The Knowledge of the Lord

There are some descriptions of eternity in scripture that we know pretty well. Streets of gold and pearly gates (Rev 21:21). “In my Father’s house there are many rooms…” (John 14:2-3) “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt 25:23)

There are some other descriptions that don’t get as much attention. They’re less vivid. They don’t capture the imagination in the same way that some others do.

Jeremiah tells of a day when

“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. (31:34)

Similarly, Isaiah speaks of a time when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (11:9)

Those two prophetic promises remind me of another line, in Paul’s letters, when the apostle's looking ahead to the future: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12) The Lord knows us fully, searches our hearts and minds (Ps 7:9). And, one day, we will know the Lord fully, know the heart and mind of God.

All of these verses envision a day when we will finally, truly understand and know the Lord. That is one of the unfathomable blessings of eternal life: intimate knowledge of God.

But if all of that is in store for God’s people one day, that should tell us something about our knowledge of God here and now: it’s imperfect, incomplete—for now, we don't fully know.

Now, Jesus is a clear picture of a God who’s otherwise invisible to us. (Col 1:15) But Jesus is also a human picture, and one that we only have secondhand. There are things about God that you can’t see by looking at Christ's life in the gospels, because no book can contain everything about God and one human lifetime isn’t enough to show it all, either. I believe Jesus reveals everything that a person needs to know about God, but, still, our knowledge of God today is imperfect, incomplete. We don’t fully know. Not yet.

What am I getting at with all this?

Stay humble. Know what you don’t know.

Christians can talk about the Lord of Heaven and Earth as if we’ve got it all figured out, as if we’re authorities on the topic who’ve been dispatched to correct and deride all of the ignorant, confused thinking out there. Have a little intellectual humility. Study the scriptures. Pray. Strive to know the Lord. But don’t presume to know it all. Don’t rest on your laurels, confident in your education and enlightenment.

You and I will always be students and novices in this life, always able to learn more, to know God more deeply.

Centuries ago, a brilliant saint named Thomas experienced a revelation of God’s presence while leading a service of Holy Communion. Up to that point, Thomas had been working on his magnum opus, an enormous book of theology that students still pore over more than 700 years later. But after his experience that day, he put his pen down and closed the book. Later on, when a friend encouraged him to start writing again, Thomas said, “I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw.”

One day, we’ll know God fully, like we’re fully known. For now, stay humble. Know what you don’t know.

You can listen to this devotional here: