… and to know this love that surpasses knowledge …
Summary: To question what we know is to question the foundation of our ability to reason. When we discover that we are both flesh and spirit, we find that knowing the love of God is a spiritual experience far beyond what the flesh and understand.
Here is a puzzle for you to ponder:
How do you know things?
To put the question another way: Do you know how you know what you know?
Our Western culture tends to rely heavily on the belief that we know certain things. You’ve probably heard it said, “I know my rights!” or “I know you’re wrong,” but do you?
I don’t mean to cause an existential crisis for anyone who might be reading this. Sometimes questioning things like the meaning of “knowledge” can be unsettling. It can cause us to question everything we think we know. Such questions are very disconcerting and uncomfortable to deal with. Yet, if we do ask the question, the answer can be very freeing.
To “know” something means you are personally familiar with it. You have seen it before, and you “know” it when you see it. If you know me, you will recognize me when you see me. If you “know” how to play the piano, you know what a piano looks like, how to read the language of music, and you can operate the piano in a way that makes a recognizable set of sounds.
Unfortunately, people tend to abuse the words “know” and “knowledge” these days.
One thing we can know is the love of Christ. We can know about Christ’s love by reading about him in the Bible. His words are recorded for us to hear in our hearts. When we hear about Christ’s love, we can recognize it when we feel it.
Paul wants us to be “rooted and established in love.” He wants all of the Lord’s people to have power to understand the love of Christ. He wants us to “know this love that surpasses knowledge.”
That last statement might sound like an oxymoron. However if we remember that we are a dual type of being, both flesh and spirit (See “My Siamese Me”), what he is saying makes sense.
The “love that surpasses knowledge” is from Christ. Therefore, it is from God himself. Since the flesh is corrupt (Genesis 3:1-7), it is unable to know God (Job 19:26, 1 John 4:12). Yet the spirit of man can be “born again” (John 3: 3-15) and once born again in Christ is reunited with God (1 Corinthians 6:17, John 10:30). The born-again spirit can know the love that surpasses the knowledge of the flesh.
Application: Look at Christ’s love through your spiritual eyes.
Food for Thought: How can we “know” that we truly have a spirit?
Love must always surpass knowledge.
Love is true and timeless.
Knowledge is only true …for now
Gary,
Great to hear from you! Your point is profound. What we often call “knowledge” will evaporate with the old and be replaced by the new.
— 2 Peter 3: 11-13
How can we “know” that we truly have a spirit? The same way that I know that Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Nice!
Matthew 18:2-5
06-05-2023, How can we “know” that we truly have a spirit?
We do not have the power to change our wills, hearts, minds or desires. Our flesh is naturally bent entirely toward self and away from God, spiritually dead, we are unable to receive the things of the Spirit with what Paul identifies as the mind of the flesh, unable to submit or please God.
Ephesians 2:1, 4, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7–8
How then did we receive the Holy Spirit? It was a miracle. It was by God’s grace sovereignly applied to us in our helplessness.
“When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment”
John 16:8
One of the major works of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction of sin and draw people to Christ. The heart of God is to see people come to repentance. This is His first desire for every human on the face of the earth.
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” That means born of the Spirit and possessing the Spirit.
John 5:1
By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
1 John 4:2
Thanks, Ron!
“One of the major works of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction of sin and draw people to Christ. ”
We can know when we feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 🙂
I like T’s response. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. The Bible also tells me I have a spirit. There are experiences that May back that up, but Scripture is the foundation for an accurate world view. That is why people on this blog back up statements with Scripture – because they know Scripture is truth and it can and should back up our claims (2 Timothy 3: 16; 2 Peter 1: 20 – 21 – see, I just did it).
Thank you, Rich.
Well said!
I don’t think that’s how the song ends…..
😊
My cats are reactionary creatures. When there is nothing to react to they go to sleep. There is something in me beyond reactionary living. Something there that goes beyond. I have a will.
The more I study the Bible the more that I understand that God created this will. The Bible becomes more and more a testament to God’s Will, and how my will can be good like His. That I too can share in the giving of life.
If you would have asked me that question many years ago, I may have said “no one really knows.”
What I know today is that there is the Spirit of God. He is present. I once told God that I didn’t feel His presence in my life, and He revealed Himself to me. Not just in scripture. In everything. Jesus intercedes for me (for us) when I (we) call on His name. I see it, I feel it, I know it. My will goes beyond reactionary, my spirit and His Spirit align. His goodness becomes my goodness.
My problem is gravity. I am pulled toward things that seem bigger than God’s Will. Always though, just calling on His name suspends gravity. It is in those times that I know His Spirit, and that I know my spirit.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks, Chris.
Your cat illustration is purr-fect, although the gravity metaphor was a bit heavy for me.
Don’t be pulled down, Jeff.
Double the pun, double the fun!
🙂