Knowing God

One of the things I most admire about the late J.I. Packer is simply how long he faithfully served the church. He went home to be with the Lord in July 2020 at the age of 94. This means he was my current age in 1962. 

And this makes me wonder: what if God were to give me over 50 more years of life and ministry from here? God could do that if he wanted, and I desire it, and so assuming that God would, it helpfully puts things in perspective. If I get to do what I do now for another 50 years, then the challenges I face today aren’t quite as big, and that creates a hopeful buoyancy. The idea is to think more long-view.

J.I. Packer’s example is galvanizing to me on this point, as I’ve been reading his latest biography, J. I. Packer: His Life and Thought by Alister McGrath. 

Packer went through some stuff. He faced challenges. And he remained faithful and determined to fulfill his calling. Central to Packer’s passion was to see the integration of solid theological understanding and the everyday life of the church. He believed it was vital for every Christian — the butchers, bakers, and candle-stick makers — to know God. As McGrath puts it, 

[Packer] works with a vision of theology which affirms the fundamental integration of the reasonable and experiential, the theoretical and practical, from the outset. Packer argues that it is never enough for us to know about God; true Christian theology is about knowing God — a relational and transformative process of knowing and being known, which sustains and informs the Christian life. The Christian encounter with God is transformative. As Packer, following Calvin, pointed out, to know God is to be changed by God; true knowledge of God leads to worship, as the believer is caught up in a transforming and renewing encounter with the living God. (84)

I’m here for that! Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I want you to know that this is at the heart of Cities Church, and has been since we planted, as demonstrated most regularly in our expositional preaching. But there’s more to do, and we’re eager to get there.

I want us to grow in our knowledge of God, and thus be transformed. I want us to encounter God in our everyday, and to lead lives of worship and thanks that say to others, “Oh, magnify Yahweh with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 34:3)

Good theology is fundamental to this, and I’m excited about what’s to come, even perhaps, if God wills, 50 years from now.