Paul closes his first letter to Timothy by charging Timothy to hold firm to the proclamation of Jesus being the ultimate revelation of God Himself.  There were many who rejected this assertion about Jesus and hung on to the old laws and rituals and insisted they were essential to true faith. But Paul tells Timothy that some of these legalists “have swerved from the faith.” Ken Taylor in his Living Bible Paraphrase translates 1 Timothy 6:21 with these words, “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life—they don’t know God.” There is a lot of liberty taken with that translation but I think he captures the main idea.

To really get to know God and to understand His character and nature along with His disposition toward you, you must get a close look at Jesus who is the physical manifestation of God to man. Philip once asked Jesus to show him God. Jesus’ reply as recorded in John 14:9 is, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  Like Philip, many people have gone to church for a long time and claim to know Jesus but confuse the truth of the simple gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone. They add ritual, rules, regulations, laws and other peripheral ideas that undermine the simple way of faith. So Paul instructs Timothy at the close of His letter to him with these words; “Timothy, keep safe what has been entrusted to your care. Avoid the profane talk and foolish arguments of what some people wrongly call ‘Knowledge’. For some have claimed to possess it, and as a result they have lost the way of faith.” Then he adds as a benediction, “God’s grace be with you all.”

Mankind hungers for the truth about God. We need some foundation to build our lives on and truly, without God we do miss the most important thing in life.  But Jesus came to satisfy that hunger and to bring us knowledge of God the father that comforts us, heals our lost souls, and revives our hope for an eternal future. Jesus promises to reveal God the Father to us if we come to Him. In Matthew 11:27, Jesus said, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” The truth about Jesus that helps us understand God was explained in Romans 5:8. It says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Believe it! God loves you so much He sent His son to pay for your sins in order to save your soul and mine. Anything that confuses this fact is a road that will take us away from  the way of faith.