Scriptures: To Know God

 

Scripture was written so you could know God. Not know about Him. Know Him. The way you know a person, by watching what they do when it matters most.

The way you know God is not through His name. It is through His character.

When Moses stood at the burning bush and asked God for His name, God gave him one that was not really a name at all. “I AM WHO I AM.” Exodus 3:14. That is a declaration of character. I am self-existent. I am unchanging. I am not defined by what you call me. I am defined by what I am.

Moses asks God to “Show me your glory.” Exodus 33:18.

God does not show him a vision. He does not show him heaven. He says, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you.” And then He does. “The LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” Exodus 34:6-7.

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God showed him His character. His compassion. His patience. His forgiveness. And His justice.

That changes how you read everything else. Every story in the Bible is God showing you who He is through what He does.

When He made a covenant with Abraham, He put Abraham to sleep and walked through the pieces alone. Genesis 15. He bound the promise to Himself because He knew Abraham could not keep it.

When Israel was enslaved for four hundred years, God did not forget. The first thing He said to Moses at the bush was “I have seen the suffering of my people. I have heard them crying out. I have come down to rescue them.” Exodus 3:7-8.

When Jonah ran, God did not find another prophet. He pursued him. The character of God does not give up on the people He sends.

And then Christ came and the character of God was made visible in human flesh. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9.

And what did they see? They saw a man who touched lepers when the world crossed the street. They saw a man who stopped for children when His disciples waved them away. They saw a man who sat with a Samaritan woman and talked to her like a human being when His culture said she was beneath Him.

They saw a man who wept at a friend’s grave because love made death feel like a personal offense.

They saw a man who made a whip and drove corruption from His Father’s house because He was not confused about what was worth fighting for.

They saw a man who on the worst night of His life washed the feet of the man He knew would betray Him.

And on the cross, rejected by His people, sold by His disciple, abandoned by His friends, mocked by the leaders who should have recognized Him, He said, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”

That is the character of God. A person in the worst moment imaginable choosing forgiveness over vengeance, choosing love over power, choosing to stay when saving Himself would have meant losing you.

The thief on the cross had no theology. He had no church membership. He had no track record. He said “remember me.” Christ said “today you will be with me in paradise.”

The character of God does not require you to earn what He gives. He gives it because of who He is, not because of who you are.

That is what the Bible is for. It exists so you can see, on every page, the character of a God who does not change, does not lie, does not break His promises, and does not walk away from the people He loves no matter how many times they walk away from Him.

And when that character gets inside you and changes how you see everything, you shine His glory. Not by performing. Not by winning. Not by being right. By being transformed until His character becomes visible in your life the way light becomes visible when it’s dark outside.