Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Jesus, in John 17:3
“As it is written, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of man except the spirit of man that is in him? Likewise also, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we might know the things freely given to us by God”
1Corinthians 2:9–12
There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. The whole world knows about God, but knowing God is impossible without knowing His Son, Jesus. Jesus’ statement, “No one comes to the Father but by me,” includes coming to the Father by any means, whether coming to Him spiritually by being born again, coming to know Him intellectually, or coming bodily to stand on the glassy sea in His holy presence. No one can by any means come to the Father except by the Son. It is true that Paul said it is by the Spirit that we have access to the Father, but the Spirit is given only to those who believe in the Son of God, Jesus.
We must receive the Spirit of God within us. Jesus purchased it for us by his own blood. If we do not have the Spirit, Paul taught, we do not belong to God and we cannot please God. It is only by the Spirit that anyone ever comes to know God. Even the Son knew God by the Spirit.
We know God, then, only to the extent that we are filled with His Spirit, and the Spirit is given to us only in the name of God’s Son, Jesus. Most of the human race is content merely to know about God. Just a few, Jesus said, would ever find the way of life and truly come to know Him.