Like our Savior, we are in this world to do service for God. We are here to become like God in character, and by a life of service to reveal Him to the world. In order to be co-workers with God, in order to become like Him and to reveal His character, we must know Him aright. We must know Him as He reveals Himself.
A knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation. This alone can make us like God in character.
This is the knowledge needed by all who are working to uplift others. Transformation of character, purity of life, efficiency in service, adherence to correct principles, all depend upon a right knowledge of God. This knowledge is the essential preparation both for this life and for the life to come.
“The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10. Through a knowledge of Him are given unto us “all things that pertain to life and godliness.” 2 Peter 1:3.
“‘This is eternal life,’” said Jesus, “‘that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’” John 17:3.
“Thus says the Lord:We need to study the revelations of Himself that God has given.
‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,’ says the Lord.”
Jeremiah 9:23, 24.
“‘Now acquaint yourself with Him,“Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” Romans 1:20. The things of nature that we now see give us but a faint conception of Eden’s glory. Sin has marred earth’s beauty. On all things may be seen traces of the work of evil. Yet much that is beautiful remains. Nature testifies that One infinite in power, great in goodness, mercy, and love, created the earth and filled it with life and gladness. Even in their blighted state, all things reveal the handiwork of the great Master Artist. Wherever we turn, we may hear the voice of God and see evidences of His goodness.
And be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart’”. ...
“‘Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
And your precious silver;
For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
And lift up your face to God.
You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.
You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways.
When they cast you down, and you say,
“Exaltation will come!”
Then He will save the humble person.’”
Job 22:21-29.
From the solemn roll of the deep-toned thunder and the ocean’s ceaseless roar to the glad songs that make the forests vocal with melody, nature’s ten thousand voices speak His praise. In earth and sea and sky, with their marvelous tint and color, varying in gorgeous contrast or blended in harmony, we see His glory. The everlasting hills tell us of His power. The trees that wave their green banners in the sunlight and the flowers in their delicate beauty point to their Creator. The living green that carpets the brown earth tells of God’s care for the humblest of His creatures. The caves of the sea and the depths of the earth reveal His treasures. He who placed the pearls in the ocean and the amethyst and chrysolite among the rocks is a lover of the beautiful. The sun rising in the heavens is a representative of Him who is the life and light of all that He has made. All the brightness and beauty that adorn the earth and light up the heavens speak of God. All things tell of His tender, fatherly care and of His desire to make His children happy.
“His glory covered the heavens.”The mighty power that works through nature and sustains all things is not, as some scientists represent, merely an all-pervading principle, an actuating energy. God is a Spirit, yet He is a personal Being, for so He has revealed Himself.
“The earth is full of Your possessions.”
“Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.”
Habakkuk 3:3; Psalm 104:24; 19:2-4.
“The Lord is the true God,
He is the living God and the everlasting King. ...
‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.’”
“The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things.”
“He has made the earth by His power,
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.”
Jeremiah 10:10, 11, 16, 12.
Nature Is Not God
God’s handiwork in nature is not God Himself in nature. The things of nature are an expression of God’s character and power, but we are not to regard nature as God. The artistic skill of human beings produces very beautiful workmanship, things that delight the eye. These things reveal to us something of the thought of the designer, but the thing made is not the maker. It is not the work, but the workman, that is counted worthy of honor. So, while nature is an expression of God’s thought, God, not nature, is to be exalted.“Let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
“In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.”
Psalm 95:6, 4, 5.
“He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night.”
“He who forms mountains, and creates the wind,
Who declares to man what His thought is,”
“He who builds His layers in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
Who calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
The Lord is His name.”
Amos 5:8; 4:13; 9:6.
The Creation of the Earth
The work of creation cannot be explained by science. What science is there that can explain the mystery of life?“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:3.
““‘I form the light and create darkness, ...In the creation of the earth, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. “He spoke, and it was ...; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9. All things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord God at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and everything in it, came into existence by the breath of His mouth.
I, the Lord, do all these things.” ...
I have made the earth,
And created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.’”
“‘When I call to them, they stand up together.’”
Isaiah 45:7, 12; 48:13.
In the creation of man was manifest the agency of a personal God. When God had made man in His image, the human form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, intelligent being. All parts of the human organism were set in action. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the senses, the faculties of the mind, all began their work, and all were placed under law. Man became a living soul. Through Christ the Word, a personal God created man and endowed him with intelligence and power.
Our substance was not hid from Him when we were made in secret; His eyes saw our substance, yet being imperfect, and in His book all our members were written when as yet there were none of them. See Psalm 139:15, 16.
Above all lower orders of life, God designed that human beings, the crowning work of His creation, should express His thought and reveal His glory. But humans are not to exalt themselves as God.
“Make a joyful shout to the Lord. ...God is constantly employed in upholding and using as His servants the things that He has made. He works through the laws of nature, using them as His instruments. They are not self-acting. Nature in her work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a Being who moves in all things according to His will.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”
“Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.”
Psalm 100:1-4; 99:9.
“Forever, O Lord,It is not by inherent power that year by year the earth yields its bounties and continues its march around the sun. The hand of the Infinite One is perpetually at work guiding this planet. It is God’s power continually exercised that keeps the earth in position in its rotation. It is God who causes the sun to rise in the heavens. He opens the windows of heaven and gives rain.
Your word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants.”
“Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.”
“He commanded and they were created.
He also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.”
Psalm 119:89-91; 135:6; 148:5, 6.
“He gives snow like wool;It is by His power that vegetation flourishes, that every leaf appears, every flower blooms, every fruit develops.
He scatters the frost like ashes.”
“When He utters His voice,
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
‘And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.’”
Psalm 147:16; Jeremiah 10:13.
The mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood. It presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. The pulse beats, and breath follows breath, but not as the result of a mechanism that, once set in motion, continues its work. In God we live and move and have our being. The beating heart, the throbbing pulse, every nerve and muscle in the living organism, is kept in order and activity by the power of an ever-present God.
The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy beings, all waiting to do His will. Through these messengers He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. By His Spirit He is everywhere present. Through the agency of His Spirit and His angels He ministers to His earthly children.
Above the distractions of the earth He sits enthroned. All things are open to His divine survey, and from His great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best.
“The way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. ...
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”
“The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.”
“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! ...
The children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
“The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy.”
You love “righteousness and justice.”
You “are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
Who established the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power;
You who still the noise of the seas, ...
And the tumult of the peoples.”
“You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.”
“You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.”
“The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 3:5, 6; Psalm 33:18, 19; 36:7; 146:5; 119:64; 33:5; 65:5-7, 8, 11 ; 145:14-16.
Personality of God Revealed in Christ
In His Son, God has revealed Himself as a personal being. The outshining of the Father’s glory “and the express image of His person,” Jesus, as a personal Savior, came to the world. As a personal Savior He ascended on high. As a personal Savior He intercedes in the heavenly courts. Before the throne of God “One like the Son of Man” ministers in our behalf. Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 1:13.Christ, the Light of the world, veiled the dazzling splendor of His divinity and came to live as a man among men, that mortals might, without being consumed, become acquainted with their Creator. Since sin brought separation between human beings and their Maker, no one has seen God at any time, except as He is manifested through Christ. “‘I and My Father are one,’” Christ declared. “‘No one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.’” John 10:30; Matthew 11:27.
Christ came to teach us what God desires us to know. In the heavens above, in the earth, in the broad waters of the ocean, we see the handiwork of God. All created things testify to His power, His wisdom, His love.
Yet not from the stars or the ocean or the cataract can we learn of the personality of God as it was revealed in Christ. God saw that a clearer revelation than nature was needed to portray both His personality and His character. He sent His Son into the world to manifest, so far as human sight could endure, the nature and attributes of the invisible God.
Revealed to the Disciples
Let us study the words that Christ spoke in the upper chamber on the night before His crucifixion. He was nearing His hour of trial, and He sought to comfort His disciples, who were to be severely tempted and tried.“‘Let not your heart be troubled,’” He said. “‘You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.’ ...
“Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.’ ...
“‘Lord, show us the Father,’” said Philip, “‘and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.’” John 14:1-10.
The disciples did not yet understand Christ’s words concerning His relation to God. Much of His teaching was still obscure to them. Christ desired them to have a clearer, more distinct knowledge of God.
“‘These things I have spoken to you in figurative language,’” He said, “‘but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.’” John 16:25.
On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples, they understood more fully the truths that Christ had spoken in figurative language. Much of the teaching that had been a mystery to them was made clear. But not even then did the disciples receive the complete fulfillment of Christ’s promise. They received all the knowledge of God that they could bear, but the complete fulfillment of the promise that Christ would tell them plainly of the Father was yet to come.
Thus it is today. Our knowledge of God is partial and imperfect. When the conflict is ended, and the Man Christ Jesus acknowledges before the Father His faithful workers who in a world of sin have borne true witness for Him, they will understand clearly what now are mysteries to them.
Christ took with Him to the heavenly courts His glorified humanity. To those who receive Him He gives power to become sons and daughters of God, that at last God may receive them as His, to be with Him throughout eternity. If during this life they are loyal to God, they will at last “see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.” Revelation 22:4. And what is the happiness of heaven but to see God? What greater joy could come to the sinner saved by the grace of Christ than to look upon the face of God and know Him as Father?
The Scriptures clearly indicate the relation between God and Christ, and they bring to view as clearly the personality and individuality of each.
“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, . . . who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say:
“‘You are My Son,And again:
Today I have begotten You’?
‘I will be to Him a Father,The personality of the Father and the Son, also the unity that exists between Them, are presented in the seventeenth chapter of John, in the prayer of Christ for His disciples: “‘I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.’” John 17:20, 21.
And He shall be to Me a Son’?”
Hebrews 1:1-5.
The unity that exists between Christ and His disciples does not destroy the personality of either. They are one in purpose, in mind, in character, but not in person. It is thus that God and Christ are one.
Character of God Revealed in Christ
Taking humanity upon Him, Christ came to be one with humanity, and at the same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. Only He who had been in the presence of the Father from the beginning, only He who was the express image of the invisible God, was able to reveal the character of the Deity to humankind. In all things He was made like us. He became flesh even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of human beings, yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was a stranger and sojourner on the earth—in the world but not of the world, tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God and was constantly engaged in service for God and humanity.“‘The Lord has anointed Me,’” He said,“‘Love your enemies,’” He bids us; “‘bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;’” “‘for He is kind to the unthankful and evil.’” “‘He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’” “‘Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.’” Matthew 5:44, 45; Luke 6:35; Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:36.
“‘To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,’”
“‘And recovery of sight to the blind;’”
“‘To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, ...
To comfort all who mourn.’”
Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:2.
“‘Through the tender mercy of our God, ...
The Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.’”
Luke 1:78, 79.
The Glory of the Cross
The revelation of God’s love to us centers in the cross. Its full significance tongue cannot utter, pen cannot portray, the human mind cannot comprehend. Looking upon the cross of Calvary, we can only say, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high, is the science of salvation that we are to learn and to teach.
It was Christ “Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8, ARV.
“It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God.” “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.” Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25.
“We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.
It is through the gift of Christ that we receive every blessing. Through that Gift there comes to us day by day the unfailing flow of God’s goodness. Every flower, with its delicate tints and its fragrance, is given for our enjoyment through that one Gift. The sun and the moon were made by Him. There is not a star that beautifies the heavens that He did not make. Every drop of rain that falls, every ray of light shed upon our unthankful world, testifies to the love of God in Christ. Everything is supplied to us through the one unspeakable Gift, God’s only-begotten Son. He was nailed to the cross that all these bounties might flow to God’s workmanship.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1.
“Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.”
Isaiah 64:4.
The Knowledge That Works Transformation
The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. It is the knowledge that works transformation of character. This knowledge, received, will re-create the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine.“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Of His own life the Savior said, “‘I have kept My Father’s commandments.’” John 15:10. “‘The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’” John 8:29. As Jesus was in human nature, so God means His followers to be. In His strength we are to live the life of purity and nobility that the Savior lived.
“For this reason,” Paul says, “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19.
We “do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.” Colossians 1:9-11.
This is the knowledge that God is inviting us to receive, and beside which all else is vanity and nothingness.