Knowing and Loving God

John W. Woodhouse:

Knowing God is real, not abstract; personal, not just intellectual; and will be displayed in your character and conduct, not your cleverness. That is why I think it is always helpful to link knowing God with loving God: we seek the kind of knowledge here that changes our affections.

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We know God, not by a mystical experience beyond words, but by hearing the Spirit-breathed word of God. This Spirit-breathed word of God is meant to be understood. It tells us the truth, and by his Spirit and through his word, God reveals to us himself, his promises and his purposes. …When the Bible says, ‘Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!’ (Rom. 11:33), we are not being discouraged from seeking to understand. Rather, we are being reminded that we can never think of ourselves as having finished our exploration and our growth in understanding. What happens next is quite striking. Once we grasp just a little of the ‘riches’ and ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ of God, all other thinking about everything is affected.

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