Wow!
That's zero.
That's totally turning from God.
Total unfaithfulness in violating
God's commands.
And we read about the violation
of the commandments of God in verse 2.
It's actually a reiteration of the
commands that they were violating.
The commands that God gave at Mount Sinai.
Notice what we read:
Cursing...
God said don't take the name
of the Lord your God in vain.
...lying, murder, stealing, and adultery
are rampant; ...
These are the words now of Hosea
describing what's going on
in the northern tribes.
...one act of bloodshed follows another.
This is a horrible, horrible situation.
And of course, as you look at all of this,
it really raises a very powerful question:
What can we learn today from this
sad state of affairs in Israel?
Well I think one of the things we can learn
that is so clear, and that is that
when we reject the will of God,
we're heading into deep trouble.
When we walk out of the will of God,
we're heading into deep trouble.
And today unfortunately, there are even people
who call themselves Christians
who deny one of the most basic concepts
in relationship to Christianity.
The concept that makes us unique.
And that is that Jesus Christ is indeed
the Son of God.
That Jesus Christ was God.
In fact, the gospel of John makes that so clear.
We read these words in verse 1:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. ...
And if you go down to verse 14,
we simply read that:
. . . The Word became flesh [God became flesh]
and took up residence among us. ...
Jesus Christ walked the face of the earth.
That was God in human flesh in Jesus Christ.
That's the uniqueness of Christianity
from Genesis to Revelation.
He wasn't just a good man
or a good prophet.
He was God.
. . . The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory, the glory
as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
And as I was reflecting on this,
my mind went back to when
Jesus Christ actually came.
One day He was in Jerusalem
and He was having a very serious
discussion with the Pharisees.
And they were rejecting Him
because He said to them:
Before Abraham was, I Am.
And they knew that He was
claiming to be God.
Because remember when
Moses went back to Egypt?
When he saw and heard God
in the burning bush, he said:
Who should I say sent me?
And God said: Tell them, I Am sent you.
And with that statement, "I Am,"
God was saying: I Am. I Am. I Am.
I was. I am. I will ever be.
And Jesus said: Before Abraham was, I Am.
And they picked up stones to throw at Him
and He made His way out
to the edge of the city.
Met a blind man, a beggar.
Healed him and sent him back into the city.
And the neighbors said: What happened to you?
He said: Well, a man called Jesus did this.
And they said: Where is He?
He said: I don't know.
Because when He came back,
Jesus had disappeared.
So they took him to the Pharisees.
And the Pharisees [asked]: What happened to you?
He said: Well, a man called Jesus.
And they said immediately:
This man is not from God.
He's doing this on the Sabbath day.
And the man said: Well, I don't know
who He is, where He came from,
but He made me see.
And basically they said:
Well what do you think of Him?
And he said: Well I think He's a prophet.
And they cursed him and said we don't believe you.
They called the parents. The parents
verified this was their son.
They said: You're telling a lie.
The parents said: This is our son.
He was born blind.
They turned to him again and they said:
Well what do you think of Him?
And he said: Well if He weren't from God,
He couldn't do this.
And that's when they threw him
out of the temple.
And that's where Jesus found him.
And Jesus said: Do you believe
in the Son of God?
He said: Well who is He?
I think he was saying, "Who is He, Lord?"
because he recognized His voice.
He hadn't seen Him.
And He said: Well, I'm speaking to you.
And he said: Lord, I believe.
And the interesting thing is
that that's a vignette.
John chapter 9 of the whole Gospel of John.
To demonstrate that Jesus Christ
was indeed the Word who became flesh
and dwelt among us.
And it's really fascinating because
he said: a man called Jesus.
Well, Jesus was a man.
But He's more than just a man.
That blind man who could now see said:
Well, I think He was a prophet.
And He was a prophet.
But He was more than a prophet.
And when that blind man eventually said:
Well, I think He's from God.
He's getting close to the truth
because He was from God.
In fact, He was God in human flesh.
And that's when they threw him out.
Rejected him just like Israel of old.
And that's where Jesus met him
and said: I am He.
And he said: Lord, Lord, I believe.
And with that statement he was
acknowledging that Jesus Christ
was who He claimed to be:
Before Abraham was, I Am.
I Am. I Am. I Am.
We say: I was. I am. I hope to be.
Not Jesus. He's eternal:
I Am. I Am. I Am.
And so that's a great truth that is
certainly unique in terms of Christianity.
And tragically, Hosea's words to Israel
are applicable, I believe to many people
who reject who Jesus Christ is.
Here are the actual Words
of God through Hosea in chapter 4:
People without discernment are doomed.
There's only one place of hope.
And that's in Jesus Christ.
And it's a wonderful reality
because of what Jesus said in John 14:6.
Jesus said when the disciples asked Him,
Thomas particularly:
We don't know the way.
How do we know to get there?
When Jesus said: I'm going to go away.
I'll come again to receive you.
He said: We don't know the way and:
Jesus [said Thomas,] "I am the way,
the truth, and the life.
[And] no one comes to the Father
except through Me."
Christianity is unique.
It involves God who became flesh
and dwelt among us.
So here's a question for Reflection and Response:
In what ways can those of us
who profess to be true believers
develop our own intimate knowledge of God?
Think about that question.
And when it comes to answering
that question, I love Paul's prayers.
One prayer that just really to me
jumps off the page in answering this question.
And it's found in Ephesians chapter 3,
beginning in verse 14.
Just listen to these words.
I'm going to personalize them
as I read the prayer:
For this reason, Paul said, I kneel
before the Father from whom
every family in heaven and earth is named.
And basically, to personalize that
we would simply say:
Because of what God's done for me,
I kneel before the Father.
The Father from whom every family
in heaven and earth is named.
I pray that God may grant me,
[personalizing this,]
according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power
in the inner man through His Spirit,
and that [the Messiah] Christ may dwell
in my heart through faith.
He's already there by faith.
But this is talking about my intimate
relationship with Him in my heart.
I pray that I, being rooted
and firmly established in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the length and width, and height
and depth of God's love
By the way, which is immeasurable.
And to know the Messiah's love
that [surpasseth] knowledge,
so I may be filled with all the fullness of God.
And there the word[s] "fullness of God"
refers to God's character.
God's holiness.
Becoming more and more like
Jesus Christ who came.
Who was God in the flesh.
And then I love this great doxology
because I can't do this by myself:
Now to Him who is able to do above
and beyond all that I ask or think,
according to the power
that works in me--or in us.
To Him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.
So let's remember this Principle to Live By
that comes from Hosea:
To grow spiritually, we must have
an increasing and deepening knowledge of God--
who He is and what He has done for us.