Sunday we begin a series of sermons around the theme of Knowing God, loosely based on the book by J.I. Packer by the same title. This blog entry will serve as a prequel to the series. Packer writes, "The conviction behind the book is that ignorance of God—ignorance both of His ways and of the practice of communion with Him—lies at the root of much of the church’s weakness today."  He goes on to say that Christian minds today have conformed to “the modern spirit.” This spirit causes man to have great thoughts of man and leaves room “for only small thoughts of God.” He argues that a study of the “nature and character of God…is the most practical project anyone can engage in.” He likens living without a strong understanding of God to being placed in a foreign country without any knowledge of the language or customs of that country and being unable to find anyone who speaks English. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.

 

It’s my belief that when one studies the attributes of God it’s similar to looking at a quality diamond. As you look at the diamond and turn it, you get different perspectives—you see the many facets of the diamond. It’s always the same diamond but you see the depth and beauty of that diamond only as you study it at length.  The same thing is true of the study of God. This Sunday I’ll be preaching on the theme of He’s Consistent. Each week Jerry or I will speak on one of the attributes of God. We won’t exhaust the subject or even come close. We do hope to show you one of God’s facets each week.