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Knowing God Job 11:7
Zophar asks, “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” — Never! The wisdom and power of God are made known to all men in creation, and to some extent even his goodness. But that revelation of God is not enough to satisfy a soul convinced that God is holy, to quieten a conscience convicted of sin, and to soothe a heart bowed down with a load of guilt. A guilty sinner wants to know, “How can I be just with God? How can his justice be satisfied, his wrath appeased, and his anger propitiated? How may I know that he is my God, my Father? How may I be assured that he loves me, has pardoned me of all my sin, and accepts me?” Could you comprehend all God’s great works of creation, were you able at once to “enter into the treasures of the snow,” comprehend “by what way the light is parted” and the wind is scattered, were you able to “bind up the sweet influences of Pleiades” and “loose the bands of Orion,” give strength to a horse, teach the hawk to fly, and command the eagle to soar on high, even if you could draw out leviathan with a hook and play with him like a bird, still the question that must be answered before you can live in this world in peace is this — “How can a man be justified with God? How can he be clean that is born of a woman?”
“Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” — Never! Even the knowledge of God that you might gain by reading his law is, at best, vague and shadowy. It is true, the holiness of God is set forth in its precepts and the justice of God in its threatenings; but the law can never be more or less than what the Holy Spirit declares it to be — The ministration of death and condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:7-9). The law tells you that you must be justified, but can never justify you, or show you how you can be justified. It breathes not a sound of mercy to a poor sinner; not one kind, soothing, saving accent falls from its lips. It speaks of death, but not of life; of condemnation, but not of salvation. It asserts the authority, reflects the holiness, and declares the vengeance of God; but not one beam of hope springing from his mercy, his grace, and his love does it throw upon the gloomy path of a terrified doomed, damned soul rushing to eternity!
“Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” — Never! But, blessed be his name, God can be known, known by sinful men, and known with satisfaction, peace, and joy. The Triune Jehovah is so known by all to whom he has “made known the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” In effectual calling, by the saving operations of his grace in us, God the Holy Ghost has “made known the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” Blessed be his name forever, by his Spirit, through the gospel, our great God, the God of all grace, has revealed himself to us and in us in Christ, “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” In him and by him, we now know God and have eternal life!
Don Fortner
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