Know, Share, Retire - Part 3

First, to know Christ.  It is impossible, I think, to talk about Christ - to share the love of God - unless you have a relationship with God.  Paul certainly knew Christ - he met Christ on a road to Damascas and was struck blind.  His life and mission changed forever.  Dr. Bob would be very happy with Paul's answer to the three questions!

I don't think many of us have an expectation of an encounter like Paul's.  So, if we are not going to meet him walking down the road like Paul did,  how do we come to know God?  Hear these words from John 14, verses 16-17:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

We are blessed that God doesn't leave the “Know God” step up to us alone.  God pursues us.  God reaches for us.  God, through the holy spirit, dwells within us.  We know God because God has made it possible for us to know him.  This is grace, and without it, we would be lost.

We also come to know God through the model of the life of Christ.  Through reading the gospels and discussing them with the other members of the Body of Christ, we come to see Jesus.  We learn how Christ lived, we can follow the way of the life he spoke about.  In Christ, we see the very nature of God.

And then, as if that all weren't enough, we are given the awesome privilege of being in communion with God through worship and prayer.  Have you ever thought about the idea that the very creator of the universe, the one who knit you together, invites - even expects - you to speak to him, to listen to him?

We come to know God because God has made it possible.