FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
Deep in the heart of God is a desire to be known and understood in such away that we are drawn to a passionate, intimate love with Him! The whole "Redemption story" is about God reconciling sinful humanity into a loving, intimate relationship with Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, SO THAT you my KNOW and BELIEVE me and UNDERSTAND that I am He", (Isa.43:10). . One of the major reasons John preached the gospel was to have people come into fellowship with the Father, (1Jn.1:3).

God not only wants a family, He wants a family with passionate love. It's virtually impossible to be passionately in love with someone you don't know! How can we know and love the God we've never seen!

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GOD REVEALED TO US
If we're looking for God we must seek Him where He is to be found. Where is the heart of the Father revealed? How can we know Him?

The Image Of God
According to the words of Christ to the Samaritan women in John 4, God is a Spirit and as a result of human limitations, no one has seen God at any time (Jn. 1:18). We're not commonly in the habit of seeing spirits.

Jesus, as the Son of God, is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, (Heb. 1:3). When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus said to him, "Philip if you have seen me you have seen the Father," (Jn. 14:8&9). The Amplified Bible says in, 1 Tim. 3:16 - God was made visible in human flesh. Christ is the image of the invisible God, (Col. 1:15).

Jesus Christ is called the One and Only Son! Some translations say, "the only begotten Son of God." There's never been anyone like Christ, before, or since. He was, as Rom. 1:3&4 says, "the son of David, as far as His "human nature" went, and the Son of God as to His divine nature . Definitely unique!

In general there's an acceptance of the humanity of Christ. The problem's always been, accepting Jesus Christ as the One and Only Son of God. The uniqueness of Christ is to be both man and God at the same time! He is the only "GOD MAN". Fully God and fully man! This is a very important truth to embrace if we're trying to discover the heart of God!

The Fullness Of God
Mary mothered Jesus, however, it was God who Fathered Him! It was the Holy Spirit who came upon the young virgin and gave life to the seed in her womb.

How much of Himself was the Father prepared to put into His Son? How much like the Father would Christ be?

Col. 1:19- For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, (Jesus).

Col. 2:9- For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

Jesus fully expresses God's authority, ability, character, nature and ways. There is nothing about Christ that does not accurately represent the Father. This is important to embrace if we are seeking intimacy with God. If we only see Jesus as a special man we will inadvertently look somewhere else for revelation of the Father's heart.

So often, like Philip, we ask to see the Father, failing to understand that Jesus was sent by the Father to reveal the "Fullness of God" to us.

Statements such as, "IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD" (Col. 1:15), "FULLNESS OF GOD"(Col. 1:19), "EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS BEING" (Heb. 1:3), are statements with profound spiritual implications. The point being, if we're ever going to understand and know God it will be as we see Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Amplified Bible's rendering of, Jn. 1:18 is so revealing, "No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, the Only Begotten God, who is in the bosom [that is, in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him - He has revealed Him, brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him, and He has made Him know."

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THE NAME OF THE LORD
They who know the name of the LORD will put their trust in Him, (Ps. 9:10). The name represents the person! What is God's "Person"? What is His name? What does He represent? What are His ways?

Moses was the first man the LORD revealed the fullness of His Person to! He had prayed to know God and His ways, (Ex. 33:12,13). What followed is amazing! God comes down in a cloud and stands there with Moses and proclaims His name. What's really happening is the LORD is exposing His heart! Ex. 34:5-7 describes this in detail. God first proclaims that He is the LORD, and then tells what that name represents.

This is the heart of God revealed:
COMPASSIONATEGRACIOUS SLOW TO ANGER ABOUNDING IN LOVE ABOUNDING IN TRUTHFAITHFUL FORGIVING JUSTA REWARDER

The Amplified Bible's version of Moses' prayer is as follows. "Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now YOUR WAYS, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] that I may find favor in Your sight. (Ex.33:13). Isn't that our hearts' cry? O Lord, that we may become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You! Oh, to understand and know the ways of God. This was the heart's cry of the apostle Paul! (Ph.3:10).

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JESUS REVEALS HIS FATHER'S NAME
Jesus didn't get His name accidentally! Mary was instructed by the angel to name the child, "Jesus", (Jehovah Savior). A very revealing statement was made by Christ, when in prayer to the Father in Jn. 17:11,"Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me. What a powerful statement! Jesus was given the Father's name! Everything the Father stood for was given to Christ. The heart of Christ was the Father's heart. Jesus revealed, manifest, or brought out into the open for all to see the name of the LORD, the Person of God, the full character and nature of the Father. That which God had revealed to Moses vocally was now revealed in "Living Person".

Jesus also said to the Father in Jn. 17:6, "I have revealed you, [Amp.- manifest your name] to those you gave me out of the world". In verse 26 He says, "I have made you known to them," [Amp]. I made Your name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self].

To gaze into the heart of our God we must gaze into the life of Christ. It's through Him we're able to understand and know the Father's heart.

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KNOWING THE WAYS OF GOD
God made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel, (Ps.103:7). The nation of Israel clearly understood what God was capable of doing. They saw profound signs, wonders and miracles! Their history is filled with one divine intervention after another. Strangely however, even with all this demonstration of raw power they remained stiff-necked and hard-hearted. They seemed determined to be satisfied with knowing about God. They were always taken up with the externals and never really getting into the heart of God.

Moses on the other hand knew to ways of God. He understood the heart of God! He went beyond the externals to living in fellowship and intimacy with God. As a result, Moses turned out to be the most humble man on the face of the earth in his generation. It's incredible what an intimate relationship with God will do for us. As we explore the heart of God through Christ we become changed people. Intimacy with God is life changing and this intimacy is made tangible to us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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THE WORD MADE FLESH
A statement in Hosea 4:6 is worthy of consideration, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." If we are to really know the heart of God, as He desires, it's crucial that our source of information be correct. From Genesis to Revelation the Word clearly and consistently reveals the heart of God. This Word was made flesh and dwelt among us in the Person of Christ, (Jn. 1:14) and the Holy Spirit has been given to guide us into this Truth. Yes, the Spirit will take us into the Fathers heart as He faithfully reveals Christ to us from the Scriptures.

It's so easy to approach the Word only seeing "externals". Looking for the deeds of God rather than looking into His heart.

It's there in the Word that the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and pours in greater revelation. Christ wants intimacy with us and desires that we search His heart! This is done by searching the Word of God, the Scriptures.