“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”
John 17:3
Original Words
Heb. Yada – to know, perceive, see, discern
Heb. Da’ath – knowledge, skill, understanding, awareness
Heb. Madda – thought, consciousness
Gr. Gnosis – intelligence and understanding
Gr. Oida – perception, have seen
Gr. Epignosis – recognition
Preliminary Affirmations
God has absolute knowledge and whatever knowledge we have comes from Him. Knowledge in its broadest sense is perception and understanding of realities. In reference to the knowledge of God it is awareness of Him – His purpose and person. It is perceiving His presence and working and having understanding concerning spiritual realities. Having knowledge of God requires God’s revelation of Himself and man’s pursuit of and belief in that record. It is knowing Him.
As Used in the Old Covenant Scriptures
ITS GENESIS IS WITH GOD
Like anything in the Kingdom of God, knowledge has its origin with God. Hannah praised her God for the birth of her son Samuel and revealed for all men that “the Lord is a God of knowledge” (1 Sam. 2:3). In the context she compares man to God stating the obviousness of the fact that with God “actions are weighed” and therefore man must not boast or be arrogant. Part of God’s essential nature is that He “is a God of knowledge.” In fact He is all-knowing. Nothing escapes His notice or happens without His knowledge. He is aware of all things at all times. And so He is described as a “God of knowledge.” The apostle John noted that God “knows all things” (1 John 3:20). With sarcasm Job asks “can anyone teach God knowledge?” (Job 21:22). And so we find that knowledge originates with God in that the One who always was and always will be; the Creator and Sustainer of life; the God of gods is a “God of knowledge.”
Knowledge is from God. God has knowledge and is able and willing to bestow it on others so desirous. As God is the premier place where knowledge resides so anyone seeking to obtain any measure of “true knowledge” must come to God for it. Knowledge and understanding are said to come “from His mouth” (Prov. 2:6).
Daniel was a youth “endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge” along with the other “youths” of the “sons of Israel” (Dan. 1:4). It is written, “God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams” (Dan. 1:17). Their knowledge originated from God as He revealed to them insights that other man were without. Appropriately Daniel acknowledged this fact saying,
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom and power; even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, for You have made known to us the king's matter.” (Daniel 2:20-23)
THOSE GIVEN KNOWLEDGE
Daniel wasn’t the only one given knowledge from God and concerning God. It is God’s way to reveal Himself to His creation and let His will made known. He has been actively doing this from the foundation of the world. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made” (Rom. 1:20).
Daniel was seeking knowledge and understanding concerning the king’s dream and God showed compassion to him. Those who earnestly seek understanding from God receive it quite regularly. In reference to God’s purposes He will reveal them to men in order to bring about a desired result. This is clearly seen in the existence and ministry of the prophets. God wanting to announce something to His people would reveal it to His prophet and send Him out to announce the truth. Daniel was an example of this and so is Balaam. Although not noted for his righteousness he spoke as a prophet would when he said that his “eye is opened” and that he “hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High” and “sees the vision of the Almighty” (Num. 24:15-16). Advancing in knowledge is directly related to a man’s exposure to and apprehension of divine revelation. The proverb instructs us to “buy truth, and do not sell it” (Prov. 23:23).
Knowledge is often given to men for specific purposes. Take for example the building of the temple. Men like Bezalel, whom God called by name, was filled with “the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze” (Exod. 31:3-4, cf. 35:31). Another example is found in Solomon who sought after knowledge for the purpose of leading God’s people.
Solomon’s example. I feel it necessary to say that while men find it necessary to question whether Solomon is in heaven or not or whether he is even worthy to be called an example, that will not be our emphasis here. For that is not the emphasis in the Bible. Even from his birth it is written of him, “now the Lord loved him” and he was renamed “Jedidiah” meaning “beloved of Jehovah.” That should put a rest to fruitless speculation and condemnation of a man whom God does not condemn.
The example we want to follow from Solomon is his desire for knowledge. Upon King Solomon’s inauguration he invoked God’s provision as the leader of His “great people.” It is quite a consideration. Solomon was living at a time when revelation was increasing and God was speaking “in the prophets in many portions and many ways” (Heb. 1:1) but they could still only see as if through a veil or a dim glass. But by Solomon’s admission and God’s confirmation we see that this man desired wisdom and knowledge. The Scriptures speak:
“In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask what I shall give you.’ Solomon said to God, ‘You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place. Now, O LORD God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?’ God said to Solomon, ‘Because you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor those who will come after you.’” (2 Chronicles 1:7-12)
Seeking to understand God and best serve His people is the norm of the kingdom. Because Solomon “magnified and increased in wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem” before him (Eccl. 1:16), we even read about the Queen of Sheba coming to visit him from afar off because of his great knowledge. And our Lord declared that she will stand up in judgment against those who will not seek wisdom from the greatest revelation of God in Christ Jesus Himself (Matt. 12:42). After all, the kingdom of God is comprised of those who view themselves as “strangers and exiles on the earth” and are “seeking a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:13, 16). And gaining this understanding of who God is and what He is doing is what it means to have “the knowledge of God.” And this only comes from God and it comes through divine revelation.
TO BE OBTAINED
The knowledge of God is to be sought after and obtained. Furthermore, God is the One who will give it to those seeking. In order to be in fellowship with God man must understand Him and His ways and thoughts. When this is not the case man is in a serious condition. Israel was rebuked because their thoughts were not Gods nor were God’s ways their ways (Isa. 55:8-9). This is not desirable for God. He had urged them to reason together with Him (Isa. 1:17). The lack of the knowledge of God is deplorable. It is not good for man to “speak words without knowledge” (Job 38:2). This leads to destruction every time. Israel was to go into bondage “for their lack of knowledge” (Isa. 5:13) because they “do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, nor do they consider the work of His hands” (Isa. 5:12). God rebuked the “sons of Israel” again through the prophet Hosea saying, “the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land” (Hos. 4:1). This too brought destruction, as it is written,
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hos. 6:6).
At no time was the priest to reject knowledge. He was set apart serving God and making atonement for the sins of the people. Could anyone suggest that this could be done effectively while the priest lived in ignorance of God? In an effort to correct this Malachi spoke, “for the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 2:7). The knowledge of God can not be rejected and the people prosper. It must be sought after whereby it may be obtained.
Seeking knowledge. David pleaded to God to understand His ways. He said, “teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments” (Ps. 119:66). To seek after knowledge is wise and to despise it is foolish.
To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:2-7)
As Job described the wicked of his day, he noted that they “do not even desire the knowledge” of God’s ways (Job 21:14). For God to reveal Himself to man in any way and have man reject, despise or be indifferent to that revelation is just foolish. Man is plagued with a desire for his own glory and his own knowledge. While he has the capability of growing in knowledge apart from any belief in God his is limited to things only of this world. Man cannot understand God through his own wisdom as it is written, “the world through its wisdom did not come to know God” (1 Cor. 1:21). Worldly wisdom of divine realities in the end is just another form of foolishness in God’s eyes. That is to say it has no lasting benefit or truth to it. “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone, causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners, causing wise men to draw back and turning their knowledge into foolishness” (Isa. 44:25).
“Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). This is the knowledge to be sought after.
MORE KNOWLEDGE TO COME
The new covenant is the when clarity of God and His purpose is at its pinnacle. The revelation of God during this time is only exceeded in the world to come when we will “see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). This is the time when “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” Jesus is the clearest revelation of God every seen for “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Heb. 1:1-3). And so when the “word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), man was able to see God more clearly. Jesus Himself said, “he who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Not only this but in the new covenant God would lead the apostles into all truth and many would come to believe in Jesus through their word. The people of God in this day can understand their insight into the mystery of Christ. “So we have the prophetic word made more sure” (2 Pet. 1:19). The prophets spoke of the time when God would give His people “shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15). Habakkuk spoke of when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (2:14). This would be a time of unprecedented clarity concerning God and His will. So we can hear the frustration of the Lord when He spoke with Nicodemus saying, “are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” and “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:10, 12).
As Used in the Gospels and New Covenant Scriptures
The Jews had more revelation of God than any other people on the face of the earth. In the Law of Moses they had the “embodiment of knowledge and of the truth” (Rom. 2:20). This primarily consisted of what God approves of and disapproves of. “For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). But even then they were described as a “rebellious house” and no good. This is because the revelation of God must be accompanied by belief. They had a great deal of information concerning God’s dealings with man but it was not reciprocated by their belief in that revelation. When the knowledge of God is sought after, and after revelation, is believed, it is effective. But in the old covenant God’s revelation still paled to that of the new covenant. The old covenant was still a ministry of death and condemnation. And at the reading of the Law there was still obscurity like as a veil over the face of man preventing Him from seeing God’s glory more clearly. Paul testified of the Jews “that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:2-3). The new covenant has better revelation. The very thing that kept the Jew in ignorance is revealed or made manifest in Christ Jesus.
“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)
Now men can have greater knowledge and understanding of God because His righteousness has been revealed. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17).
MORE REVELATION, MORE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
The reality of greater revelation bids man to seek the truth even more diligently. Having the prophetic word made more sure draws men to “pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). As Hebrews says,
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Heb. 2:1-4)
The power of the gospel. Like never before, God’s righteousness if revealed to men and it is done so through the preaching of the gospel. In fact, God was “well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). The preaching the gospel also reveals God wisdom and knowledge (Rom. 11:33). But primarily it reveals Him. Just as Habakkuk prophesied, so it is fulfilled that “the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.”
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:3-6)
The Holy Spirit. One of the primary differences in the new covenant is the Spirit of God placed in believers. He is the “Spirit of truth” that testifies of Jesus. He would guide the apostles into all truth. He would then have a ministry in the church bestowing miraculous gifts. One of these gifts that God gave through the Spirit was knowledge. This should alone convince us of the importance of God’s people understanding Him. It is written, “to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:8). Care has been taken to ensure that the people of God are able to understand Him. Those in Christ have received “the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12). Therefore, the apostles were careful to convey God’s message through His specific words so that the church may be able to grow in the knowledge of God. They spoke “not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13). Whether it is through the preaching of the gospel or visions or prophecy, the knowledge of God is always obtained from God. The means through which God’s revelation comes is not the point here. But the point is that the revelation is understood. Knowledge is given by God. He wants us to understand who He is and what He is doing. He desires us to know Him. He has sent His Spirit and His word to accomplish this.
MAKING GOD KNOWN
God is not content with man being ignorant of Him. The old covenant Scriptures have shown us the regrettable condition of those who lack knowledge of God. Even more so is it disgraceful for man to be ignorant of God having been furnished with such precise revelation in the new covenant. In pointing out that “some have no knowledge of God” Paul said, “I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:34). Jesus rebuked the experts of the Law saying, “you have taken away the key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52). There can be no contentment with having “no knowledge of God” or having the key of knowledge taken away. God is not content with that situation and neither should man. Therefore because God in making Himself known, we also find the church involved in the same agenda. Peter said it this way:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Like all things pertaining to the kingdom, we see Jesus as the example in “the knowledge of God.” He said no one “knows the Father except the Son.” He had complete understanding and knowledge of the Father. But this knowledge of God wasn’t something for Christ to keep to Himself. It was also for “anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). Jesus came to make God known. He came to reveal Him. John, as the forerunner of the Lord, also came to “give to His people the knowledge of salvation” through preaching Christ (Luke 1:77). Paul’s preaching on Mars Hill is characteristic of the church making known “the God who made the world.” He spoke to the “men of Athens” who were worshipping “an unknown God,” “therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22-23). Now is a time when men everywhere must proclaim with precision and clarity “the God who made the world.”
A WORD OF CAUTION
“Knowledge makes arrogant but love edifies” (1 Cor. 8:1). Paul spoke to the Corinthian church about loving one another and bearing with one another. The church as a whole was weak. Some had guilty consciences in eating things sacrificed to idols where others knew that there was no such thing as an idol. Those who knew this were said to “have knowledge” (v. 10). Paul instructed them not to eat things sacrificed to idols for the sake of the brother who thought that it would be sinning. He feared that the one with knowledge would cause the other brother to stumble. He wrote “for through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined” (1 Cor. 8:11). Knowledge can make arrogant but love will edify. We too can take heed to this word, that while growing in knowledge we do not become arrogant. Love is the abiding, more excellent gift (1 Cor. 13:1-3, 8).
It is common for men today exalt those who preach the world’s wisdom. Through their continuous words and philosophical jargon they wow the crowds with emptiness. They seek new and different ways to say the same things and when it is all boiled down it is nothing more than common sense. Because of this an immeasurable amount of time is spent searching newspapers, magazines, best-sellers looking for ways to convey their message “in today’s language.” This is almost always an attempt to appeal to the emotional side of man and give rise to feelings and not faith. It is not uncommon to hear talk about attention spans, love languages, and personality differences. None of which are ever spoken of in the Bible. The reason for all of this is to change the message of God in order to make it interesting to those who are not seeking the knowledge of God. To them the Scripture applies, “guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’ – which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:20-21). These “opposing arguments” are nothing more than “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 5:10). We must have no dealings with them other than “destroying” them. The people of God need the message of God – not fables clothed in great oratory. Nothing is wrong with great speaking skills but when it is without knowledge it is fruitless. Paul appealed to this in his defense as an apostle saying, “But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge” (2 Cor. 11:6).
KNOWLEDGE IS TO INCREASE
The knowledge of God is not to be sparse or shallow. That is more descriptive of the old covenant when revelation came “in many portions and many ways.” The knowledge of God in the new covenant is described ever increasing. It was Paul who said, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). And yet we also hear him say “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” and “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:8, 10). He knew God and Christ and wanted to know them more. And what is great is that this can be realized in the new covenant. The Roman church was “filled with all knowledge” (Rom. 15:14), the Corinthian church abounded in knowledge (2 Cor. 8:7), and all believers are said to “have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Col. 3:10). This is not a trite point. Christ’s gifts to the church have been given for the purpose of causing the church to increase in knowledge.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Praying for increased knowledge. Knowing the paramount place that the knowledge of God has in the kingdom led the apostles to earnestly pray that the church increase in that area. Consider some noted prayers mentioned by Paul for the churches.
“For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Eph. 1:15-19)
“For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:14-19)
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:9-11)
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Col. 1:9-12)
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument.” (Col. 2:1-4)
“I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake.” (Phm. 1:6)
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS EFFECTIVE
The result of the body of Christ coming to a “true knowledge of the Son of God” is that “we are no longer children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, caused the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph. 4:14-16). Now those are results! Grace and peace are multiplied to us “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” and “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him” (2 Pet. 1:2-3). We have even “escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 2:20). That is effective knowledge. Great benefits.
Man’s effort. But as in all things coming from God, it requires our apprehension of it, our laying hold of it. The Lord Jesus said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). Even so knowledge of God and His kingdom has us lying comatose if refuse to participate. God offers His riches with a requirement of effort on the recipient’s part. And so we are instructed to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). With God’s provision and our participation we will be fruitful and useful for the kingdom.
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 1:5-8)
Knowledge of the truth. Knowledge of God is simply called truth, just as Jesus is (John 14:6). And so we find the phrase “knowledge of the truth” in the Scriptures. The knowledge of the truth is vacant it is an indication of “difficult times.” This is when sin increases and men are said to be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (Titus 1:1; 2 Tim. 3:7). If this continues all that is left is “a terrifying expectation of judgment” (Heb. 10:26-27). But as we have said, when knowledge is sought out and received it is effective, yielding eternal benefits. “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4). Knowledge of the truth is directly related to being saved. It is also directly related to repentance in the phrase “repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:25).
The pinnacle of divine revelation is seen in the person of Christ and so to have knowledge is to know Christ. Knowing God also involves man believing God’s record concerning His Son in the Scriptures. God is great and His salvation is great. It is imperative that man knows this that he might fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life. For knowing Him IS eternal life (John 17:3).
“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)