I have been intimately involved with J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God for nearly 45 years. I have taught through the book in various classes, including some online, some in my own spaces, and some in the church spaces of my current congregation. I created study guides to help people approach the book and learn the lessons it has to teach, which I have refined over the years. I just released a newly edited edition a couple of months ago.
Today, I watched a video in which Taylor Welch interviewed Jamie Winship about his life and ministry. Jamie is big on what he calls Identity Exchange, which aims to help you discover your true identity —the person you are to God—and how He sees you. They try to help people free themselves from the lies that Satan has told them about who they are and instead see the truth that God wants them to see.
As part of working through the IDE processes, we are confronted with the need for a paradigm change. We must switch from the paradigm of the “Empire” (a Star Wars euphemism for the kingdom of evil) to the paradigm of the Kingdom of God, the place the Eternal Son saved us to inhabit. To some people, this is the process known as discipleship; to Packer, it would be defined as coming to know God.
How do we do that? As I thought about this, since I am trying to create an online YouTube version of my study, I asked myself: if I had to define the core of Packer’s effort, how would I do that, in one sentence? Yes, it requires a paradigm shift of immense proportions, but coalesce that into one defining sentence. Here is what I came up with.
The fundamental core of the book “Knowing God” is “Letting God be God.” Now, Packer devotes an entire book to unpacking that simple assertion. Still, after all this time, I believe that is the essence of his effort: to shift the reader’s paradigm so that they can finally let God be God, or as the famous meaning of YahWeh says, “I am who I was, who I am, who I will be.” We do not define God. The Empire does not define God. Even our attempts at theology do not define God. God defines Himself, and He has done so in His Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, as revealed through His Word, the Scriptures. See John 14:9 “He who has seen me has seen the Father…”
This is the challenge I am facing in the remaining time I have left on this earth. I am learning to let God be God. It is not easy; it demands continual sacrifice. But, it is the only remaining thing of value left for me to do, for any of us to do. Join me on the journey.
