John 17:3, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Romans 1:20
The Question of Questions
The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with what it calls "the chief end of man" — the ultimate purpose of human existence: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."
Not to be happy. Not to be successful. Not to make the world a better place. To know, glorify, and enjoy God — this is what human beings are for. Everything else is secondary.
Knowledge That Is Personal
The Hebrew and Greek words for "knowing" God — yada and ginōskō — consistently describe something more than intellectual acquaintance. Yada is the word used of the intimate knowledge between a husband and wife (Genesis 4:1). It is relational, personal, engaged knowledge — the knowledge that comes from sustained encounter and relationship.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 sets the contrast sharply: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practises steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth."
Wisdom, might, riches — all legitimate goods — are relativised by knowing God. This one thing exceeds all others.
Knowledge That Is Propositional
To know God personally does not mean personal relationship replaces doctrinal content. You cannot love a God you do not know; you cannot trust a character you have not understood. The attributes of God explored throughout this category — His holiness, love, justice, sovereignty, faithfulness, goodness — are not abstract theological information. They are the character of the Person to be known.
The richer your knowledge of who God is, the richer your experience of knowing Him will be. Doctrine feeds devotion.
The Means of Knowing God
God has given specific means through which He is known:
Creation. "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." (Romans 1:20). Creation reveals something of God's character.
Scripture. God's primary self-disclosure is through His Word — the written record of His acts, His words, and above all His Son. "In the past God spoke to our fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Jesus Christ. The ultimate revelation of God is the incarnate Son: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9). To know Christ is to know God.
The Holy Spirit. The Spirit's work is to illuminate the Word, to apply it, and to draw believers into deeper experience of the God who has revealed Himself: "The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10).
The Eternal Destination
The life to come is not a static rest but an eternal, ever-deepening knowing of the God who is inexhaustibly rich. "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3). Eternal life is not mere duration — it is quality of relationship with the living God, begun now, perfected then.