The importance and the Benefits of Knowing God
Although already addressed briefly on the aforementioned points, let's examine more thoroughly the importance and some of the benefits of knowing God. The list below is by no means exhaustive but it serves to introduce us to the depths and riches of knowing God.
Knowing God is a privilege
Have you ever thought about it, God can be known by men! This is an astounding truth. The almighty, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God can be known by us, His creatures. It’s written, “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” Romans 1:19. In other words, the writer is clearly saying that whatever it is that we can know about God is only possible and available because God Himself has chosen to reveal it. This is true because if God is God no one can pressure Him to make Himself known, neither can someone go to His dwelling and bring Him out to the opening, no; God lives in a place of, "unapproachable light," (1 Timothy 6:16). The truth is that whatever we can know about God is only possible to the degree He reveals to us; otherwise, we cannot know Him.
Fortunately, God has revealed Himself to us. Praise God. From the very beginning God made man to know and understand him. King David expressed his admiration to such an idea by saying, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!” Psalms 8:3-9. Out of all creatures, God has given us the privilege of being made in His image and being capable of knowing and fellowshipping with Him.
God used to visit, converse, and instruct Adam daily in the garden of Eden. It’s written, “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19. Adam knew God because God wanted him to know Him as He wants each and everyone of us to know Him. Adam was intimate to God to the degree that he knew the “sound” of God. However, one day Adam sinned against the Lord, and when He visited him, Adam received not the Lord as usual.
The bible says, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Genesis 3:8-11.God’s question to Adam is still the same for each one of us, “where are you?.” Notice that although God knew what Adam had done, He did not ask Him, what have you done, instead He asked Him, “where are you?”. Meaning that the primary consequence of Adam’s action was to get him far away from God. Where are you? But even if you are far from God, know that He set things up for you to know Him already.
Acts 17, 26-27 says "And He [God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;". According to this passage we see that God scattered the descendents of Adam across the earth, determining the places where they should live and their preappointed years on earth, with one goal in mind: that they would seek Him, that is verify, investigate, search for, get to the bottom of the matter about Him; in another words, that they would come to know Him. This is the reason we are here and the reason we have been created: to know and understand God.
However, God did not only set things up so everybody can find and know Him by determining where and how long each person lives but also by being close to everybody; the passage says, "though He is not far from each one of us," meaning He is near to you, just reach out, He can be found. Our location with respect to God matters, God doesn't want us far from Him because He is not far from us. However, it doesn’t matter how far we are, we can still come closer and know Him, not because we will seek Him first, but because just as He first sought Adam even after his disobedience, God still seeks each one of us to be reconciled with Him, so we can know Him. God made a way in Christ. It's written, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. In spite of the fall, we can still know God, He wants us to have this privilege. He is mindful of us.
Knowing God is far beyond simply mental awareness but it is intimately knowing, passionately relating, spiritually and truthfully worshipping, and loving Him with all your heart, soul, and strength (Mt 22:37-40). It's learning to interact with Him on the basis of the knowledge you acquire of Him. For instance, there was a men called Enoque who walked with God and God took him for Himself. It’s written, “So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:23-24. Moreover, on the basis of the knowledge of God we can be heard by Him both for us and others.
The bible narrates the following about a man called Joshua, “'Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.” Joshua 10:12-14. Consider this, if you know God you can be heard by Him! Almighty God can hear your voice just like He heard Joshua’s. So, these are just snapshots.
Knowing God is a privilege, and a journey that can also bring many tribulations because not all have the knowledge of Him, yet it's joy and wonders-filled, and as se go through it our characters begin to be like God's (Ephesians 5:1), for can two walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3)? Certainty not.