Koji je ključ za pravo poznanje Boga?/What is the key to truly knowing God?

U svima nama postoji želja da nas poznaju i da poznajemo druge. Štaviše, svi ljudi žele da poznaju svog Tvorca, čak i ako se ne deklarišu kao vernici. Danas nas bombarduju reklamama i obećanjima kako da na mnogo načina zadovoljimo svoje potrebe da znamo više, imamo više, budemo nešto više. Međutim, prazna obećanja koja dolaze od sveta nikada nas neće zadovoljiti na način na koji to može poznanje Boga. Isus je rekao: „A ovo je večni život, da poznaju tebe, jedinoga pravoga Boga, i Isusa Hrista koga si poslao." (Jovan 17:3). Koji je onda pravi ključ da bismo poznavali Boga? Prvo, to je imperativ da razumemo da čovek, sam po sebi nije u stanju da zaista poznaje Boga zbog svoje grešnosti. Pismo nam otkriva da smo svi grešni (Rimljanima 3) i da smo svi izneverili merilo svetosti koja je potrebna da bismo bili bliski sa Bogom. Takođe stoji da je posledica našeg greha smrt (Rimljanima 6:23) i da ćemo otići u večnu propast bez Boga osim ako ne prihvatimo obećanje Hristove žrtve na krstu. Da bismo zaista poznavali Boga moramo da ga prihvatimo u svoj život. „ A svima, koji ga primiše, dade moć da postanu deca Božija, — onima što veruju u njegovo ime" (Jovan 1:12). Ništa nije od većeg značaja nego da razumemo istinu kada se radi o poznavanju Boga. Isus pojašnjava da je on jedini put do neba i ličnog poznanja Boga: „Reče mu Isus: ja sam put i istina i život; niko ne dolazi k Ocu — sem kroz mene." (Jovan 14:6). Da bi čovek krenuo ovim putem jedino što je potrebno je da prihvati i primi obećanja koja su ranije pomenuta. Isus je došao da u nas udahne život tako što je ponudio Sebe kao žrtvu za naše grehe da nas naši gresi ne bi sprečili da poznajemo Boga. Kada jednom prihvatimo istinu, možemo da započnemo putovanje poznavanja Boga na ličan način. Jedan od ključnih elemenata ovog putovanja je razumevanje da je Biblija Božija Reč i Njegovo otkrivenje Sebe, Njegovih obećanja i Njegove volje. Biblija je u suštini ljubavno pismo koje nam Bog pun ljubavi piše, koji nas je stvorio da bismo ga blisko poznavali. Koji je bolji način da naučimo nešto o Svom Tvorcu nego da uronimo u Njegovu Reć, koja nam je otkrivena baš iz ovog razloga? Bitno je nastaviti ovaj proces celim putem. Pavle je pisao Timoteju: „ A ti ostani u onome što si naučio i u šta si uveren, znajući od koga si naučio i što iz malena znaš Sveta pisma, koja te mogu umudriti na spasenje verom u Hrista Isusa. Sve Pismo je bogonadahnuto i korisno za pouku, za karanje, za popravljanje, za odgajanje u pravednosti" (2. Timoteju 3:14-16). Konačno, istinsko poznavanje Boga uključuje našu posvećenost da budemo poslušni onome što čitamo Pismu. Na kraju krajeva, svi smo stovoreni da činimo dobra dela (Efežanima 2:10) da bismo bili deo božijeg plana da Sebe otkrije svetu. Mi nosimo odgovornost da živimo veru koju Bog od nas očekuje da imamo. Mi smo so i svetlost sveta na zemlji (Mateja 5:13-14), stvoreni da donesemo Božiji ukus svetu i da služimo kao blistava svetlost u sred tame. Ne samo da moramo da čitamo i razumemo Božiju Reč, moramo da je primenjujemo poslušno i da ostanemo verni (Jevrejima 12). Isus je naglasio da je od najveće važnosti da volimo Boga i svoga bližnjeg kao samog sebe (Mateja 22). Ovu zapovest je nemoguće držati ako nemamo posvećenost da čitamo i primenjujemo Njegovu istinu koja je otkrivena u Njegovoj Reči. Ovi su ključevi da zaista poznajemo Boga. Naravno, naši životi uključuju mnogo više, kao što je posvećenost molitvi, pobožnost, zajedništvo i naravno, slavljenje. Međutim, ovo može samo da sledi posle odluke da prihvatimo Isusa i njegova obećanja u naše živote i da prihvatimo da sami po sebi ne možemo da poznajemo Boga. Tada naši životu mogu da budu ispunjeni Bogom, i možemo da ga iskusimo blisko i lično.

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Within all of us there exists a strong desire to be known and to know others. More importantly, all people desire to know their Creator, even if they are not professed believers in God. Today we are bombarded with advertising that promises many ways to satisfy our cravings to know more, have more, be more. However, the empty promises that come from the world will never satisfy in the way that knowing God will satisfy. Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). So, "what is the key to truly knowing God?" First, it is imperative to understand that man, on his own, is incapable of truly knowing God because of man’s sinfulness. The Scriptures reveal to us that we are all sinful (Romans 3) and that we fall well short of the standard of holiness required to commune with God. We are also told that the consequence of our sin is death (Romans 6:23) and that we will perish eternally without God unless we accept and receive the promise of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. So, in order to truly know God, we must first receive Him into our lives. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). Nothing is of greater importance than understanding this truth when it comes to knowing God. Jesus makes it clear that He alone is the way to heaven and to a personal knowledge of God: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). There is no requirement to begin this journey besides accepting and receiving the promises mentioned above. Jesus came to breathe life into us by offering Himself as a sacrifice so our sins will not prevent us from knowing God. Once we have received this truth, we can begin the journey of knowing God in a personal way. One of the key ingredients in this journey is understanding that the Bible is God’s Word and is His revelation of Himself, His promises, His will. The Bible is essentially a love letter written to us from a loving God who created us to know Him intimately. What better way to learn about our Creator than to immerse ourselves in His Word, revealed to us for this very reason? And it is important to continue this process throughout the entire journey. Paul writes to Timothy, "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-16). Finally, truly knowing God involves our commitment to obey what we read in the Scriptures. After all, we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) in order to be part of God’s plan of continuing to reveal Himself to the world. We carry the responsibility to live out the very faith that is required to know God. We are salt and light on this earth (Matthew 5:13-14), designed to bring God’s flavor to the world and to serve as a shining light in the midst of darkness. Not only must we read and understand God’s Word, we must apply it obediently and remain faithful (Hebrews 12:1-3). Jesus Himself placed the greatest importance on loving God with all we are and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22). This command is impossible to keep without the commitment to reading and applying His truth revealed in His Word. These are the keys to truly knowing God. Of course, our lives will involve much more, such as commitment to prayer, devotion, fellowship, and worship. But those can only follow making a decision to receive Jesus and His promises into our lives and accepting that we, on our own, cannot truly know God. Then our lives can be filled with God, and we can experience knowing Him intimately and personally.