Knowledge of God
Everywhere you look you can learn something about God. The earth is filled with information about Him. Psalm 19:1 says that the skies proclaim the wonders of God’s handiwork. Romans 1:20 says that since the beginning of creation, God’s attributes have been visible in the world.
Learning about God’s character through nature is called General Revelation. These are the things that anyone can learn about God by observing creation. Special Revelation is knowledge about God and salvation that only comes through His Word.
One example of Special Revelation is Habakkuk 2:14, which talks about a future day when the earth will be filled with true knowledge of God. When this was first proclaimed, the nation of Israel was in the midst of exile. They were experiencing injustice at the hands of their enemies. But God gave them a promise in the middle of their hopeless situation…
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14 NIV
A day will come when all people will know God. Knowledge of Him and His glory will cover the earth. Those who trust in God as their Savior will be with Him eternally in Heaven. But those who do not know Jesus will experience Him as their Judge, and be separated from God eternally.
When Jesus first came to earth, humanity got a glimpse of God’s glory. And because the Holy Spirit is still at work through the global Church—we still get glimpses of that glory. But on the day Jesus returns, all people will recognize Him as the true King. At that time, it will be too late for us to share the life-saving news of Jesus’ death and resurrection with others. That’s why we should use every opportunity we have to help people know Jesus as their Savior before it’s too late.
As Christians, we should pray for the day when Jesus returns and fills the earth with His glory. We should seek God continuously, and read God’s Word to be filled with knowledge of Him. But we should also be looking for opportunities to share the knowledge of God with others—right now.
So take some time today to consider who you can share the hope of Jesus with. And pray for those who do not know Jesus yet—ask that God would use you to help others get to know Him.
Power, Love, and Discipline
One of the miracles of salvation is that when we have faith in Christ, God not only saves us—He also gives us the power to live according to His will. Your life in Christ is one that is empowered by the Holy Spirit living within you.
This is a great gift, but a big shift. It often takes time to change how we think and act. We may have bad habits that take hard work to correct, or patterns of thought that are challenging to break.
Thankfully, God promises to be with us and to empower us to make these changes in our life. When Paul is writing to his mentee Timothy, he encourages him to continue to develop the gift that God has given to him. While we are saved in an instant, it takes a lifetime to develop and work out what God is doing inside of us.
Paul reminds Timothy that God’s Spirit does not give us fear or cowardice. Those things are tools of the devil who is trying to keep us from God. But the Spirit of God empowers us with confidence in Him. He gives us the ...