Knowing and Wanting God

It is remarkable how quickly knowledge of God can evaporate over a generation.  For instance,  during the days of Joshua the children of Israel served the LORD.  Judges 2:10 explains the general condition of the people despite what great things God had done after the death of Joshua and that generation:  "When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. "  Stones of remembrance had been set up, the Law had been recorded and passed down, sacrifices offered, feasts kept, and tithes and offerings brought to the tabernacle, yet the new generation did not know the LORD.  This shows knowing about God is not the same as knowing Him.

Obedience to God because of love and appreciation of Him can quickly degenerate to empty tradition.  In Australia we are seeing a great rise in people who, instead of identifying as Christian, claim they have "no religion."  These days I often heard media classifying generations according to titles like "Baby Boomers," "Generation X or Y" and most recently "Millennials."  To me these generalisations are akin to racial profiling, but there are some measurable trends which demographers use to make observations and draw conclusions.  It could be said there was a clear generational gap in Israel between those who knew the LORD and were eye-witnesses of His presence and power, and for some reason this knowledge of God did not pass to those who followed.  This is always a potential reality because faith in God, experiences, and desire to seek after God are intensely personal.  God can be known personally and intimately, and every individual has a role in cultivating this knowledge and experience.

I have seen a change in the church during the decades I have followed Jesus.  My parents and a lot of people I knew in the 80's came to Jesus out of a legalistic generation, one that frowned upon long hair, smoking cigarettes, drinking, dancing alcohol, and cards.  Going to church meant wearing your best clothes, going to confession, and embracing traditions just because.  People who desired to know God laboured under a heavy load of guilt.  When these people came to Jesus Christ through the Gospel of grace, how they rejoiced!  They had been previously caught in a cycle of dead works and labour of the flesh to try to appease and please God as best they could, trying to earn favour, blessings, salvation, and forgiveness.  With this new found freedom empowered by the Holy Spirit, these people largely loved to gather to worship, serve others, study the Bible, and spread the Good News.

Fast forward to the next generation, to the children raised in Christian homes were there was an understanding of God's love and grace.  Those who are familiar with the Gospel from their youth and the love of Jesus for them do not seem as acutely aware of their sins and faults before a holy God.  Service becomes the end rather than obedience to the God they know and love.  Since they know their sins are forgiven there is little thought of their need to pursue holiness and their own sanctification.  Because there is small emphasis on the Law of God and His righteous requirements guilt and brokenness for sin does not lead to greater appreciation of God's grace.  It is said Millennials have "entitlement" issues, and Christians who have primarily been fed a spiritual diet of grace and love (which appeals to self) expect God to forgive them.  God's grace is taken for granted and so people fall short of it without repentance.  It is one thing for people outside the church to be willfully ignorant of God, but there are many in the church who are like the second generation of Israelites in Canaan who did not know God.

I am merely generalising here, but hopefully the point is communicated that we need the whole counsel of the Word of God!  Our own background and personality will colour the way we approach God, and without the ministry of the Word our view will be skewed.  I am grateful for God's faithfulness to us, how He reveals Himself to us regardless of our generation, ethnicity, or age.  Without His aid we would be hopeless blind and lost, entrenched in empty traditions of men and measuring the health of our spiritual lives by other lost men.  This is the condition of many today, and of some even attend church regularly.  Praise the LORD for the fellowship of the saints and how we can exhort each other to good works today, for night is coming when we can no longer work.  May we be able to say of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ:  "I saw Him and I sought Him, I had Him and I wanted Him." (Taylor, Howard. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. Moody Press, 1993. page 21)  How excellent is the knowledge of our God, and let us make Him known!