All of us live with many things we “don’t see” but which we tend to accept, trust, or just unconsciously assume, in order to live and function. How many of us have seen electricity? We see its effects, and value its role, but have you seen it, or do you require that kind of knowledge in order to believe or act? Similarly, not many of us have seen atoms, visited all the world, or seen or experienced other planets, but we generally accept their existence or reality for reasons perhaps we have never considered or explored?
Love is central to all our being and doing, yet what is it? We know it when it comes to us, in the discovery of our partner, in the birth of a child, in experiencing things in life that enrich and enhance us and being, but what is it? We see and feel its effects, but it is transcendent; it is other, yet it is there, and it is real. If I try to base my life exclusively (as some have done) on only believing, accepting or acting on the things my senses alone justify, I set an impossible goal and an impractical aim. We sense in our hearts that there is more to life than meets the eye, taste or touch.
We all learn in many ways. We accumulate knowledge and experience not only by firsthand encounters but also by the testimony of others and the instruction of parents, family, and schools, through reading, conversation, travel and experience. We don’t then deconstruct everything or try to (though this is in vogue now for some as I write) in the vain hope that only that which the sovereign SELF justifies is real! Our knowledge, belief and ability to function and life are rooted in many things we don’t see and never will yet upon which we rely and need to function. Many hidden (and often to us) unseen or unknown influences shape us, form us, and help us, whether or not we see them.
How can we believe in a God we don’t see or have not seen? We have the testimony of witnesses in the Gospels, not least John Chapter 1, where the writer affirms that “the word became flesh,” and the writer says, “he beheld His glory” (see John 1:14). The same writer in a letter writes of what he had seen, heard and handled (1 John: 1-3). So, what does this mean…for the Christian or a person seeking to understand how we can truly know God?
- We have multiple testimonies across history, diverse cultures, locations and experiences claiming to know this God. To have real and true knowledge of Him.
- We have the witness of history and the events surrounding the claims in the Gospels are tested against actual occurring events, places, and times that can be explored.
- We have the experience of many, past and present, which we can listen to, examine and weigh as evidence of something, perhaps not fully authoritative but nevertheless something to be weighed and considered.
- We have the possibility of an encounter. God, through Jesus invites us to know Him and reveals Himself to those who diligently seek and come willing to know Him.
Relational knowing is real. It is the result of mutual interaction, loving exchange and constant growth. God has revealed Himself in history, through His word, in the witness of people, in the structures of creation and in many ways where his fingerprints and footprints arouse our sense of order and transcendence. Ultimately, how can I know? Turn to Him and ask, or as the Psalmist said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34:8).
