Knowledge
Doesn't the Bible say that knowledge will be "destroyed"? Isn't it "incomplete"? Doesn't it "puff up"? And then there's the "tree of"! But aren't we also told to "look/ask/seek for it and walk in it"?
First, we will look at knowledge, wisdom, and understanding as a single issue.
How Long Will Knowledge Be Useful?
1 Cor 13:8b-12 (Phi) For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are "tongues" the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt like a little child. Now that I am a man I am finished with childish things. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a small fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God has known me!
In The Meantime...
Knowledge is needed because there are problems as a result of The Fall. Knowledge that is true allows problems to be solved and avoided. If a car breaks down, mechanical knowledge is useful, otherwise it is unnecessary. It is the same with all of life's problems. God gives us knowledge to help "fix" broken people, protect ourselves from the difficulties of life, and allow love to express itself in good works.
Knowledge Allows Love To Do What?
Prov 3:19-20a (NIV) By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided.
Prov 24:3-4 (NIV) By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Love Without Knowledge?
Sandy Gregory's story of the ignorant but loving mother: She feeds her children an all meat diet, because she believes meat is the best kind of food. One day she gains some important knowledge after reading a nutrition guide, and she starts buying a mixture of food types for her children. As a result her children become healthier. Question: Did this mother love her children more before or after she gained the knowledge? Hmmm.... The same! But until the knowledge, her love was fruitless, even counterproductive. Knowledge that is true allows love to blossom into good fruit.
Rom 10:2 (NIV) For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
Prov 19:2 (NIV) It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.
Hos 4:6 (NIV) My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
The "Simple" [those who are deliberately ignorant and actively avoid truth]
Prov 1:28-33 (NIV) "They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat of the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Eph 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Prov 23:23 (NIV) Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Prov 9:6 (NIV) Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.
Jam 1:5 (NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Prov 8:11 (NIV) For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Prov 19:8 (NIV) He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.
Prov 13:20 (NIV) He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Prov 24:5-6 (NIV) A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength. For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.
Knowledge To Be Avoided
Gen 2:17 (NIV) But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.
1 Cor 14:20 (NIV) Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be like adults.
Rom 16:19b (NIV) But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
Rom 16:19b (Phi) I want to see you experts in good, and not even beginners at evil.
Mat 10:16 (NIV) I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Our Own Understanding
Phil 4:7 (NEB) Then, the peace of God, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will keep guard over your hearts and thoughts, in Christ Jesus.
Job 36:26 (NIV) How great is God, beyond our understanding!
Prov 3:5,7a (NIV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.... Do not be wise in your own eyes.
The Two Kinds of Wisdom: From Above and From Below
Jam 3:13-17 (Phi) Is there some wise and understanding man among you? Then let his life be a shining example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and rivalry, then do not boast and do not deny the truth. You may acquire a certain wisdom, but it does not come from above--it comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil. The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of merciful thoughts and kindly actions, straightforward, with no hint of hypocrisy.
1 Cor 1:18-31 (Phi) The preaching of the cross is, I know, nonsense to those who are involved in this dying world, but to us who are being saved from that death it is nothing less than the power of God. It is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject." For consider, what have the philosopher, the writer, and the critic of this world to show for all their wisdom? Has not God made the wisdom of this world look foolish? For it was after the world in its wisdom had failed to know God, that he in his wisdom chose to save all who would believe by the "simple- mindedness" of the gospel message. For the Jews ask for miraculous signs and the Greeks an intellectual panacea, but all we preach is Christ crucified--a stumbling-block to the Jews and sheer nonsense to the gentiles... for God's "foolishness" is wiser than men.... But God has chose what the world calls foolish to shame the wise... that no man may boast in the presence of God.... And this makes us see the truth of the scripture: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
First, we will look at knowledge, wisdom, and understanding as a single issue.
How Long Will Knowledge Be Useful?
1 Cor 13:8b-12 (Phi) For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are "tongues" the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt like a little child. Now that I am a man I am finished with childish things. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a small fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God has known me!
In The Meantime...
Knowledge is needed because there are problems as a result of The Fall. Knowledge that is true allows problems to be solved and avoided. If a car breaks down, mechanical knowledge is useful, otherwise it is unnecessary. It is the same with all of life's problems. God gives us knowledge to help "fix" broken people, protect ourselves from the difficulties of life, and allow love to express itself in good works.
Knowledge Allows Love To Do What?
Prov 3:19-20a (NIV) By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided.
Prov 24:3-4 (NIV) By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Love Without Knowledge?
Sandy Gregory's story of the ignorant but loving mother: She feeds her children an all meat diet, because she believes meat is the best kind of food. One day she gains some important knowledge after reading a nutrition guide, and she starts buying a mixture of food types for her children. As a result her children become healthier. Question: Did this mother love her children more before or after she gained the knowledge? Hmmm.... The same! But until the knowledge, her love was fruitless, even counterproductive. Knowledge that is true allows love to blossom into good fruit.
Rom 10:2 (NIV) For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
Prov 19:2 (NIV) It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.
Hos 4:6 (NIV) My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
The "Simple" [those who are deliberately ignorant and actively avoid truth]
Prov 1:28-33 (NIV) "They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat of the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Eph 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Prov 23:23 (NIV) Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Prov 9:6 (NIV) Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.
Jam 1:5 (NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Prov 8:11 (NIV) For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Prov 19:8 (NIV) He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.
Prov 13:20 (NIV) He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Prov 24:5-6 (NIV) A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength. For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.
Knowledge To Be Avoided
Gen 2:17 (NIV) But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.
1 Cor 14:20 (NIV) Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be like adults.
Rom 16:19b (NIV) But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
Rom 16:19b (Phi) I want to see you experts in good, and not even beginners at evil.
Mat 10:16 (NIV) I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Our Own Understanding
Phil 4:7 (NEB) Then, the peace of God, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will keep guard over your hearts and thoughts, in Christ Jesus.
Job 36:26 (NIV) How great is God, beyond our understanding!
Prov 3:5,7a (NIV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.... Do not be wise in your own eyes.
The Two Kinds of Wisdom: From Above and From Below
Jam 3:13-17 (Phi) Is there some wise and understanding man among you? Then let his life be a shining example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and rivalry, then do not boast and do not deny the truth. You may acquire a certain wisdom, but it does not come from above--it comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil. The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of merciful thoughts and kindly actions, straightforward, with no hint of hypocrisy.
1 Cor 1:18-31 (Phi) The preaching of the cross is, I know, nonsense to those who are involved in this dying world, but to us who are being saved from that death it is nothing less than the power of God. It is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject." For consider, what have the philosopher, the writer, and the critic of this world to show for all their wisdom? Has not God made the wisdom of this world look foolish? For it was after the world in its wisdom had failed to know God, that he in his wisdom chose to save all who would believe by the "simple- mindedness" of the gospel message. For the Jews ask for miraculous signs and the Greeks an intellectual panacea, but all we preach is Christ crucified--a stumbling-block to the Jews and sheer nonsense to the gentiles... for God's "foolishness" is wiser than men.... But God has chose what the world calls foolish to shame the wise... that no man may boast in the presence of God.... And this makes us see the truth of the scripture: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
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