Knowing God through God-Words

Belief in God is often likened to taking a leap of faith in the dark: you may not be able to see what’s in front of you, but you can trust that God will catch you if you just take the leap. But there is one glaring problem with this analogy: God has not kept himself hidden in the dark. As a matter of fact, he himself is the light who gives life (John 1:4, 8:12).

In fact, when you stop and really think about it, it’s quite amazing to contemplate just how much we actually can know about God. And what’s more than that, is that we can actually know him personally, like a father or a friend (John 15:15). We can know the Maker of the galaxies as if he were a dad cradling us like frail babies in his arms (Psalm 103:14). 

So we are not taking a leap in the dark when we put our faith in him; rather, we are walking on solid ground with the lover of our souls (1 John 4:10). But how is it that we can have such knowledge of the all-powerful Creator? How can we come to know him as our Father, our Papa (Galatians 4:6)?  Must we climb the tallest mountains in order to receive his revelations? Must we plunge into the deepest wilderness valley and await a hunger-induced vision if we are to know him? 

Not at all. As it turns out, God has told us everything we need to know about himself in words -- therefore, we can read those words and form a bright, clear picture of who God is and what he has done for us. Indeed, because his word is living, we can know him through his words (Hebrews 4:12). 

Theology

As John Piper is fond of saying, “God gave us a book!” That book is what we call the Holy Bible (or the Scriptures). Across the span of centuries, millions of men and women have read this book, knowing full well that through it they were getting a glimpse into the reality of God -- like peering through venetian blinds and seeing through a window into the vast, green expanse of the open countryside. Many of those men and women sketched what they saw, in the form of words; words about God, or “God-words” we might call them. The technical name for this is “theology.” 

Think of theology as a sort of guide to what you’re seeing when you read the Bible; it cannot replace the reading of Scripture, but it can be a great and wonderful help in navigating the vast expanse of God’s word. There’s a reason God gave us teachers and preachers, after all (Ephesians 4:11); we, by ourselves, cannot possibly know everything there is to know about the world, let alone all there is to know about God through the Bible -- so we need good teachers to help us out.

Just as there are different characteristics of God that we see through the Scriptures, so there are different subsets of theology: there’s Christology (words about Christ), there’s hamartiology (words about sin), there’s angelology (words about angelic beings), and many more. All of these “ologies” fit together like pieces of a puzzle to show us a vivid picture of God.

Many people, sadly, tend to think of theology as a purely academic discipline, a realm of study reserved for scholastics with weird-looking hats; and to be certain, some works of theology are heftier than others. Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion requires more heavy lifting than Chesterton’s Orthodoxy -- but most theology can be read and understood if we’re willing to apply ourselves diligently to the task. The puzzle will begin to sort itself out if we’re willing to look closely and carefully. 

Where Do We Begin?

At the end of the day, theology is words about God derived from the word of God. These words tell us about who he is as he’s revealed himself in Scripture; they tell us about who we are in relation to him and one another; and they tell us about the ultimate goal of history and where we’re all headed on this long, strange odyssey called life. Good and thoughtful theology can help us know and love God much in the same way that learning more about your best friend’s character and habits can help you know and love them. That’s all good stuff to know, in my humble opinion. 

All of this is to say: we’re at the beginning of a new year, and perhaps you’ve decided that you want to spend more time with God than ever before; so in addition to your Bible-reading, prayer, and corporate worship, might I suggest you consider reading some theology too? 

And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Golly, would I love to, but I don’t know where to begin!” then look no further than right here at Horizons Resources. Over the course of this year, we’ll be releasing articles that dig a little deeper into the different subsets of theology, all in an effort to help you better understand God and the story that he is writing. We want to offer you a path up the mountain vistas, so that you can gaze on the breathtaking, mountainous beauty of the Lord for yourself. Join us, won’t you?