KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

‭Philippians 1:9-11 NLT‬
[9] “I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. [10] For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. [11] May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”

‘Knowledge and understanding’, are the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of our faith! Paul connects the ‘what’ and ‘why’ together as the foundation for our lives on earth as believers in Jesus. You see, despite the criticisms of unbelievers that our faith is based on myths, Jesus and His life and death are proven historical facts. His history is the knowledge we need about Him that is provided for us in the Gospel records.

Part of our knowledge of God, the three persons, is provided by experience. In Jesus high-priestly prayer, He describes eternal life as ‘knowing God’ and ‘knowing Him’.

‭John 17:3 NLT‬
[3] “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

This knowledge implies that the experience we have of God in His interaction with us increases our love for and trust in Him as we find out more and more about Him and His ways. It’s the counterpart of the relationship between husband and wife. They get to know each other as they live together and interact with one another.

However, knowledge must lead to understanding. If we don’t understand why the Father sent the Son, and why the Son lived, died, and rose again, we will still remain in the dark about what we experience in our daily lives. Only when we are enlightened about the Holy Spirit’s work in us to help us overcome our sinful nature and become like Jesus will we learn to co-operate with Him. Our life experiences will begin to mean something, not just just random chance happenings but purposeful purifying and training for our eternal life with God.

God is always working in us to achieve His goal, a family of sons and daughters like His Son. He has planned for us to share with and under Jesus’ authority, in the administration of His rule over all the kingdoms on earth.

‭Daniel 7:27 NLT‬
[27] “Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him.”

If our KNOWLEDGE of God, and especially of Jesus, is in the Gospels, then our UNDERSTANDING of the purpose of His coming is given to us in the letters written by the apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Trouble is that much of the time, people interpret God’s Word from their own perspective instead of allowing the Word to interpret itself. I learned a valuable lesson at Bible College…

“The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”

Now that’s a good way to approach our understanding of the Word!

So, knowledge and understanding are hand-in-glove. As we pray for ourselves and our fellow believers, let’s follow Paul’s pattern. Let’s pray as Paul prayed…

‭Ephesians 1:16-19 NLT‬
[16]…”I pray for you constantly, [17] asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. [18] I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. [19] I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him….”