Beginning to Know God (Seeing)

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3, ESV)

The Rise of Atheism, Agnosticism, and Nones

A couple years ago, there was one headline that hung around in the media for quite some time. It regarded the “rise of the nones.” The “nones” are those who claim no religious affiliation. A recent Pew Research poll showed that 17% of people in the United States consider themselves to have “no religious affiliation.” When combined with those who call themselves Atheists (who don’t believe in a god) or Agnostic (those who are uncertain about the existence of god) the percentage climbs to 26% of the US population [https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/]. For many Christians, these percentages have been startling. 

There Are No Atheists

Yet, Scripture sees things differently than what these polls show. In Romans 1 it says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18–20, ESV). 

This passage teaches us that “what can be known about God is plain” to everyone living on the earth “because God has shown it to them.” God has revealed himself to everyone in such a way that they can “clearly perceive” some of his attributes, “namely, his eternal power and divine nature.” This leaves everyone “without excuse.”

This passage also teaches that there are no atheists. Everyone believes in a god. There are no agnostics, because God has clearly revealed himself to them. So, why do people claim to be atheists or agnostics? This passage tells us they claim to be atheists or agnostics because they “suppress the truth.” They clearly see God through his creation, but cover their eyes. It’s not that they don’t believe in God or don’t know whether there’s a God. It’s that they don’t WANT to believe in God, so they blind themselves to the obvious truth. 

Coming to Know God

So, how do we begin to know God? We have to see God in the way He has revealed himself. But, to see God, we need to have our hands removed from our eyes. That only happens through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:4–6, ESV).

So we blind ourselves. Satan also works to blind us from seeing the beauty of the Gospel and of Christ. Yet, for those who have seen the beauty and glory of God, He has shone into their “hearts to give the light of the knowledge” of these things. They see because God has shone light into their hearts, removed their hands from their eyes, and kept Satan from blinding them in darkness. When God does these things, he gives them KNOWLEDGE of the glory of God, which results in praise and worship. 

Turning into Worship

When looking at the topic of knowing God, it’s important for us to know these things—to know that knowing God requires a work of God. He has to be the one to break into our hearts and shine light in our darkness. He has to be the one to remove our rebellious hands from our eyes. 

But, when God does that—when light shines in our darkness and our hands are removed from our eyes—and we begin to see things clearly, our hearts break out in worship! Now we finally see the beauty and glory of God in the world. Now we see his beauty and glory in every sunrise and sunset and in every turn of the seasons. We no longer see these things as “just happening,” but look beyond them to the glorious God who is in control of them. And we praise our God. 

Bringing Us to Prayer

This also reminds us of the power and importance of prayer in our lives and for the world. What needs to happen for those around us to see the beauty and glory of God? God needs to shine light into their darkness and remove their hands from their eyes. We need to be praying and pleading with God to do that in our communities. 

Yet, this also applies to us—as Christians. What needs to happen so that our hearts more fully break out in praise and worship of the beauty and glory of God? God needs to shine more light into our darkness and more fully remove our hands from our eyes. So, we need to keep getting on our knees and pleading with God to help us see him more clearly and stir our hearts to worship.