Eternal life is knowing God
"Jesus spoke these
words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:
'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son
also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You
have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have
sent."
John
17:1-3
"He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by
Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. All things were created through Him
and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things
consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He
may have the preeminence."
Colossians 1:15-17
"Thus says the Lord:
'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man
glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands
and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I
delight,' says the Lord."
Jeremiah
9:23-24
"... finding fault with
them, He says: '...this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put
My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and
I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall
teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest
of them. "
Hebrews
8:8-11 [Quoting
Jeremiah 31:31-34]
Only by His Spirit can
we know Him
"...as it is written:
'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those
who love Him.'
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of
the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God
except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might
know the things that have been freely given to us by God....
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual
judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct
Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."
1
Corinthians 2:9-16
"Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to
Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all
things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
Romans
11:33-36
He opens our "eyes"
to see the truth
"...as He sat at
the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew
Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one
another, 'Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with
us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'"
Luke
24:30-32
"And He opened their
understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."
Luke
24:45
"The Lord opened
her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and
her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, 'If you have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and
stay."
Acts
16:14
Many think they know
Him but never received Him
"I
speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and
hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them
the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you
will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and
not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull....
"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they
hear; or assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." Matthew
13:13-17
"But to the wicked God says: 'What right have
you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth,
seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? ...
You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke
you...."
Psalm
50:16-17, 21
"'For My thoughts
are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the
Lord.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'"
Isaiah
55:8-9
"For the
Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1
Samuel 16:7
"You thought that
I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you..."
Psalm
50:21
"[Jesus] was the
true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the
world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not
receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, to those who believe in His
name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God."
John
1:9-13
"And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth."
John
1:13
"...do you despise
the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and
longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads
you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and
your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath
in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God."
Roman
2:4-5
"Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom
of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased
God through the foolishness of the message preached to save
those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek
after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a
stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to
those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is
wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
1
Corinthians 1:20-25
"....we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the
rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory."
1
Corinthians 2:7-8
Attributing His
works to human intellect or other gods
"...the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in
them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of
the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although
they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became
fools.... Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the
lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among
themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...."
Romans
1:18-25
"...you
should turn from these useless things to the living God,
who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are
in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk
in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without
witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and
fruitful seasons..."
Acts
14:15-17
Those who know Him will
tell others
"You have done all
these great things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore
You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is
there any God besides You...."
2 Samuel
7:21-22
"[Jesus]
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were
created through Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the
body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."
Col
1:15-18
"In God we boast
all day long, and praise Your name forever."
Psalm
44:8
"...not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the
base things of the world and the things which are despised God
has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing
the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His
presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us
wisdom from God -- and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption -- that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let
him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians
1:26-31
"...now we
see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in
part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."
1 Corinthians 13:12
"Now to the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor
and glory forever and ever. Amen."
1
Timothy 1:17