I heard a teacher say “The origin of all sin begins with a wrong understanding of the character of God.” Perhaps it is too absolutely stated, but I think there is something to this. In Genesis 3 Satan tempted Eve. He didn’t just say, “Hey, you should rebel! Eat this non-specified fruit. Everyone’s doing it.” What Satan did was try to distort Eve’s view of God’s character. He presented the idea that God was insecure or at best selfish in not wanting her to be smarter or like Him.

If not always, then often, our sin starts with a distorted view of God’s character. I think specifically it is misunderstanding God’s righteousness. When we think of God as a tyrant who made laws with the intent of controlling our lives and restricting our fun we want to rebel. After all, rebellion against tyranny is a good thing right? Right. Only God is no tyrant. Deuteronomy 6:24 says that God gave men laws for their good – to preserve them. He is righteous. He does and will always do right.

All of God’s laws are based in love. Don’t steal. It damages relationship. Don’t commit adultery. It destroys families, removes security from children, often brings disease, and always brings pain to all involved.

God’s love is clearly shown in His laws. They aren’t arbitrary methods for limiting our pleasure. They are loving and intelligent descriptions for how we are designed to live in relationship to God, others and ourselves.

Let’s quit sinning and encourage others to do the same. But most of all, let’s strive to more accurately understand the character of our God.

I want my first article on this site to show my heart clearly. I am a full-time missionary committed to a lifetime of serving my Lord and King, and I must say I love this idea. I love Jesus, and it is because I know Him. I want to submit that this mindset is the core of salvation.

I will never pretend to be a scholar. Nor will I attempt to impress anyone with fancy words I have learned. I will, however, have to occasionally make some references to Biblical Greek. Once again, not to impress anyone but to make some concepts clearer than they can possibly be in a readable English translation of the Bible. With that said I want to look at Jesus’ words in John 17.

Jesus was talking to the Father right before He was to be crucified, and we must assume He was talking about things of most importance to Him. He spent an evening talking with His disciples and then prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.” Then He makes one statement that changed the way I lived and thought. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” This is eternal life.

This is what it’s all about. This is what salvation is. He did not end the statement with “Heaven”. “And this is eternal life, that they may all be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.” No! Jesus was intelligent. He knew what He was saying. This is where the Greek comes in. “This is eternal life, that they may know You.” The word “know” here is the Greek word “γινώσκω” Strong’s number 1097. It is the same word used for how a man knows his wife. It means to experientially know.

There is a restaurant in my hometown of Anderson, South Carolina that sells one of the most amazing foods I have ever tasted. I tell people around the world about their food. It is called Skin’s Hotdogs, and they sell hotdogs. Now I can describe the flavor, the smell, the texture, the colors, even the exact weight and dimensions of it. If I do this, you will know about the hotdogs. You will not experientially know it though. You will not γινώσκω it until you have experienced it for yourself.

According to Jesus, salvation is knowing God in this way. Once again, salvation is not a ticket to Heaven. Salvation is knowing God. It is having an experiential love relationship with the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. I now know God. He is my friend. I know Him to be infinitely loving, infinitely intelligent, and, the most mind boggling part of God – interactive. For this, I choose to give Him my whole life. He deserves it.

A close friend of mine was casually talking in a group of my coworkers about seeking God. What he said clicked so well in my head, and I immediately thought I should share it with you guys on here.

He said, “My wife and I prayed like crazy before we had each of our sons, asking God if it was His timing. After they were born we didn’t ask Him if we should change their diapers.”

When God tells us to do something He knows the whole of the situation, and if He calls me to anything big He has also called me to the minor details involved with that task. It doesn’t matter how mundane they may seem. My attitude is to be joyful obedience.

I love to obey the Father.

-Micah