If you were to say to somebody, I know God, whats their response? If you were to make a statement that says, I know the God of the Universe, do they look at you funny when you say something like that? Do they think you may be a little kooky? A little weird? Maybe they think youre arrogant to make such a statement. You know God, ha? What an arrogant thing to say. Yet, when we read Gods word, thats exactly what God wants us to be able to say. One of the most profound scriptures is found in the Book of 1 John 5:20 (Page 1210 of pew Bibles). John says, We know, not we have a good idea or we think so, We know. …also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding… What the man [in the film that was played at the beginning of the service] said, Hey, knowing God, thats just a fantasy concept to me. It doesnt have to be. …He came to give us understanding so that we may know Him who is true... We can know truth. We can know God in a personal way, not just know about Him. God says know Him. …We are in Him who is true... Intimacy is in that word. …-even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Who? Jesus. True God and eternal life. Lets read that together out loud, shall we, as a profession of faith? We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true-even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. The Bible says there are four ways that you and I can know God, four ways that God has revealed Himself to us. The first is found in the Book of Romans 1:18 (page 1112). We wont elaborate on this very long because it really was our subject matter last week when Michael Powers spoke on science and talked about creation. Paul says, The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. How has God made it plain? Paul says, For since the creation of the world, Gods invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. What Paul is saying here is you and I can use our reason. We can use logic when we look at the universe. I was driving home from a trip, and my daughter and I were together. The moon was a particular kind of beautiful. It had an orange color. It was very full. I said, Honey, thats a harvest moon. Its just a beautiful moon in the sky. We were talking about the cosmos and how we go around the sun, and the moon goes around us, and how theres an orbit and an order where the planets arent knocking into each other. Theyre not falling from the galaxy. Were just there in space, and isnt God amazing? Isnt God something? So you can just look, Paul says, and you can see theres a God. Theres order and design in the universe. GK Chesterson said if only one elephant came out with a long trunk, we would think it odd; but the fact that they all come out with long trunks makes it seem like theres a plot. Maybe theres design here. Maybe theres order here. One of the greatest theologians, possibly the greatest theologians who ever lived, was a man by the name of Thomas Aquinas, and he lived in the Middle Ages. He wrote like very few who have ever written. In fact, when he was in high school, he was called the dumb ox, ironically. He didnt speak much, and he had an appearance that did not portray the intelligence that he possessed. I started reading his work; I dont want to tell you how long ago back in the late 70s that was. Its amazing the words that come out of this mans mouth. He started to write a book called the Summary of Theology. It took him seven years to finish it, seven years! Three scribes had to write down everything he was saying, and he talked about the world. You know how we talk about intelligent design verses evolution? Thomas Aquinas was one of the first people we got that from, intelligent design. He said there cannot be design without a designer. There cannot be laws without there being a lawgiver. He was one of the first proponents of the teleological argument for the existence of God. Paul says we can look at creation-we can know that God exists. Secondly, lets turn to Hebrews 1, the second way we can know who God is-the second way Hes revealed Himself. My dog is afraid of the dark. She is. The reason we know this is because when you take her out at night, the darker it is, the louder she will bark. Brenda took her out a couple of nights ago. Remember how dark it was a couple of nights ago? She doesnt see anything, mind you, because its so dark, but its the thought of what might be out there that she cant see that frightens her. So she goes out there, and the fur stands up on her neck. She starts barking and growling, sending a message, Whatever is out there, you better watch out. Im a killer puppy. You better run and hide. Im going to get you. If there ever were anything out there, shed run in the house likidy-split, as fast as she could. The darker it is, the louder and more furiously she will bark. Darkness and the unknown promote fear within us. We fear what we dont know, what we dont understand. But when its light and you bring my dog out, she doesnt do that. If its a moonlit night, she doesnt do that, but when she cant see, fear rises up in her. God brought revelation. He brought light to our understanding. It talks about that in the Book of John, the first chapter. It says that the light came into the world, and that light enlightens every man. It enables us to see and understand our world and whom God is. It removes fear. Hebrews 1:1 says, In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. Not just one time and not in one way, but He used people, and He spoke through people. As we read the Word, we learn even more about God because we can see His divine attributes in the creation, but we dont know His nature. Through the Word of God, we see His nature. We learn that He is immutable, that He does not change. We learn that He is righteousness and just. We learn that He is good and loving. We learn that He is gracious, but also just. We read the Prophets and see how God pours out His heart through the Prophets. God talks about emotions; what makes Him angry; as Janet [DeRosier] said-what makes Him jealous; and about His thoughts. You know, God has thoughts, and He shares those thoughts with us in His word. So this is a written revelation of whom He is. It helps us to know His character and to know His nature, so we can know what Hes like. Del Tackett does an excellent job talking about this in his DVD teaching this week. The third way that God reveals Himself to us, and not only through the creation-not only through His written revelation, is also through the incarnation. The author of the Book of Hebrews 1:2 (page 1184) says this, …but in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The son is a close approximation to the Father? Nope. The Son is the radiance of Gods glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. In John 1:18 (page 1049), John writes these words, No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Fathers side, has made him known. He has made Him known. He has brought a revelation through the incarnation of whom God is so we can know God. One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in John 14:5 (page 1067), if you would turn there please. We are going to be here for our duration together. Jesus was speaking about going away, and Thomas said to Him, Lord, we dont know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him. This was going to be a turning point. He says, From now on, from this point on, you know Him and have seen Him. What Jesus is saying is, I am about to reveal to you more of whom I am, and doing so, Im going to reveal to you more of whom the Father is. Hes baiting them for a question, and the question is asked by Philip. Philip says, Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. You show us God, we wont need anything from You again. We promise. No more questions, just show us God, and were done. Our lips are sealed. Jesus answered, Dont you know me, Philip, even after Ive been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? How can you say show us God? Whatever I say is what the Father says. Whatever I do is what the Father does. If youve seen me, Philip, youve seen God. We see Jesus love personified, dont we? We see grace personified. We see how He went out of His way to minister to the broken-hearted, to reach the lost, to lift up the down-trodden. Last Sunday, my family and I, as part of my studies, had to go to a Greek Orthodox church. Our class got to take a field trip. My wife likes to make fun of me because we color maps, and we go on field trips. The priest even addressed us as The Sunday School class from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. That was the hardest Sunday School class I ever had. So, were there, and its a very different experience. The service was an hour and a half long, and you stood for about an hour of that, so I dont want to hear anybody complaining about standing too long. It was different. During the service, they took an offering. Our class and their families were mostly in four pews in the back of the sanctuary. The offering came by, and they were passing the bucket; but when they got to our row, I guess they thought we wouldnt want to give, so the ushers pretty much passed us by. They didnt even make eye contact. They didnt even try to pass the plate. You come to our church, and youre a visitor, the plate is going to get to you. They didnt do that there. They just walked right on by us. It was like, Hey, hey, hey. Ive got money. I wanted to give something, so I reached in my pocket, and I pulled out a five dollar bill. Ive been carrying this five dollar bill for a long time. I know what it looked like because I would always pull it out when I was either grabbing my keys, a piece of paper, another bill or something. This five dollar bill seemed to be hanging around. I knew how it was folded. I knew the angles. I recognized this bill. So I pull it out, and he turned around. I had to reach back. I put my five in the offering. At the conclusion of the service, we were walking out. Im just kind of looking around the foyer, kind of taking in some of the iconography, seeing what else I can identify. There on the table is my five dollar bill. Its just lying there. I recognize it. I know the folds. Thats my five. My first response is What? You dont want my five? Is it like Protestant money, ewww? I dont know. Is it you dont present a folded bill in the offering? Im starting to wonder. I have to be honest with you; I was a little put off. I was a little offended. The thought crossed my mind, You dont want it? Fine. Ill put it back. It spends. Why dont you want my five? What is it? (Congregation is chuckling.) I just felt really put off by it, kind of like second class, You dont even want my money. I had no idea what the reasoning was behind why they singled out that bill and took it out, but you know what? Some people feel like that five dollar bill. There are a lot of people that feel rejected. There are a lot of people that feel like they just dont measure up. They feel they arent worthy, that theyre not accepted. They feel because of what theyve done, they could never earn Gods love or acceptance. Thats true-we cant earn Gods love. But what Jesus demonstrated to all those five dollar bills out there, and youd never know them… Sometimes those of us who feel unworthy or unloved or rejected, we put on a pretty good act, a pretty good mask. We dont talk about it, or we put on a nice smiley face. We dont share what is going on inside, but inside you feel like a very second class Christian. How does God feel about you? You dont even have to wonder or ask that question, because Hes already addressed it in His Word. Look at Jesus; if you see Jesus, youve seen the Father. Jesus went out of His way to minister to the broken-hearted. I think of Zacchaeus. I think of the woman at the well, Sychar, in John 4. I think of the woman in John 8 who is caught in adultery. I think of the woman who came and wiped off the tears with her hair. I think of so many people, blind Bartimaeus. I think of the beggar that couldnt walk, all of the lepers, all of these outcasts and rejects. Through Jesus Christ, we know God cares about all people. We know that He loves people. We know Hes a gracious God because of the incarnation. We see God in His birth, Christmas. We see God in the life He lived. We see God revealed: His wisdom as He spoke, His power as He worked miracles. We see His great love in the cross. One of my favorite books, I read this back around 1980, was called Knowing God by JI Packer. I can still remember a quote from this book. Has anybody read that? Its a good book. Packer is no relation to the Green Bay Packers. I dont think. I dont think I would have read it if it were (congregation laughing). Im going to decide here and now, because of whats going on, Im not going to say another bad thing about Green Bay the rest of this year. Im going to declare a truce, right? Okay. So JI Packer said, The most amazing thing, if Jesus Christ is God in the flesh-if He is the divine Son of God, is not that He would rise from the dead. If He were the Son of God, one would expect that He would have victory over death. The most amazing thing, if He is the incarnate Son of God, is that He would die. I read that, I underlined that, put stars by that, and I went, Wow! The most amazing thing is that He would die. Revelations 1, right around Verse 17-18: this is in the beginning and the end, the Alpha Omega, Im God. I was dead, and Im alive forever more. So in His death, He reveals His nature to us that He is a loving God. Through his resurrection, He reveals His glory. In the incarnation, God has shown Himself to us. The fourth way that God lets us know who He is, is the witness of regeneration. In John 14:15 (page 1068), just a few verses down here, Jesus is trying to comfort them because He is leaving. If youve ever lost a loved one or a close friend, youre saddened by that. So, Hes trying to bring comfort to them. He says, If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor… Counselor is the word comforter. In the Greek, its Parakletos, one called alongside to help us. Jesus is saying, Im going to send another one just like Me to you to be with you till you sin. Then Hes gone. To be with you until you die… then youre on your own. The comforter comes, and He will be with you, how long does Jesus say? Forever. Last time I checked, forever was a long time. …the spirit of truth. Hes going to bring you into Gods truth. Hes going to reveal Gods truth to you, He says elsewhere in this chapter. Hes going to bring back to your mind the things I have taught you. …the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be… where? … in you. We talk about intimacy; it doesnt get any closer than that. It doesnt get any more intimate than that, than in you. Thats the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. He comes within us at the new birth and makes us alive. It enables us; it empowers us to do Gods will and to know God. I will not leave you as orphans; Jesus said, I will come to you. Whos coming? The Holy Spirit. Jesus says, I will come to you. Do you see the Trinity here in this chapter? Jesus says, If youve seen me, youve seen the Father. The Father is in Me. We receive the Holy Spirit; Jesus is in the Holy Spirit, so through the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead, it dwells the believer. The Trinity is seen here in Chapter 4. The Father is in the Son; the Son is in the Spirit; and the Spirit is in us. Jesus says, You can know Him, not just know about God, but know Him-not just be able to point out from creation whats been made, but you can know Him. Years ago, my family and I were on vacation down south and decided… I grew up in Illinois, and that affected my choice of sports teams, of course. There was a player youve probably never heard of who played for the Bulls, whose name was Michael Jordan, an obscure name. He went through like a period of temporary insanity where he decided he was going to leave basketball and play baseball. Do you remember that? He played for the Birmingham Barons, if you remember that. While we were on vacation, we were going near Alabama, so we said, Lets see if Birmingham is on the schedule. Sure enough, it was a home game. I said, Hey, lets go, and maybe well see Michael Jordan. The point wasnt to see him play baseball; thats not something you really want to see, but it was to see him. So we got there early, and I thought to myself the night before, What if I got to see Michael Jordan? What would I say? Its a more intimate setting; its not a packed-out United Center with cameras, press, and security all around. Its a ballpark, and were there early. What if hes there early? What if we can see him? What if I can talk to him? What would I say? Everything I said sounded stupid in my head. Then I thought, What will he do? Will he reject me? Will he look at me in disgust and shake his head? Will he ignore me, and if does that, Im going to be embarrassed and embarrassed in front of my family. What will I say? I thought about everything. Finally, the scenario happened. Were down there, and Im looking at the field. Ive got my video camera with me, and Michael Jordan comes walking by. Hes closer to me than Ben is right now. Hes like halfway between us. So this is my moment. My sports idol is walking by, and my whole family is just gawking. So what will I say? Ill tell you what I said. Ive got the camera going, and heres what I said, There he is (congregation laughing). That was it! I could have had a conversation with him. In fact, he says one of his favorite things to do is not to sign autographs-its to talk to fans. He says in the long run, that would mean more to you than an autograph, if you actually had a conversation and got to know each other a little bit. I could have said something like, So what part of the game are you working on today, Michael? Maybe he would have responded and told me, Im working on hitting a curve ball. I would have said, Well, were the Williams family from Wisconsin. Were here to support you today. We could have had a conversation! I could have said, I dont just know about Michael Jordan, but now I feel like I know him a little bit. Ive talked to him; and somewhere in some remote part of his brain, he has a memory of me, but it didnt happen. When you are with somebody who you think is greater than you are, the tendency is they need to talk first, and you will respond. Its true. God doesnt want us to just say, There He is. There He is. I see evidence of Him. His word says He wants us to know Him. He has told us whom He is through His creation, through His Word, through His Son, and through the Holy Spirit-through creation, through revelation, through incarnation, and through regeneration. He has revealed Himself to us, and whats more, He has made the invitation. It would be as if Michael came up to me and said, Hey, where are you guys from? Lets talk. Matthew 11:28 (page 966), Jesus is speaking to whoever will listen, and He says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. What an invitation you and I have! How foolish we would be to walk away from such an invitation. So my question this morning is this: If God has revealed Himself, He wants us to know Him so we can say, I know God, what are you doing with that invitation? What are you doing with that revelation? Are you seeking to know Him more? Not just know about Him. Thats not what The Truth Project is about. Its about knowing Him. Hes given us the privilege to do that. Amen? Amen.