A knowable God

“Thou art my God”! (Psalms 143:10). Reading this one day, I was startled by the depth of meaning that leaped out from the Bible. I had probably read it dozens of times in my life and been inspired and comforted by it. I had certainly believed and accepted it. Yet, this time was different. At that moment, I knew God as my God, the ever-present, all-powerful creator of the universe, and hence my creator, who loves me, tenderly cares for me, and knows who I am! It was a closeness to Him that included eternal existence, perfect health, and complete peace. It was as though a curtain had been pulled aside, providing a momentary glimpse of that heavenly state about which John speaks in Revelation where he describes his vision of a new heaven and a new earth. 

In Christian Science, we learn to give expression to this feeling of God’s presence through language that is given or implied in the Bible and affirmed in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In particular, Mrs. Eddy refers to God as “Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love” (Science and Health, p. 587). God, then, is not a mysterious, unknowable, distant Being, but identifiable and knowable and always at hand. Getting to know God through these synonyms for Him brings to light what the divine presence means to us. We see Principle manifested in divine law; Mind in loving intelligence and wisdom; Life in eternal existence and activity, unbound by material limitations; and so forth. 

Yet, even as we seek to understand these terms for God, our basic yearning of the heart to know God in the way that Christ Jesus knew Him—as Abba, or Father—is undiminished. Jesus communed with God continually, and loved our Father so much that he did everything to please Him. He dedicated his life to God’s service and ultimately surrendered that life to this end, showing that his love for the Father included and was manifested in love for his neighbor—in fact, for all mankind. He was so aware of his oneness with God that he was able to undertake the works that the Father had given him to finish.