Knowing God

The world shuddered this week as Notre-Dame de Paris burned on live TV. The incredible French Gothic cathedral, completed in 1345, evoked heartfelt responses—and questions. Why now?—people in the street asked reporters. Why now—just days before Good Friday and Easter? Had reporters been more helpful, they would have quoted the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), who noted: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each [person] which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.” Had I reported on the story, I would have called J.I. Packer—to glean his insights on why a secular world was stopped in its tracks. Perhaps Packer, the imminent theologian, would have said this: “When the person in the church, let alone the person in the street, uses the word God, the thought is rarely of divine majesty.” Packer, in fact did say this—and much, much more about “Knowing God” (or the lack of knowing God): “But this is knowledge which Christians today largely lack: and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby. We are modern people, and modern people, though they cherish great thoughts of themselves, have as a rule small thoughts of God.” Over the last three years on dozens of weekends, I’ve enjoyed re-reading “Knowing God,” the classic morsel by J.I. Packer. Now 92, this English-born Canadian evangelical is still considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America. Knowing God has sold over one million copies. Published in 1973, my well-worn copy is from the 13th printing in 1978, and Chapter 2, “The People Who Know Their God,” grabbed me by the throat back then—and still does: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ,” wrote Paul. “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him. . . .I want to know Christ” (Phil 3: 7-10). “When Paul says he counts the things he lost rubbish, or dung (KJV), he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure? Yet this, in effect, is what many of us do. It shows how little we have in the way of true knowledge of God.” BAMBOOZLED? I’m guessing—if Packer were a guest on the Sunday morning news shows to help us make sense of the Notre-Dame fire—he might mention God’s work in Jacob’s life (a must-read snippet from Chapter 9, “God Only Wise”). “But God in his wisdom had also resolved to instill true religion into Jacob himself. Jacob’s whole attitude to life was ungodly and needed changing; Jacob must be weaned away from trust in his own cleverness to dependence upon God, and he must be made to abhor the unscrupulous double-dealing which came so naturally to him. “When Jacob had filched Esau’s birthright and blessing (Gen. 25:29-34; 27:1-40), Esau turned against him (naturally!) and Jacob had to leave home in a hurry. He went to his uncle Laban, who proved to be as tricky a customer as Jacob himself. Laban exploited Jacob’s position and bamboozled him into marrying not only his pretty daughter, whom Jacob wanted, but also the plain one with bad eyes, for whom he would otherwise have found it hard to get a good husband (Gen 29:15-30). “We may be frankly bewildered at things that happen to us, but God knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is after, in his handling of our affairs. Always, and in everything, he is wise: we shall see that hereafter, even where we never saw it here. (Job in heaven knows the full reason why he was afflicted, though he never knew it in this life.) “Meanwhile, we ought not to hesitate to trust his wisdom, even when he leaves us in the dark. But how are we to meet these baffling and trying situations, if we cannot for the moment see God’s purpose in them? First, by taking them as from God, and asking ourselves what reactions to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us, second, by seeking God’s face specifically about them.” THE 1, 2 PUNCH! Why trust God? Packer gives us this one, two punch! “Wisdom without power would be pathetic, a broken reed; power without wisdom would be merely frightening; but in God boundless wisdom and endless power are united, and this makes him utterly worthy of our fullest trust.” MORSELS… In seeking to know God and God’s will (Chapter 20), Packer warns of six pitfalls: • “Unwillingness to think • Unwillingness to think ahead • Unwillingness to take advice • Unwillingness to suspect oneself • Unwillingness to discount personal magnetism • Unwillingness to wait.” THE MOUNT EVEREST OF SCRIPTURE: ROMANS. “Paul’s letter to Rome is the high peak of Scripture…” Packer reminds us. Luther labeled Romans “the clearest gospel of all.” “Not every Christian, however, appreciates the magnificence of Romans, and there is a reason for this. Someone who touched down on the top of Everest in a helicopter (could such a thing be) would not at that moment feel anything like what Hillary and Tensing felt when they stood on the same spot after climbing the mountain. Similarly, the impact of Romans upon you will depend on what has gone before. The law that operates is that the more you have dug into the rest of the Bible, the more you are exercised with the intellectual and moral problems of being a Christian, and the more you have felt the burden of weakness and the strain of faithfulness in your Christian life, the more you will find Romans saying to you.” And get this! “John Chrysostom [349-407] had it read aloud to him once a week; you and I could do a lot worse than that. Now, as Romans is the high peak of the Bible, so chapter 8 is the high peak of Romans.” But wait! Packer’s promo for Romans 8 is exceeded only by Alexander Whyte (1836-1921) who told his Scottish congregation, “You’ll not get out of the seventh of Romans while I’m your minister!” Yikes! MORE MORSELS… • “There are two sorts of sick consciences, those that are not aware enough of sin and those that are not aware enough of pardon, and it is to the second sort that Paul is ministering now. He knows how easily the conscience of a Christian under pressure can grow morbid, particularly when that Christian’s nose is rubbed as Romans 7:24-25 would rub it in the reality of continued sin and failure.” • “God makes not only the wrath of man to turn to his praise but the misadventures of Christians too.” • “Is your trouble a sense of failure? The knowledge of having made some ghastly mistake? Go back to God; his restoring grace waits for you.” • “Is it not a hollow fraud to say that we honor Christ when we ignore, and by ignoring dishonor, the One whom Christ has sent to us as his deputy, to take his place and care for us on his behalf? Ought we not to concern ourselves more about the Holy Spirit than we do?” I ASKED THE LORD THAT I MIGHT GROW (BIG MISTAKE!) The great hymn, “Amazing Grace,” penned by converted slave trader John Newton (1725-1807), is familiar to all. But…have you sung or read Newton’s other, more deeply convicting hymn? Packer wraps up Chapter 21, “These Inward Trials,” with Newton’s remarkable lyrics: six convicting verses of “I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow.” I’ve listened to, sung, and meditated on the words for half-a-year now. “Alexa, repeat!” Yet every repeat stings. SNIPPETS… In Chapter 20, “Thou Our Guide,” the author shares deep wisdom on discerning God’s will. He writes, “Wisdom in Scripture always means knowledge of the course of action that will please God and secure life, so that the promise of James 1:5—“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him” (RSV)—is in effect a promise of guidance. “Only within the limits of this guidance does God prompt us inwardly in matters of ‘vocational’ decision. So never expect to be aided to marry an unbeliever, or elope with a married person, as long as 1 Corinthians 7:39 and the seventh commandment stand!” Tweet this! “The Spirit leads within the limits which the Word sets, not beyond them. ‘He guides me in paths of righteousness’ (Psalm 23:3)—but not anywhere else.” THE QUEST FOR COMFORT. “Comfort is, of course, used here in the old, strong sense of that which encourages and nerves, not in the modern sense of that which tranquilizes and enervates. The quest for ‘comfort’ in the modern sense is self-indulgent, sentimental and unreal, and the modern ‘I-go-to-church-for-comfort’ religion is not Christianity; but [Edward] Elton is talking of Christian assurance, which is a different thing. Here again, however, the Everest principle operates.” (Don’t skip Chapter 20. Oh, my.) My second read-through of “Knowing God” was on Kindle, but I just ordered a fresh new copy (without underlined pages) for my third read. I hope you’ll read (or re-read) this powerful book…slowly. J.I. Packer notes: “When you start reading Luther, or Edwards, or Whitefield, though your doctrine may be theirs, you soon find yourself wondering whether you have any acquaintance at all with the mighty God whom they knew so intimately.” So…what do you read, in addition to the Bible, to know God more deeply?

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines a classic as that which is "judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind." Therefore, based on this definition I dub Packer's book a "classic." It is simply one of the most readable, and enjoyable books on the doctrine of God's character and attributes in modern times. Originally written in 1971 - this book will be reprinted again and again for its wonderful portrayal of the transcendence and immanence of God and how we can know Him personally because of how He has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures. We can know God intimately and personally because He has chosen to come into human history through the Person and Work of Christ and the most direct route to knowing God is clearly summarized in the pages of this book as Packer "unpacks" what it means to know God with warmth, depth, reverence, and great joy. I love and agree with what my favorite theologian R.C. Sproul has to say about this book, "Knowing God is a masterpiece by a master theologian. It serves as a wake-up call for those who are asleep to the majesty of God." Perhaps the evangelist Billy Graham uttered the best tribute I have read on this book, "A hundred years from now only a handful of books written today will still be widely read and accepted as Christian classics. Dr. James I Packer's Knowing God may well prove to be one of them. A gifted theologian and writer, Dr. Packer has the rare ability to deal with profound and basic spiritual truths in a practical and highly readable way. This book will help every reader grasp in a fuller way one of the Bible's greatest truths: that we can know God personally, because God wants us to know him." I can attest to the fact that the greatest need of every human being on the planet is to know God personally through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. J. I. Packer's book is MUST reading for anyone who wants to know God personally, intimately, daily, for this life, and for eternity.

The book is a collection of articles on each topic but there is a pattern to them that brings balance into the topics. I think each article/chapter is best read allowing plenty of time to digest the very thoughtful contents. I found I needed to read each chapter several times to take in all the information. Very good material. Well worth having.

Amazing book

One every Christian should not only read but study

This book was a great benefit to my journey in faith. Packer does a great job on emphasizing it is not enough just to know of God, but one must KNOW him. It's about relationship not distant understanding. This book is all about application. The closing chapters in particular are very convicting, I especially loved the chapter emphasizing how we are the very children of God, and all that means. I very much see this as a book I will reread many times in the years to come.

Excellent book. Really packs a punch and gives a fresh view of the aim of the Christian life. Ideal whether you are a new or mature Christian.