[Gospel Lesson 2] Therefore, Let Us Know the Lord

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”— Genesis 1:1–5 (KJV)

In Lesson 1, we learned about the Creator God. The Bible begins not with what man must do, but with what God did: “In the beginning God created.”

But knowing that God created the heavens and the earth is only the beginning. Now we must ask a more personal question:

Who is this God, and how can I know Him?

Many people think faith means trying very hard to believe in something they cannot see. But the Bible presents faith differently. As we come to know God through His Word, we begin to discover who He truly is. And when we know Him as He is, trusting Him becomes natural.

When We Know God, Faith Follows

Let me give you a simple example.

I live in Salt Lake City. I came to the United States from Korea in 2012, and I have three children.

Once you know these facts about me, you can say, “Pastor Mark lives in Salt Lake City. He came from Korea, and he has three children.”

Why can you say that?

Because you have received information about me. You know something about me that you did not know before.

Our relationship with God works in a similar way.

Many people say, “I want to believe in God, but I can't.” They may think something is wrong with their faith. But often, the deeper problem is that they do not yet know God as He reveals Himself in Scripture.

It is difficult to trust someone you do not know.

That is why Jesus said:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”— John 17:3 (KJV)

Notice the word know.

Jesus did not describe eternal life as simply trying harder to believe. He spoke of knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.

Hosea says the same thing:

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD...”— Hosea 6:3 (KJV)

God wants us to know Him.

The more clearly we see God as He reveals Himself in His Word, the more our hearts can rest in Him.

Where Can We Meet God?

Where, then, can we come to know God?

Some people look for God in extraordinary experiences. Others search for Him in nature, emotions, or religious activities.

But God has given us a clear place where He reveals Himself: His Word.

The Bible is not merely a collection of religious teachings. Through Scripture, God reveals His heart, His character, His will, and His works.

John 1:1 says:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”— John 1:1 (KJV)

If we want to know God, we must listen to what God says about Himself.

Our thoughts may tell us one thing about God. Our feelings may tell us something else. Other people may have their own ideas about Him.

But faith begins when we turn from our own thoughts and listen to the Word of God.

That is why the Bible repeatedly calls us to know the Lord.

A Life Apart from the Word

When people live apart from God's Word, they eventually lose sight of why they were created and where their lives are going.

People naturally pursue things they believe will make them happy: success, money, possessions, recognition, relationships, pleasure, or achievement.

These things may give satisfaction for a time, but none of them can answer the deepest questions of the heart:

Why was I born?

What is the purpose of my life?

What happens when this life ends?

Solomon possessed extraordinary wealth, wisdom, power, and pleasure. Yet after experiencing everything the world could offer, he wrote:

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”— Ecclesiastes 1:2 (KJV)

And later:

“...behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit...”— Ecclesiastes 1:14 (KJV)

Solomon discovered something that many people discover only after years of searching:

The things of this world cannot completely satisfy the human heart.

Why?

Because we were created for something greater than this temporary world.

God Has Put Eternity in Our Hearts

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart...”— Ecclesiastes 3:11 (KJV)

Our physical bodies are temporary. They grow, become weak, grow old, and eventually return to dust.

But God created man with an awareness that reaches beyond this temporary life.

Think about a bottle containing a drink.

The bottle has a purpose because of what it contains. Once the contents are gone, the empty container itself has little value.

In a similar way, we often focus almost entirely on the outward person—our appearance, possessions, comfort, health, or success—while forgetting the soul.

But our bodies are temporary.

The soul is what makes the question of eternity so important.

That is why temporary things can never completely satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart. We try to fill an eternal longing with temporary things.

Money is temporary.

Pleasure is temporary.

Success is temporary.

Recognition is temporary.

Even our physical lives are temporary.

When we expect these things to satisfy the deepest part of us, emptiness eventually returns.

Made in the Image of God

Genesis explains why human beings are different from the rest of creation:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”— Genesis 1:27 (KJV)

We were created in the image of God.

Imagine a glove.

A glove is shaped like a hand because it was made to receive a hand. You can fill the glove with money, sand, or stones, but none of those things truly fit its design.

Only a hand fits perfectly.

Our hearts are similar.

We try to fill them with possessions, relationships, pleasure, accomplishments, and countless other things. Some of these things may be good in themselves, but they cannot take God's place.

Man was created for God.

That is why nothing can truly replace Him.

But this brings us to a serious problem.

God is holy, while man has become sinful.

Sin has separated man from God.

Therefore, the problem of the human heart cannot ultimately be solved merely by changing our circumstances. Something must happen between God and us.

And Genesis gives us a remarkable picture of this condition.

Without Form, Void, and Dark

Genesis 1:2 describes the earth before God brought light:

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep...”— Genesis 1:2 (KJV)

Three expressions stand out:

Without form.Void.Darkness.

This is more than a description of the earth. It also gives us a powerful picture of the condition of a life separated from God.

Without form — there is confusion and disorder.

Void — there is emptiness.

Darkness — we cannot see clearly.

When we are in darkness, the greatest problem is not simply that things are dark.

We cannot see.

A person walking through a dark room may stumble over something directly in front of him. He may hurt himself even though the object was there all along.

This is what spiritual darkness does.

When we do not see ourselves according to God's Word, we trust our own judgment. We follow our feelings and thoughts without realizing where they are leading us.

We may think we are going in the right direction while moving farther away from God.

But God did not leave the earth in darkness.

“Let There Be Light”

Then something happened.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”— Genesis 1:3 (KJV)

Notice how the darkness disappeared.

God did not struggle with the darkness.

He did not gather the darkness together and push it away.

God spoke.

And when light came, darkness lost its place.

This reveals an important spiritual truth.

Many people spend their lives trying to remove darkness from themselves.

I need to become a better person.

I need to stop having bad thoughts.

I need to overcome my weaknesses.

I need to fix myself.

But Genesis shows us another way.

The answer to darkness is not struggling against darkness.

The answer is light.

And the Bible tells us who that Light is.

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World

Jesus said:

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”— John 8:12 (KJV)

Jesus Christ is the Light.

This is where Genesis begins to point us toward the gospel.

The earth could not create its own light.

The darkness could not remove itself.

The empty earth could not fill itself.

God had to speak.

In the same way, man cannot rescue himself from spiritual darkness by his own effort.

We need the Light to come from outside ourselves.

That Light is Jesus Christ.

The gospel is not the message that we must somehow remove all the darkness from our hearts before coming to God.

The gospel tells us that God sent the Light into our darkness.

John 1 says:

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness...”— John 1:4–5 (KJV)

When Jesus Christ enters a person's life through the Word, things that were hidden begin to become clear.

We begin to see who God is.

We begin to see who we are.

We begin to understand sin.

And ultimately, we begin to see what Jesus Christ has done to save us from sin.

Has the Light Come into Your Heart?

Genesis says:

“And the evening and the morning were the first day.”— Genesis 1:5 (KJV)

There was a moment when darkness covered everything.

Then God spoke.

Light came.

And everything changed.

In the same way, there is a spiritual beginning in the life of a person who meets Jesus Christ.

Before the light comes, we may have religion. We may attend church. We may try to live a good life. We may even know many things about the Bible.

But the important question is not simply:

“Am I religious?”

The question is:

“Has the Light entered my heart?”

Has God's Word shown me my true condition?

Has it shown me Jesus Christ?

Has the gospel brought me from darkness into light?

God does not want us merely to know about Him.

He wants us to know Him.

That is why Hosea says:

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD...”— Hosea 6:3 (KJV)

The more we listen to God's Word, the more clearly we begin to see Him. And as we see Him, our own thoughts lose their authority and faith begins to arise in our hearts.

The God who said “Let there be light” in Genesis is the same God who desires to shine the light of Jesus Christ into our hearts today.

So before we ask ourselves, “How can I believe more?”, perhaps we should begin with a different question:

“Do I truly know the Lord?”

Because when we come to know God through His Word, we discover that faith is not something we manufacture within ourselves.

Faith begins by seeing who God is and what He has done.