Understanding and Knowing God strives to present an argument for the existence of God. It provides an insightful discussion proving the existence of the biblical God throughout history. It seeks to guide Christian readers so they could grow into an awareness and spiritual relationship with the Father despite the barriers of the secular world.
The book presents a spiritually positive take on the Christian faith and the love of God attempting to dispel the idea so many Christians have that the God of the Old Testament is harsh, angry and judgmental. God is love as John wrote and not perceiving the love of God in the Old Testament indicates that the reader did not comprehend the text.
The God of the Old Testament is badly misunderstood throughout the Judeo-Christian world. He is perceived to be harsh, judgmental, unloving in contrast to the concept people hold of Christ of the New Testament. Understanding and Knowing God endeavors to reveal the unseen God of the bible with a spiritually derived narrative which dispels this negative impression and brings the love of God to light. That mankind should think the God of the Old Testament is little more than a dread sovereign indicates our failure to understand, God and scripture.
When Jesus said as is recorded at the end of the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who stones the prophets and murders those who are sent to you, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers chicks. But you were unwilling. So now your house is being left desolate.” Jesus said these words but when He did He was speaking the heart of God. The Hebrews’ house was being left desolate because they rejected God, not because God rejected them.
Old Testament history is the story of mankind rejecting God and that had consequences. When God punished His people, He did so to be true to them based upon a covenant and His actions were rooted in His love for His people. This can only be understood with spiritual discernment. Understanding and Knowing God attempts to unveil this spiritual discernment of the love of God.
Overall, Understanding and Knowing God is a powerful tool for helping readers cut through the philosophical, theological, social, cultural, and spiritual static of modern times and return to the spiritual intimacy of such biblical personalities as Abraham, Moses, David, and Elijah.
[Buy the book button at the bottom linked to Order Page]
Excerpts:
1. Christianity is the mutually exclusive one true religion on earth. Judeo-Christian scripture reveals the only true God. Jesus was the messiah expected by the Jews. I declare this to be true realizing this certainty of conviction is distasteful in the modern first world. Nonetheless, the God of the bible exists and we must deal with Him. Jesus was and is the Son of God, a unique and extraordinary divine man. All people will face this reality. As scripture says, every knee will bow.
2. Christianity’s religious moral emphasis resulting in poorly formed theologies and doctrines, divides and discredits Christianity in the world. Our many sects and denominations, divided over politics and theology, testify against our spiritual validity. In my adolescent ignorance, before I came to Christian faith I judged all Christian denominations to be odd subcultures of inbred narrow-mindedness and incubated ignorance. After I came to faith as an eighteen-year-old college student, I still had no confidence in any church or denomination. There is obvious sectarian strife and conflict in global Christianity. Our historic lack of unity diminishes Christian spiritual credibility. Our best efforts to form reliable positions on God and scripture lead us into more conflict and division.
3. God knows all people as He knew Enoch, Moses, David, Jeremiah and any other biblical heroes. He knows Roan and He knows you. Our opportunity and biblical heroes’ opportunities for relationship with God are not different. True, God related intimately with selected individuals in biblical history to accomplish specific purposes. However, God loves us all. God is our Father. We are all His children. This is the larger message of scripture.