How Do We Know About God?

By His Written Revelation 

We have already referred to the fact that the Word of God is the first source of knowing what the Lord God is all about. This biblical knowledge reveals that God is Person; He is not simply a mindless force or power! From the Scriptures we learn of His character, attributes, personality, love, and a thousand other truths that we should know about the One who created us! 

The Bible is the first-line of revelation about knowing God. In a certain absolute sense, it is the only way, though there are certain other facets of knowledge about the Lord we need to look at. 

God’s promises, His Word, and His actions are all tied together in the very nature of biblical revelation. The Scriptures are telling us how God has revealed Himself, in Scripture itself, and through the human agencies, the prophets and apostles.
As the revelation of the Law was being completed, it was revealed to the priest Korah that the Lord was separating him from the congregation, "to bring you to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord" (Num. 16:9). The Lord spoke to the young servant of Eli the priest, and "revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord" (1 Sam. 3:21). In the temple ordinances and services in the Old Testament, the Jewish people learned of the Lord. "We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has given us light" (Ps. 118:26b-27a). Along with giving light, we are told an understanding of God’s works are found in the study of Scripture. "Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them" (111:2). 

Jesus, the Son of God, made it known that He could be found in was in the Old Testament. After His resurrection, He began "with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27). 

From page to page in the Word of God, the Lord reveals Himself. Sometimes that message about who He simply exists, is a message of judgment. In speaking to wayward Israel, He said through the prophet Jeremiah, "And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, "… you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law; which I have set before you, …’" (Jer. 26:4).
Finally, the apostle Paul shows how important the written Scriptures are when it comes to knowing God. He writes, "but just as it is written, ‘things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love God’" (1 Cor. 2:9). The apostle puts together in this verse two phrases from Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17. From two written prophecies, Paul created a bit of poetry about what Isaiah had recorded the Lord saying. God was revealing something about Himself we could never find in nature, or in the recesses of our own natural mind.
How blessed is the man who delights "in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water" (Ps. 1:2-3a). 

The Universe Declares the Glory of God
Natural revelation can never come close in revealing God. At best, it only can show something of the work of God in creation. In theory natural revelation should bring about a spiritual thirst for God, but it will not! It may however, be a witness of judgment, in that men could have, and should have seen God in nature, but they refused. Instead, they attribute the miracles of creation to some kind of mindless Force, or better yet, to blind evolutionary chance happenings. 

The great reformed theologian Charles Hodge says natural theology is a trustworthy revelation, but only "in the wide sense of the word." Natural theological arguments, he says, are inconclusive because men must judge for themselves.1 And such human judgment is clouded and blinded by self-interest and sin.
The question whether the knowledge of God derived from his works, be sufficient to lead fallen men to salvation, is answered affirmatively by rationalists, but negatively by every historical branch of the Christian Church. … The question as to the sufficiency of natural theology, or of the truths of reason, is to be answered on the authority of Scripture. No man call tell a priori what is necessary to salvation. Indeed, it is only by supernatural revelation that we know that any sinner can be saved. It is from the same source alone, we can know what are the conditions of salvation, or who are to be its subjects.2 The child of God has an advantage. He can look at nature, then into the Scriptures, and understands that what is made comes into being by the God of the Bible. The person who is lost cannot do this. He generally will ascribe creation to some other deity or natural force.

Psalm 19 declares that creation witnesses the glory of God. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (v. 1). Like speech without words, the psalmist says that "night to night" the glory and knowledge of the Lord is revealed (v. 2). As important as natural revelation may be, the psalmist goes on in verses 7-14 and declares that God’s law "restores the soul" (v. 7), not the wonders of the heavens. His commandments rejoice the heart (v. 8a), enlighten the eyes (v. 8b), because "the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether" (v. 9b). Added to this, the psalmist also writes, "The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory" (97:6).

Paul used natural theology as part of his great proclamation of salvation to the Athenians at the Areopagus. He proclaimed that they worshiped in ignorance, through their statue to the Unknown God. He says this Unknown God is "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth," and he does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24).

The apostle further states in Romans that the knowledge of God is revealed to men in creation, is clearly seen, and is "being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (1:20b). But men corrupted this knowledge, "became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hear was darkened" (v. 21b). The result is that men serve the creation, "rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever" (v. 25b). With all of accumulated revelation about nature, Paul’s verdict is still, "There is none who seeks for God" (3:11; Ps. 14:1-3).

To Job’s friend Elihu, God asks the question, "Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, …"? (Job 36:29). The Lord turns the cloud in the sky that "it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth" (37:12). Even to a believer like Job the Lord said, "Stand and consider the wonders of God. Do you know how God establishes [His natural order] …"? (v.14).

Telling Job to look at the constellations, the Lord asks him who controls the orbits and revolutions of the Pleiades and Orion. Who guides "the Bear and her satellites"? (38:32). "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth"? (v.33).
With all such glorious and profound evidence, people still do not rush to the Lord. His work in the universe is just here! But mankind gives it little credence! Nevertheless, God is doing great things which we cannot comprehend. (37:5b)

God Can be Seen in our own Creation
Only a fool would fail to see that he is wonderfully and marvelously constructed. Job said, "Thy hands fashioned and made me all together, …Thou hast made me as clay; …[You] clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit[ed] me together with bones and sinews, … Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness" (Job 10:8-11). David added, "Thou didst form my inward parts; … I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:13-14). And Paul concludes "He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; … in Him we live and move and exist, … ‘For we also are His offspring [generated by Him]’" (Acts 17:25, 27).

The apostle reminds his listeners that this should sober people spiritually; they "should seek God, if perhaps they might group for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (v. 27). He adds that God is not like an idol of gold, silver, or stone, the art image of man (v. 29). Such obvious knowledge and information is concluding that "God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent" (v. 30), because God "has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man [Christ] whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (v. 31).
Paul ties together the idea that, because God is the Creator of human beings, people should repent and turn to Him who made us. The object of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle has set forth a plausible and reasonable argument. But because of the hardness of the human mind and heart, such fact about our origins and beginnings, does not cause men to want God.

God’s Eternal Power and Divine Nature are seen in Creation
Job’s friend Elihu rightly speaks of God’s greatness in the way He carries out His creative work: "Behold, God is exalted in His power; … Who has appointed Him His way, … Remember that you should exalt His work, of which men have sung. All men have seen it; man beholds from afar" (Job 36:22-25). Paul adds that though creation and by what has been made, "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature" are clearly seen (Rom. 1:20).

Invisible attributes. The word attributes is not really in the verse and is a poor translation of the Greek text. This could have in mind His invisible qualities. On this verse Haldane writes:
God is invisible in Himself, for He is a Spirit, elevated beyond the reach of all our senses. Being a Spirit, He is exempted from all composition of parts, so that when the Apostle here ascribes to Him ‘invisible things’ in the plural, it must not be imagined that there is not in God a perfect unity. It is only intended to mark the different attributes of Deity.3 Eternal power and divine nature. Better, both His eternal power and deity. "What is denoted is that God is powerful and that He possesses those properties normally associated with deity. These properties of God that cannot be seen (aidois) are seen (kathoratai). … God in His essence is hidden from human sight, yet much of Him and much about Him can be seen through the things He has made."4 The apostle Paul goes on however and explains that such clear evidence of God’s existence, both visible and understood, does not turn men to the Lord. Instead,
they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom. 1:20b-21) This is why the psalmist David writes, "The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’" (Ps. 14:1). He adds, "They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt" (v. 3), and "They do not call upon the Lord" (v. 4).

Lightner summarizes:
This natural revelation of the power and deity of God renders all people, who have rejected the truth of His existence without excuse before Him (Rom. 1:20). This divine disclosure in nature is universal. God’s revelation in nature may be compared to a great concert or symphony. Some hear only the instruments. But those who are familiar with the composer and know the words hear more than the music. They interpret what they hear by what they know about the music. In much the same way, only the one who has a personal relationship with the Creator through faith in Jesus Christ can really see in nature the fullness of what God intended to reveal about Himself through it.4 God’s Footsteps are Observed in the Course of History
The Bible tells us the Lord is the author of history. This includes, as already mentioned, the courses of both natural history, and human history. The world cannot understand this. To the lost, history moves forward simply by blind chance. It is but the happenstance of what people accidentally do in time. People are the masters of their own ship of destiny, and the rise and fall of human history is totally capricious.

Interestingly however, when things go wrong, or evil triumphs, God is to blame! "How could a good God let this happen?" they often say. And when something "good" happens, it is attributed to luck or the creative genius of human beings.

Job reveals how God "makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away" (Job 12:23). The apostle Paul preached to the Athenians that "He made from one [people], every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of the habitation" (Acts 17:26).

The Lord has declared "the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure’" (Isa. 46:10). With pagan nations such as the Chaldeans, the Lord says He "shall carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans" (48:14).

Egypt would someday fall and the people of that land would "know that I am the Lord, when I set a fire on Egypt" (Ezek. 30:8). With Egypt and other nations, God may do as He pleases. "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh," and as well, " [will] scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the Lord" (v. 26).

For his arrogance, Nebuchandezzar was told he would grovel like an animal in the grass "until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes" (Dan. 4:32b). When the king was restored from his insanity, he testified that God "does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’" (v. 35).

In the final days of world history, the Lord will scatter earth’s inhabitants, and they will be burned and few will be left (Isa. 24:1). Through Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the great statue, Daniel told the king about the final kingdom of God from heaven, that "will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms" of the earth (2:44). Daniel added, "The great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future" (v. 45b). Just before the Messiah comes, the nations will be gathered to the battle of Armageddon for the last great world battle (Rev. 19:17-21).

Despite all of the evidence that the Lord is the author of history, this fact does not cause mankind to bow before Him. With all of the terrors falling on people in the tribulation, lightning, storms, and earthquakes, they still "did not repent, so as to give Him glory" (16:9b), and "they did not repent of their deeds" (v. 11), instead, they "blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe" (v. 21b).
Righteous judgment in the nations does not bring men to God!

In regard to the Lord’s activities in history, Walvoord writes:
The destiny of nations is in the hands of the omnipotent God. History is moving inexorably to its prophesied consummation. The divine program in all its detail will be fulfilled. The Son of God will reign in Zion. The nations will bow at His feet. Ultimately the present earth will be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth in which the New Jerusalem will be the home of the redeemed of all ages.6 Only Saving Faith can bring about a Knowledge of God None of the "proofs" of God listed above brings us to God!

Faith in Him, and in what He has said, is the only resting place for the heart. Isaiah reminded the Jews to "truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 10:20b). David wrote, "Trust in the Lord" (Psa. 37:3); "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him" (v. 5); "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him" (v. 7).

Belief signifies an act of the understanding as it gives assent to evidence. Faith looks to the will of God who provides our salvation. We must not trust ourselves, or others, but God only. To trust the Lord’s authority is right, and it brings on an immediate grounding of the soul and mind in all everlasting truth. The Bible is His revelation and it is His authority! Salvation faith is the first act of our life whereby in Christ we live unto God. This trust brings about a union with God the Father, which a mere assent to the truth concerning God can not effect.7

The final dependence of faith comes about by the operation and inner persuasion of the Holy Spirit. "He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).
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1. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3 Vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), 1:23.
2. Ibid., 25.
3. Robert Haldane, Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996), 66.
4. Kenneth Barker, gen. ed., Douglas Moo, Romans 1-8 (Chicago: Moody, 1991), 100.
5. Robert L. Lightner, The God of the Bible and Other Gods (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998), 70.
6. John F. Walvoord, The Nations, Israel and the Church in Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 175-76.
7. William Ames, The Marrow of Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 80-81.