How to Know God
By reading the Bible daily and thoughtfully, one can know God better through the following ways:
The Bible as a Story Book
We can trace the story line in two stages: Seeing the big picture, and examining the smaller segments.
1. The Big Picture
The story line of the Bible shows what God either causes, or allows to happen to people who do not deserve to know Him, e.g. God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a beautiful garden paradise. But the same God allowed this family to set the tone for what was to follow. While giving them indescribable opportunities to enjoy His goodness, He permitted them to fail a simple test: a test of trust, Genesis 3.
The rest of the Bible tells how God responded to man’s need for rescue. Other examples are God sent His only begotten Son and allowed him to be falsely indicted, tortured and executed. Three days later, the Son of God rose from the dead before he ascended into heaven. The story line reveals a God who made us, loves us, shows Himself to us and allows us to accept or reject Him. He is a God who builds ‘tests of faith’ into the environment. He allows evil to come into the picture to test our trust, thus allowing us to choose what is good or bad, and also gives us good times, good health and good relationships.
2. The Smaller Segments
These smaller aspects such as the way God oversaw and directed the flood of Noah, the call and life of Abraham, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, the trials of Job and the coming of Christ. Taking a closer look at the story of Joseph, Genesis 37-50, what is important about the story is what it tells us about the strategies and tactics of God, who stood by while His servant was nearly killed, thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. It shows that God can take tragedy and weave it into a plan that ends better than anyone would have ever expected. God could demote him to prison as easily as He could promote him to highest honours.
3. The People of the Bible
The second way we can know God is by observing His people e.g. what He likes and doesn’t, what He loves or hates; directly or indirectly the people of God reflect the character of God.
The people of the Bible are different from those in fiction because they are real eg the rich man Job who lost his riches because of a discussion between God and Job’s adversary, Zaccheus, a little man who climbed down from a tree to meet Jesus, leaving behind his life of shady financial dealings.
Questions to help What does each person’s experience tell us about:
The values or loves of God
The aversions and hates of God
What God can do in the life of the one who does or does not please Him.
Bro Biza T Christopher (Zaka, Zimbabwe)
