Stegley, you're off base. Out in left field, I think.
Yes, you can know God personally. He clearly speaks of having a relationship with us. How can we have a relationship with someone you do not know? The Bible says that all who believe in His name are the children of God (John 1:12) and because we have been adopted as sons, we call God “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Can we be His sons, and not know Him?
We not only have a relationship with our Heavenly Father but He knows us and He knows us perfectly. Why, even the hairs of our heads are all numbered by Him (John 10:14; Luke 12:7). There were times when I stop in the middle of my prayers because I became aware that He knows my thoughts even before I verbalize them. During these times, I would be still and bask in the light that He knows me perfectly. God is my Father and He cares for me (Matthew 7:9-11). And while I don’t know Him as perfectly as He knows me, I know Him well enough to love Him and put my trust in Him for eternity.
How can we know God? Can we finite beings know God who is infinite? Yes, we can, to the extent that God had revealed Himself to us. And God has revealed Himself to us through His creation, the prophets, His Son Jesus Christ and the Scriptures.
Creation declares God’s handiwork (Psalm 19:1).
Through creation, God’s eternal power and divine nature are revealed to all mankind (Romans 1:20).
Since creation is so magnificent, then has to be a Creator, and He must be powerful to create all that we see in nature. However, when this revelation that there is a Creator is rejected by men – who worship the created things rather than the Creator) – God gives them over to their sin, resulting in even greater evil-doing (Rom. 1:26-32). Man’s unrighteousness incurs God’s wrath and judgment (Romans 1:18-20).
To know God is to know His character and His ways. Moses pleaded with God to reveal His ways so that he may know God (Exodus 33:13). God’s ways – His thoughts, speech and actions – are rooted in His character. We can know God’s ways. We can know God’s responses to unrighteousness. We can know intrinsically how to plead for forgiveness and acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord. We can know how to cry out for help and redemption when all seems hopeless.
In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to men through the prophets. Later, God spoke through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father …” (John 14:8, 9). Jesus, who was with God, has made known the Father (John 1:18).
But we have not seen Jesus! I am reminded of Jesus’ words to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29). Knowing God requires faith, believing that God will reward those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus Christ and this “speaking” is preserved for us in the New Testament (John 20:30-31). The New Testament is not the only written record of Christ, the Old Testament Scriptures are rich in prophecies concerning Him (Luke 24:27). We can only know God to the extent that He had revealed Himself to us and He has revealed His ways and His character in history through His interactions with man. God's words and works are recorded for us in the pages of the Bible. Therefore, we can know God intimately through His Word. Read and meditate upon it. Through the milk of the Word, we grow, discovering and experiencing God in our lives (1 Peter 2:2-3).
We reallycan know God! It is possible that finite man can know the infinite God! We can know God but not as He knows us (Galatians 4:9a). He knows us more than we know Him. He knows us fully but we know Him in part (1 Corinthians 13:12). We all need to learn to rest in the knowledge that God knows us perfectly. Because we believe in Him, we know Him as our Father. Through the Word, we learn of His ways, His response to man's cries for help and forgiveness, through our trials, tribulations, storms of life, and dire straits, we get to know Him better.
