Knowing God: Experience & Love Him

Paul J. Bucknell

Knowing God | Transcent vs. Immanent | Bible Says | Can I Know God? | How can I? 1 | How can i? 2-4 | What changes? | Reflections

Knowing God: Handout pdf | Study Questions | Video
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Knowing God Series Index

Series Introduction| Knowing God | The Revelatory God | Goodness of God | Holiness of God | Power of God | Omnipresent God | Exalted God | Faithfuness of God | Wisdom of God | Mercy of God |Wrath of God | Love of God | Sovereignty of God | Providence of God

Knowing God (1 John 1:3-4)

Meditations on Genuine Change

Purpose: Reflections and meditations form the conclusion to this first section on Knowing God from 1 John 1:3-4.

Worship

Worship must wade beyond admiration into personal devotion. A beautiful sunset stuns us with its glory and yet God is drawing us further along. As He reveals his ways, He is at the same time displaying His beauty and glory so that our hearts be drawn to adore Him.

Obedience

Observing moral laws does protect and benefit societies, families and individuals. But there is much more significance of the moral law implanted in us. There is that inward inclination and reminder of obligation to carry out such Laws.

God has established them within us so that we might pay close attention to such things and respond to Him by loving Him with all our hearts, might and being. Obedience, like a temperature gauge, enables us to know how enthralled we are with knowing Him.

Relationship

Our lives are centered around God – His person, desires and purpose. We are careful to listen as He faithfully coaches us in what is good and lovely. Absent is the picture of a general, coldly pushing his soldiers about as pebbles on the ground. God values not only what we do, but how we do those things with Him so that we can delight in His ways with us.

Summary

It is totally inadequate if we only deal with the more metaphysical questions on whether one can know God and never reach the place where you can say, “I know God!” and that one’s inherited curse of death is completely dealt with by belief in Christ on the cross.



• Man is able to know God because he is made in the image of God.

• Man is to share God’s holiness (1 Peter 1:14-16) (This is a communicable trait that both God and man can share.)

• Man should fundamentally seek the Lord as his main purpose of life - know and love God as it is the most basic level of confidence in life.

• It is crucial to differentiate religion from a personal relationship with God so that we can share the Gospel of Christ with others rather than thinking their religion be adequate to save them.

• Every aspect of our lives is touched by the majesty and power of God. There is no way to escape His presence. We are made in God’s image. He lives in us (Acts 17:24-28). We live to accomplish His purposes, whether we like it or not.

Next => Study questions for Knowing God, chapter 1.

Biblical Foundations for Freedom ( BFF )

Rev. Paul J. Bucknell