The night was met with little sleep, but the day is beautiful. And, God willing, I am going whale watching.
I started reading The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer last night. It is riveting to say the least. I almost want to retype the entire book into my blog because there are so many parts already that have made a huge impact on me. It's like what I have already been meditating on is exactly what the author goes into. Here' an exerpt:
"Canst thou by searching find out God?" asks Zophar the Namathite; "canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son," said our Lord, "and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." The Gospel according to John reveals the helplessness of the human mind before the great Mystery which is God, and Paul in 1 Corinthians teaches that God can be known only as the Holy Spirit performs in the seeking heart an act of self-disclosure.
The yearning to know What cannot be known, to comprehend the Incomprehensible, to touch and test the unapproachable, arises from the image of God in the nature of man. Deep calleth unto deep, and though polluted and landlocked by the mighty disasters theologians call the Fall, the soul senses its orgin and longs to return to its source. How can this be realized?
The answer of the Bible is simply "through Jesus Christ our Lord." In Christ and by Christ, God effects complete self-disclosure, although He shows Himself not to reason but to faith and love. Faith is an organ of knowledge, and love an organ of experience. God came to us in the incarnation; in atonement He reconciled us to Himself, and by faith and love we enter and lay hold on Him.
"Verily God is of infinite greatness," says Christ's enraptured troubadour, Richard Rolle; "more than we can think;... unknowable by created things; and can never be comprehended by us as He is in Himself. But even here and now, whenever the heart begins to burn with a desire for God, she is made able to receive the uncreated light and inspired and fulfilled by the gifts of the Holy Ghost, she tastes the joys of heaven. She transcends all visible things and is raised to the sweetness of eternal life... Herein truly is perfect love; whenall the intent of the mind, all the secret working of the heart, is lifted up into the love of God."
That God can be known by the soul in tender personal experience constitutes a paradox best described as
Darkness to the intellect
But sunshine to the heart
Frederick W. Faber
This is from The Knowledge of the Holy A.W. Tozer pages 9-10
2 comments:
Hi,
I am currently reading this book too with my church's Sunday School. I agree. It is wonderful and exactly what we need in this season. It is difficult to really know God without a proper evaluation of our current beliefs. We have somewhat concluded in class that we must first understand how we can wrongly think of God before we begin looking at how to rightly think of God.
Tozer provides valuable insight and challenges to our thinking of God. The preface, itself, has a wealth of information good for a believer to consider in their spiritual growth and development. It takes me long periods of meditation and study to get through each paragraph. It is supposed to be an easy, quick read; but not if you are truely evaluating the things he touches in his statements.
Looking forward to more dialogue about this book. My church is thinking of starting a blog too. I will try to remember to give you the information as I get it (If you're interested).
Just noticed this comment. Sorry. I don't get notifications. How did you like the book?
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