Knowing God: An Introduction

What comes to mind when you think about God? A. W. Tozer famously observed that what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. That is because our understanding of God is deeply revealing. It reveals what we worship, what we believe, and ultimately how we live.

The Bible makes clear that what we believe about God matters. It is possible for someone to have been genuinely saved and yet to have an inadequate or distorted understanding of God. Such misunderstandings will inevitably affect how we live. Conversely, as our knowledge of God grows, our lives should increasingly reflect that knowledge.

Daniel 11:32 provides a striking picture of this truth. The surrounding passage describes a period of intense persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes, a Seleucid ruler who sought to destroy the worship of the true God. He desecrated the temple, prohibited Jewish practices, and used both intimidation and flattery to persuade God’s people to compromise their faith. Many did. But not everyone.

Daniel writes, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Their knowledge of God was not merely intellectual. It produced steadfastness and action. Because they knew their God, they refused to abandon him when faithfulness became costly.

This is why studying the attributes of God is so important. We cannot fully comprehend God, but Scripture enables us to apprehend much about him. As we consider who God is and what he has revealed about himself, our knowledge of him should become deeper, richer, and more personal. This will equip us in several ways.

First, knowing God’s attributes grows our adoration. When we learn that God is omniscient, omnipresent, faithful, righteous, wise, immutable, and self-sufficient, we have increasing reason to admire and worship him.

Second, it grows our affection for God. Scripture tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and that “we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The more we understand the character of this God who has loved us, the more our love for him will grow.

Third, it grows our awareness of God. Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows us completely and is never absent from us. David writes, “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13), and asks, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)—before answering that there is nowhere to flee.

Fourth, knowing God grows our assurance. Paul expressed his desire “to know him and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). Knowing God does not remove hardship, but it gives us confidence in the midst of hardship because we know the one who holds us and our circumstances.

Finally, knowing God grows our attachment, devotion, and duty towards him. This brings us back to Daniel 11:32. Those who knew their God stood firm and took action. Their knowledge produced faithfulness.

There is always a danger that studying theology becomes merely intellectual. We can learn definitions, memorise theological terms, and discuss God’s attributes without actually growing in our relationship with him. That is not the purpose of knowing God.

J. B. Phillips warned of the danger of having “a small God”—a God limited by our childish understanding and never enlarged by deeper reflection on Scripture. We must continually grow in our knowledge of the God who has revealed himself to us.

The question is not simply, “What do I know about God?” but, “How does what I know about God affect the way I live?”

A proper knowledge of God emboldens our faith. If God is self-sufficient, we can rest in his sufficiency. If he is immutable, we can trust his promises because he does not change. If he is omniscient and all-wise, we can trust him even when we cannot understand what he is doing. As Proverbs 3:5–6 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Knowing God’s character gives us reason to trust him when circumstances appear confusing or frightening.

Knowledge of God also equips us to be faithful. If God is just, we should pursue justice. If God is faithful, we should become people who keep our word. If God is wise, we should obey him even when we cannot see where obedience will lead. Our theology should become visible in our conduct.

And knowledge of God equips us to strengthen others. Daniel 11:33 says that “the wise among the people shall make many understand.” Those who know God are not meant merely to keep that knowledge to themselves. They stand firm, take action, and help others to do the same.

Ultimately, however, knowing God is not simply a matter of studying abstract attributes. God has made himself known supremely and finally in Jesus Christ.

In his High Priestly prayer, Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is knowing God—and knowing God through Jesus Christ.

This means that a study of God’s attributes must always lead us to the gospel. Apart from Christ, we cannot truly know God as we were created to know him. The Son reveals the Father, and through Christ’s saving work sinners are brought into fellowship with God.

Jesus himself perfectly demonstrated what it means to know and trust God. He knew his Father, believed his Father’s promises, and therefore stood firm when tempted and opposed. He “set his face” towards Jerusalem and willingly went to the cross (Luke 9:51). There, he gave himself for the sins of his people. The Father raised him from the dead, and Christ now lives in glory.

Why?

So that we might know God.

That is the goal of theology. That is the goal of studying God’s attributes. We are not seeking merely to become people who know more about God. We want to become people who truly know God—people whose knowledge produces adoration, affection, awareness, assurance, devotion, and obedience.

The people who know their God will stand firm and take action. May our study of God’s character make us such people: steadfast in faith, faithful in obedience, and eager to help others know the great and glorious God who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ.