What is God like? Describe to me the God you say you believe in.
In the first chapter of his best selling book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan challenges his readers to ponder who God is. “Who is it that you are praying to?” Chan wants us to ask. I really appreciate that challenge and that exercise because, quite frankly, I am not sure most people, even in our churches, can offer a substantial answer.
J.I. Packer wrote:
“Those who know God have great thoughts of Him.”
Donald Carson wrote:
“The better we know God, the more we will want all of our existence to revolve around him, and we will see that the only goals and plans that really matter are those that are somehow tied to God himself, and to our eternity with him.”
How well do you know God?
While there is no substitute for Scripture, sometimes the insights of others can help us notice things that we might otherwise not see. Like a tourguide who has navigated a trail many times is able to point out things of importance, of beauty, and of danger, so is one who has walked with God and given himself to careful study of God.
I have found the following books are faithful to Scriptureand helpful in shaping my knowledge of God:
Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
Attributes of God by A.W. Tozer
Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
The Pleasures of God by John Piper
Knowing God by J.I. Packer