Thursday, August 04, 2005
KNOWING GOD
In his classic work Knowing God, J.I. Packer makes an excellent point when he writes, "A little knowledge about God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about Him." That really speaks to me. If you have been keeping up with my blog entries, you know that I am greatly concerned about the poor spiritual health of the American church. Much of the church is fad-driven; sound doctrine is out and entertainment is in. Increasingly, I am hearing Christian leaders say that the contemporary church landscape is as bleak and barren as it was centuries ago on the eve of the Reformation. Worldliness and doctrinal chaos abound in much of church life today.
However, sound doctrine is not the only pressing need. One can be as orthodox as the day is long, but what does it profit without a personal relationship with the living God? How crucial it is for Christians to be in a vital relationship with God in Christ--to be able to say with Paul of old, "I want to know Christ." God is the rewarder of those who earnestly (not casually!) seek Him. It is also imperative that we hold on to and proclaim sound biblical doctrine. God's people should be characterized by spiritual ardor and biblical order. May these dangerously exciting times find many of us seeking hard after God (Hebrews 11:6), even as we watch our life and doctrine carefully (1 Timothy 4:16)!
However, sound doctrine is not the only pressing need. One can be as orthodox as the day is long, but what does it profit without a personal relationship with the living God? How crucial it is for Christians to be in a vital relationship with God in Christ--to be able to say with Paul of old, "I want to know Christ." God is the rewarder of those who earnestly (not casually!) seek Him. It is also imperative that we hold on to and proclaim sound biblical doctrine. God's people should be characterized by spiritual ardor and biblical order. May these dangerously exciting times find many of us seeking hard after God (Hebrews 11:6), even as we watch our life and doctrine carefully (1 Timothy 4:16)!
