OUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS " . . . casting down . . . every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 37 of 44
As already pointed out, the "knowledge of God," or personal acquaintance and involvement with Him, is the appointed means through which grace and peace are multiplied to us. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, and of Jesus our Lord" (2 Pet 1:2). It is further true that everything essential to life and godliness come through this means. "According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Pet 1:3).
This is also the means through which we escape from the contaminations of this present evil world. "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2 Pet 2:20).
Add to this the fact that the knowledge of God is one of the pillars of the New Covenant. It is something that EVERYONE in Christ possesses to some degree. Thus it is said of the New Covenant which Jesus is presently administering, "And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for ALL SHALL KNOW ME, from the least to the greatest" (Heb 8:11; Jer 31:34). It simply is not possible to be under the New Covenant and, at the same time, be fundamentally ignorant of God. That condition contradicts the covenant itself.
A "high thing that exalts itself" against the knowledge of God is a thought that distorts one's view of God. It causes the individual to have misconceptions of God, which in every case are lethal to the soul. The kernel of heathendom, or the Gentile world, is encapsulated in these arresting words, "the Gentiles which KNOW NOT GOD" (1 Thess 4:5). Add to this the fact that those who do not know God will, in the end, be condemned. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them THAT KNOW NOT GOD, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess 1:7-8). I hardly see how anything could be more serious than NOT knowing God! This is a matter that is only addressed and resolved in God's "great salvation."
If religious people do not know the Lord, or have a distorted view of Him, it is because obstacles have been raised up against such knowledge – "high things" have exalted themselves, supplanting what God has revealed of Himself, and leaving the people with a basically corrupt, and hence powerless, view of God.
I am appalled at the miserable level of the knowledge of God in the churches and among religious leaders. One can scarcely find a person who has a proper view of God Himself – how He saves people, what He loves, what He hates, what He prefers, etc.
A religious climate has been cultured in American churches that allows for a person to remain fundamentally ignorant of God. That is precisely why people remain ignorant of Him for years, and even decades, having very few clear and lucid thoughts about the Lord or of His great salvation. I cannot begin to tell you what foolish opinions and perceptions of God that I have heard taught and expressed in class settings, revival meetings, and what is commonly called "church services." The religious books that present erroneous views of God are nearly without number. Daily radio and television broadcasts present a God that is not the same as the One that is revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 11:26-28). It is a most serious situation.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray that You will aid all of Your ministers to stop the mouths of those who presented corrupted views of Yourself.