John 7:29

But unlike you,” Jesus continues challenging them, “I actually know him personally because I am from where he is; it is from there that he sent me.” John 7:29 EFP 

There is no substitute for actually knowing God personally and intimately. Jesus alone can lay claim to this level of intimacy. He comes from the same place as God. He actually is from God’s very essence and being. He is God in human flesh. He also comes as a personal envoy from the Almighty. There is no second-hand knowledge like most of us have to deal with. At best this is based on the experience and narrative of special men and women who came before us. Even with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can at best “see in a mirror, dimly…” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

I may not, this side of heaven, be able to see, touch, hear, or experience God as Jesus does as One who is actually one with God, but He invites me, as he challenges his listeners in Jerusalem that day, to not be satisfied with scraps of knowledge given by others who themselves received them from others before them. God wants to be known without a safety net. Those who met Jesus in person did not automatically accept Him as Messiah. Even they needed an element of faith to trust in Him. I need even more faith as I grow in my knowledge of him. To know Jesus better is to know God. I can’t ever have enough.