Do you know the only true God? The answer to this question is all that will matter in the end. To know God changes us and ultimately results in our salvation. Our Lord said in His prayer to the Father, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Jn. 17:3). Contrariwise, to not know God is to be lost. When the Lord is revealed from heaven, punishment will come to those who “know not God” (2 Thess. 1:7-8).

Hosea declared how God’s people under the Mosaic covenant were destroyed for a lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6). In context, this was more than merely an intellectual understanding of His existence; they had rejected Him and refused to acknowledge Him in the way they lived. We should acknowledge the Lord in all our ways (Prov. 3:6). We can know that we know God by keeping His commandments (1 Jn. 2:3). While Israel of old may have in large part become estranged from God, His prophets foretold of a time when the earth would be filled with the knowledge of His glory (Hab. 2:14).

Now, in the new covenant of Christ, each one of His people know Him (Heb. 8:11; Jer. 31:34). To know God is to be in a covenant with Him. Many first-century Gentiles turned from their idols and false gods to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9-10). The universe God created teems with evidence that points to Him. Those who preached to Gentiles in the first century pointed to creation as they introduced God (Acts 14).

God is not an impersonal entity. The personal relationship He desires to have with us is described as a loving father (Deut. 1:31; Psa. 103:13; Heb. 12:5-11), or a jealous husband (Ex. 20:5; 34:14; Ezek. 16:8-19; Hos. 1:2; 3:1-5; Eph. 5:23; Rev. 21:2, 9). Yet, while He desires interaction with us (Acts 17:27), His nature is transcendent (Isa. 55:8, 9). God is not beset by human frailties as false gods created in the minds of men. The gods made in man’s image act like immature children who get their feelings hurt. Greek mythology is filled with tales of gods who behave like characters in a soap opera. They are like souped-up humans, capricious in character. Contrariwise, the only true God does not change (Mal. 3:6). There is no variation with the Father (Jas. 1:17). Jesus Christ is ever faithful (2 Tim. 2:13), the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

The only true God is distinct from gods in other religions in that He entered into human suffering. Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh (Jn. 1:14). He experienced sickness, hunger, thirst, sleepless nights, betrayal, distress, pain and death. Jesus has declared the unseen God (Jn. 1:18). To truly see Jesus is to come to know and see the Father (Jn. 6:45-47; 14:9), for the Son and the Father are one (Jn. 10:30; 17:11, 21). This is what the prayer of Jesus was in John 17:3, that men would come to believe and know the only true God and have eternal life. God has revealed Himself and given sufficient evidence for us to believe and know Him through Jesus Christ and have eternal life (Jn. 20:30-31). Do you know God?

-Mark Day