JOHN1:1-3 KNOWING GOD

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The Word, that through which God acts, is eternal and inseparable from God. Although it is expressed by God in creation it is God. It always was and always will be God. He is also personal and not some vague and numinous entity or force. An eternal and personal Word is important to us because all healthy relationships are built on personal communication. Even in human relationships, we come to know the thoughts, feelings and motives of another through their words. The more truthful the words, the more accurate is our understanding of the other. Words reveal, but they also have power. We use words to give life and to destroy life.

We say that God’s ways are unfathomable to us. But who of us can accurately describe the Trinity? Although we are made in his image, God is more unlike us than like us. Can he who created the brain be contained by the brain? God is a mystery. This does not mean that he plays sinister mind-games with us or that we can piece clues together and come to know his complete nature if we are smart enough and work at it hard enough. The classic understanding of mystery is that it is a truth that can only be known through revelation. God is such a mystery in that his unfathomable nature is only revealed to us through his Word. The power that brought all creation into being and continues to sustain creation is also the source of our knowledge of God.

If we are to know God and have a relationship with him, then we must grow in our understanding of his Word. The God who created us as material beings employs all our senses as organs for “hearing” his Word. The more fully we engage all our senses the more fully we will receive God’s self-revelation and the healthier our relationship with him will be. St. John’s purpose is to help us experience God more fully through his Word. In turn, our purpose is to expose ourselves to the Word and be blessed by his revelation so that we can be a blessing of the Truth to all those who come into our sphere of influence.

May your Word, O Father, be ever in my thoughts and guiding me to a life of closer obedience to you. Thank you for being willing to “tell” me who you are. Give me the ears to hear so that I might come to know you better and trust you with a greater faith. Amen.