When I was still in short trousers, there was a song out which I liked. It was performed by the Teddy Bears. The first lines went like this:‘To know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him. Just to see him smile, makes my life worth while.’ A song by teenagers for teenagers and the sentiment went something like this: Girl gets to know boy in such a way that she can’t help falling in love with him hook, line and sinker. Now her only desire in life is to bring him joy.
Press the rewind button and go from the light pop culture of the 1950s to Westminster Abbey in the mid-1600s. Here, Parliament had commissioned a gathering of clergy and theologians to work on putting together a written confession of Christian faith. The aim was to consolidate the reforms that had swept through the Church of England over the previous century or so. It was done in a question and answer style. Listen to the first tenent.
Question: ‘What is the chief end of man?’ In other words, ‘why are we here?’
Answer: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.’
Both the Teddy Bears and the devout Christian-thinkers at Westminster Abbey made a similar connection between knowing someone, loving them and desiring the other party’s joy.
What that question and answer states is simple yet profound, because it says why we are here.
Unlike any other creatures, we are uniquely equipped to come to know God, which leads to our loving and adoring him. This in turn WILL show itself in our wanting to bring him pleasure. It’s not one-way traffic either, for God himself knows us, loves us and desires for us to enjoy a relationship with him.
Going back to the Teddy Bears’ lyric, girl meets boy and gets to know him sounds natural enough, but how does a man or woman get to meet God and start to know him? This is where Christianity is unique in that it directs us to Jesus. It is he who spoke and acted in such a way as to say, ‘if you want to know what God is like just look at what I do and listen to my words.’ In essence Jesus was saying, ‘Know me and you know God.’
We meet Jesus, and through him God, when we hear about him or read about him, and God’s own Spirit speaks to our hearts, pricks at our conscience and challenges our mindset. If we will sincerely follow through with this introduction, then we may anticipate experiencing a two-way loving relationship with him, where each side desires to be the joy of the other.
Stephen Richards
www.solidrocknews.co.uk