Digging Deeper
There is a big difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. I remember one of the first few times I began to see Ben, my husband of now 13 years, around campus and other various places. He walked into freshman orientation class wearing a Hawaiian mesh shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals that he wore with socks—though he denies he ever wore socks and sandals together. He did! I was so drawn to the way he entered into the classroom with confidence and self-assuredness. After seeing him in class, I soon began asking around about him. After hearing so many stories about him, I was enticed to know him myself. Five months later, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him.
The stories I had heard about Ben couldn’t compare to my firsthand experience of Ben. I fell in love with one of the most adoring and intentional people I have ever met. With each passing day, there are depths to Ben that are still unfolding to me. He absolutely fascinates me. As we grow together in this marriage, we are being fused together into a oneness that can only come from being rooted in a firsthand experience and knowledge of one another that includes trust, forgiveness, and first and foremost love. Marriage is much like our relationship with God!
What do you know about the nature of God? What is He really like?
Circle the attributes that you have been taught about God.
(add any that aren’t listed)
List the attributes of God that you have experienced:
In Hosea 4:6, we see that God cried out because He declared that His very own people don’t know Him. In this particular verse, “to know” is from the Hebrew word yada, and it means to know by firsthand experience (Strong’s #H3045). Not only were the people turning away from God because they did not believe, but the priests were also falling into idol worship. If you continue reading the passage, it goes on to say that their lack of firsthand knowledge of God would affect their future generations.
“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.”
—Hosea 4:6, NLT
Our intimate knowledge of God will impact our future generations, too! There is no way around it. Let’s grow from assuming we know God’s character to a true knowledge gained through experiencing a relationship with our heavenly Father! You were created to do so!
Read these verses:
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:8-11)
1 From what we know, had Adam ever experienced the judgment of God before hiding from Him in Genesis 3:8?
Yes or No
2 Why was Adam’s first reaction to hide?
3 How much of what you know about God is based on personal experience (firsthand knowledge) or on knowing about Him (secondhand knowledge)? Does what you know about God cause you to hide from Him? Explain.
How could Adam, who knew God, or the Israelites, who experienced God’s tangible devotion over and over again, turn away from Him? Simply, when our aim isn’t rooted and grounded in the great I AM, satan the accuser will shake and divide our hearts and minds. Our identities must be established in His identity. Jesus enabled us to enter into an incredible union with God so that our identity was changed and we were given a new name. Unless our origin begins in Christ, our identity statement, our I AM, will be rooted outside of truth and we will live in a reality that God never created nor intended for us! Our Father is calling His children home. He’s pursuing us and giving us more than we deserve or could ever imagine. Aren’t you ready to hear and see and live out that reality to the fullest?
Think for a moment about the power of your very own testimony. Revelation 12:11 says that we overcome the accuser through the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and the word of our testimony. Our testimony is a declaration of a firsthand knowledge of the living God in our lives. Our testimony ignites faith when God’s relationship with humanity is revealed through our individual stories. The praise and proclamation of our very own relationship with our Savior is so powerful. He has interwoven Himself into us and given us the authority to overcome everything the accuser can throw at us!
Over the next eight lessons, we are going to allow Holy Spirit to uncover the lies that keep us hidden from God, much like Adam hid from God. Let us go into our hearing moment with open hearts. He will renew our minds and remind us that we are as His children, and we will become confident in His voice.
Hearing Moment
Write a letter to God. The only requirement is an open heart! What is keeping you from intimately knowing God? What questions do you have about Him? Holy Spirit will guide you out of hiding. Remember, God is not offended by your theories of Him. He already knows all and sees everything. He knows where you are, and He wants you to know that it is safe to be open with Him. As you write, be listening for that still, small voice that may answer questions, comfort you, and heal your heart. Journal everything down as He reveals Himself to you as you write your letter.