Perceiving God

1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

To perceive is to become aware or be conscious of (something); or to come to realize or understand.

If people want to perceive God then what they desire is to know Him. The desire to know Him has been placed in the heart of mankind from his inception.

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Knowing God has been the topic of many great literary works. J.I. Packer wrote on this subject in 1973 but it was not about hermeneutics, but actually knowing God. Packer divided his work into three sections: why we should know God, what God is like, and the benefits of knowing God. Flash forward nearly 50 years and I find myself sitting in a marriage study at my church. As the speaker talks about the purpose of marriage he relays a concept that sounds similar to one I’ve heard before….”If God would be at the center of your marriage, you must remember that the purpose of your marriage is to perceive and portray His glory.” This sounds like something Jesus spoke of when questioned concerning what was the greatest commandment.

Mark 12:29-31 “Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The greatest commandment is linked to another, like the beginning of a story that finishes with a happy ending, the two are inseparably linked. Loving God is demonstrated in loving others but this love is found only in Christ. No one can love(agape) God on their own. To love in a way that is sacrificial is concerned with others above oneself; it originated with Christ and was demonstrated by His life.

The agape love Jesus showed is what is expected within a godly marriage.

The great commandment is a summary of the Moral law—the law that is pure, undefiled, perfect, just, and holy. If a godly man and woman understand that Christ is the center of the marriage, they reflect these attributes before the world.

How does the world perceive Christ among His people?

A Christ centered covenant marriage is a demonstration of God’s perfection, treating each other justly, living undefiled, walking in purity, and this leads toward holiness. This is what relationships are meant to be in the Kingdom of God—a demonstration of God’s glory.

The trend of living together outside of marriage, hooking up with others like it’s a pastime, or dating people who have not entrusted their lives to Christ leaves relationships having defiled that which God deemed to be holy.

1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

For the couple that has embraced God’s plan for marriage, their perception of God grows as they grow together.

Knowing God’s Love

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me they know God or believe in Jesus and yet lack the vital characteristics of a true follower of Christ.

1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

When hatred permeates a person’s life, love is absent. When sin is practiced without remorse, love is lacking. When words fly from a person’s mouth in gossip, slander, or perversion…how can love reside within that person’s heart?

If a person claims to know God, they are claiming they know what is important to God and they desire to follow.

1 John 3:6 “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”

To know God is to walk with Him, listen to His voice, seek Him for every part of life…knowing that He is trustworthy and true.

Am I being too dogmatic or narrow minded? To the contrary, the Word of God is far more harsh in it’s assessment of those who are neither hot nor cold.

Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

There are too many people trying to ride the fence. They will not draw near to the Lord because they will lose that which they’ve been holding onto, nor will they deny Christ completely since they have been introduced to a measure of Truth. Their hope is that by doing a marginal amount it will satisfy some cosmic expectation of God’s judgement. What they fail to understand is that no half-hearted attempt at holiness will purchase one second in Heaven.

Their perception of Christ has been flawed, they treat Him like someone who gave good suggestions rather than committing their lives into His hands.

The Encounter

When Moses went up onto Mt. Horeb and encountered the God of all Creation, he was given a covenant promise of stone written by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18 “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Moses came to know the holiness of God by encountering His power and glory. It brought fear upon the people to the point where the people couldn’t bear to hear God speak.

Fourteen hundred years later Jesus was walking the earth and some men had entrapped a woman in adultery, hoping to test Jesus. The accusers had gathered their stones and were waiting for the final judgement, until Jesus did a peculiar thing…He bent down and wrote in the dust with His finger.

John 8:6-7 “This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

The God who wrote the law in stone was now presiding over the fate of a lowly woman. The same finger that penned the Moral law, was the same finger that etched the conviction of her accusers in the dust.

The self-righteous Pharisees could not see the majesty of the moment. The very law they thought they were upholding was being demonstrated by the lawgiver….and He showed mercy.

The ability to perceive God is given to those who love Him.

Do you really want to know the Lord or have you always been on the outside looking in?

Commit your life to Christ, humble yourself and repent of your sin and you will know the law giver is the life giver.

Once you get to know Him—you will search all your life to know Him more.