To Know and Love
In 1958, The Teddy Bears sang To Know Him is to Love Him. A version of these were words written on Phil Spector’s father’s gravestone. The line communicates that the mere knowledge of the man, Spector’s father, was enough to stir up affections in a person. The guy was so likable that all you had to do to love him was to merely know him. Who would not want to know a guy like that? As Christians, we know the Lord and we love the Lord. Unfortunately, we sometimes do not think about how knowledge and love go hand in hand (Mathison). To know the Lord ought to increase and energize our love for Him. And, our love for Him ought to push us to grow in our knowledge of Him. But, how do we do that? We study theology in order to know and to love our God.
The study of theology is primarily the study of God; the definition is in the word theology: theo/God, logy/subject of study. Christian theology is the study of the Christian God. The word theology can be used in at least two ways usually. First, and primarily, we might think of the strictest definition. This is called theology proper. Theology proper is the study of God as the subject. That is, His nature and attributes. Second, we sometimes use the word theology to refer to the whole of Christian doctrine; it is to study what the Bible says about a number of things. When we say theology, we can use it interchangeably for either of these focuses.
Psalm 100:3 might encourage both understandings of the word: “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Do you see the two components in the passage? The psalmist calls the reader to two things. First, “know that the LORD, He is God.” We are called to know the LORD. That (1), He is the LORD; that is, He is not just any god, but is the covenant God. The God who revealed His unique name to Moses and the people of Israel. That God who is in a unique relationship with Him. And, (2), that He is God. There are other supposed gods, but the LORD is God, the one true God. Theology proper helps us understand the nitty gritty of who exactly is this God; who is the LORD? What is the LORD like? We are called to know Him. Second, the psalmist calls the reader to understand something about ourselves. That is, mankind are His creation and belong to Him because He is their creator. Broadly, we can call this theology also. But, more specifically, these words draw us to consider what man is and what the nature of a special relationship with God is; these would be the doctrine of man and the doctrine of the covenants. In both cases, God calls His people to an understanding of Himself and His creation. So, does this matter?
Returning to Psalm 100, the psalmist calls the reader to “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! (1-2). Verse 3, the one mentioned in the previous paragraph, as well as the whole psalm, are the ground and reason for praising God in verses 1 and 2. Theology that is grounded in what God reveals about Himself in the Scriptures, and to some extent in creation, bolsters our praise of the Lord. We are called to know the Lord. Good theology serves the purpose of helping you know the Lord that you might from your heart and mind praise Him for who He is. Good theology is all singing the praises of the triune God of the Bible and creation. He is the God who made you; know Him! He is the God who saved you; know Him! He is the God with whom you will live for all eternity; prepare your heart and mind to meet Him! To desire to grow in the knowledge of the Lord is to want to love Him; and to love the Lord is to desire to grow in knowledge of Him!
So, with this in mind I hope you will join me in growing in the knowledge and love of the Lord in this next series of blog posts. We will unpack various elements of theology to see how God intends our understanding to increase and ignite our love for Him.