In Colossians 2:2&3 Paul writes of “the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ” and the “treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. This morning I was led to 1 Timothy 6 where he speaks again of knowledge, only in what kind to avoid.

I am turned off more and more each day from those in positions of authority that speak from that position as though they are the only authority on a particular topic. I am not calling out any one group of individuals or a particular way of thinking to be sure. I am simply indicating my frustration with what I hear and see and the simple one sided declaration of “rightness” that comes from those speaking. Paul addresses this in his words to Timothy.

“²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’, ²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith, Grace be with you.” – 1 Timothy 6:20-21 (ESV)

Paul makes it clear to Timothy to do the work of God and not be fooled by those that claim to be know things. Timothy was instructed here to question everything and know what he knows as relates to God.

This is such the realization to me as I go into the world today and every day. I should know what I know as relates to God. I should listen to others in the world and question to understand and not just take things stated and done at face value as “right”. I should be careful to follow Christ and not be led astray by those who have “swerved from the faith” as stated by Paul in verse 21 above.

I will be bombarded with those that claim to be speaking the truth, when they may have not done the work to truly understand prior to speaking out. I ask for the knowledge as Paul writes in the below passage.

“²…to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” – Colossians 2:2b-3 (ESV)

Here, as noted in the beginning of my writing this morning, Paul writes of where our knowledge should be coming from. When we lean on God, we are presented with the knowledge that is needed for all situations. We are tasked with understanding as relates to God and not the world.

Where are you drawing your knowledge from? Are you looking to the world? What if you sought the “knowledge of God’s mystery” as opposed to the “irreverent babble and contradictions” of the world?

“¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ²that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” – Colossians 2:1-5 (ESV)

In the above verses Paul takes the time to encourage. He was not able to be there personally, physically, but he still made it a point to give encouragement. I am of the opinion that we all have that chance in life, to be the one that encourages. As we live the life God has for us, we should want nothing more than for others to experience the same joy and the way we do that is to encourage them to seek out God and His salvation.

We do not have to be there in person, and in fact we do not even have to know those that we are encouraging. Paul did not know everyone in Colossae yet he encouraged them. I do not know all of you that engage with my bible study, yet I continue to produce it for me, yes as an extension of my study, but also for you that you might grow in Christ as a result.

The encouragement we give should be specific and not some sort of general “keep going”, “fight the good fight”, “you can do it”. When encouraging, we should give something for the other person to grab onto and strive toward. Paul does just that with his encouragement and it rounds out with “the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ” and “wisdom and knowledge”. If that is not specific encouragement I don’t know what is. Paul gives the people of Colossae the direction to go and cheers for them to get there.

All the while of giving the encouragement, he is doing it from afar. I do not have to be right there with you in person, yet I can give you encouragement to seek out the knowledge of Christ and the wisdom it contains. To do that you should be diving into God’s word daily to study just what it is He has in store for you. I know that you can do it. I know that you will do it.

What encouragement have you received in the past? Is that encouragement specific enough for you to seek the goal? What if you led by example and provided encouragement for others that is specific and it starts with encouraging others to seek the knowledge and wisdom of Christ?

I tell you that when you have been studying the same word or concept for a number of weeks it is difficult each day to know that you will learn something more each day. I sit here each morning over the past few weeks in the study of “knowledge” and pray that God will give me the ability to learn what it is He has in store for me, and today was not exception. I sat down and was led to Ephesians 3:19 that I have studied at least once before, and upon seeing the verse as the one to study today, I was perplexed as to what more would God teach me from here. Well it did not take long for God to reveal to me the purpose of my study this morning.

The whole of the passage of Ephesians 3:14-21 is two sentences. I am going to drill into verse 19 this morning as I write.

“¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:19 (ESV)

You see, here Paul writes of the “love of Christ” and “the fullness of God”. The concept is that both are greater than any knowledge we have here in this world. The love of Christ Paul clearly states “surpasses knowledge”, and I take away that the fullness of God does just as well to surpass knowledge.

When we are in the love of Christ, we find ourselves filled with the fullness of God. With that, we are part of the greater understanding than just knowledge of human things and ideas. With the love of Christ and the fullness of God, we are led to be the tool that God uses to reach those around us.

This morning as I was praying before my study, I asked, as I do most mornings, for God to allow others to see Him in me through my actions. I have to take away that I am not here for me but to do the work of God and capitalize on the love of Christ and the fullness of God by presenting both to others through my actions. Yesterday it was brought to me by once of those I have the pleasure of training for the next few weeks that I demonstrate a great amount of patience with all of the technical and other challenges that come with my role. I can only believe that is possible thanks to my display of the love of Christ and fullness of God in all that I do.

As Paul puts it, “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”. It is my duty to display that love each day and know that He is greater than all, no matter what it is that we may know here in this world.

When you are out there in the world, what is it that you lean on to impact others? Are you out there on your own stating just how much you know? What if you were to demonstrate the love of Christ and the fullness of God to show just how much greater they are than knowledge?

“¹⁴But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, ¹⁶to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)

When I read these verses, I see, like you likely do as well, that there are two types of people in the world. There are those that learn of the knowledge of Christ and accept Him as their Savior and Lord, and then there are those that are turned off by His glory and greatness. I see that the aroma Christ and His knowledge is beautiful and sweet to those that accept and sour and repugnant to those that are turned off.

When we that are of Christ, are in the world, our role is to emit the aroma and fragrance of Christ. It is not up to us who will accept and who will push away. The fragrance of Christ and the knowledge of Him is what it is and I have to remember that not all will accept that aroma as I do. My job is simply to spread the aroma around the world and allow God to do His will in those that come in contact with His fragrance.

When you are in the world, are you out there spreading the fragrance of God? Have you noticed the acceptance or rejection of His aroma? What if you just spread the fragrance and allowed God to do His work on others with the aroma of His knowledge?

I have studied “love” and “knowledge” and by far, love is greater. Even in the concordance of my ESV Bible, there are just over 20 references to “knowledge” where there are over 120 references to “love”. So it stands to reason that love is indeed greater.

This morning I continue to study “knowledge” and was led to chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. Interesting that the title of the passage is “The Way of Love” and not knowledge. Verses 2 and 8 tell the story of what I reference in the beginning paragraph as identified by Paul.

“²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ⁸Love never ends. As for prophesies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” – 1 Corinthians 13:2 & 8 (ESV)

As my study takes me, I am taught and reminded that knowledge, where it is great to have and important to continue to obtain, does not have the same sustainability that love does. Love does not go away just because I happen to forget how things are done. It does not disappear at the first realization that I am not the smartest person in the room. I can have all of the knowledge in the world and be the smartest person there ever was, but without love, I am nothing. I am nothing without love, and I say one more time, I am nothing without love.

My studies take me a lot of places and in those places God provides me with the knowledge I need to make it through and prevail over adversity. But no matter the circumstance or situation I am in, the one constant is that I always have love. When all else around me is in shambles, I have love. When things are humming right along as planned, I have love. When there is work to be done, the one thing that never fails is love.

Where do you look and what do you count on as you are out in the world? Are you leaning on those things that are fleeting, like knowledge? What if you were to put your faith in God and the love that never fails?

As I continue to study the word “knowledge” this morning I was led to 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and eating the food offered to idols. At first I ask, how does this contribute to knowledge, until I read the passage and draw on what I already have learned.

“¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? – 1 Corinthians 8:10 (ESV)

In this verse we see that having knowledge of something that is controversial means that we have a responsibility to not influence one way or the other.

“⁸Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.” – 1 Corinthians 8:8 (ESV)

As a Christian, eating food does not make us any better or worse, just like having more expensive possessions, or having attended a popular university, or working for a specific company. We are here to honor and glorify God and that is our purpose. We have a responsibility to guide others to their relationship with God, and as such we should not be doing anything to cause others to stumble. The eating of food offered to idols could cause someone take action that they do not fully understand, like that described in verse 8.

“¹¹And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. ¹²Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” – 1 Corinthians 8:11-13 (ESV)

I am not to do anything that causes someone to stumble. I have to understand that I am responsible for sharing the glory of God and with that I have a responsibility to love others and ensure that they are give every opportunity to develop and cultivate a relationship with Him that is pure and built on love.

“¹Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs us, but love builds up.” – 1 Corinthians 8:1 (ESV)

We are to have knowledge, but be careful with that knowledge that it does not define us. We should be defined by love and with the knowledge of what our purpose is and how to act, we are driven to share our love with others and that can be as simple as abstaining from something that could cause another to stumble in their relationship with Christ. Our knowledge leads to love of Christ and our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those in the world that are seeking Him.

Are there things in your life that could cause others to question or stumble in their relationship with Christ? Are you possibly contributing to someone’s stumbling, even inadvertently? What if you used your knowledge to love and build up others by abstaining from things that could cause them to stumble?

I feel as though I am a pretty smart fellow. I am an educator and have committed to lifelong learning. I am not satisfied with what I know and strive to not only have information that I can recall, but a depth of understanding that allows me to speak intelligently with others when subjects come up. All of that said, I still do not have the same or anywhere close to the same knowledge or depth of understanding as God.

“³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” – Romans 11:33 (ESV)

Back in early 2017 I wrote these words as I was studying the same verses above: “I spend a lot of time thinking about the immediate and how to handle the current adversity, when God is about 900 steps ahead. He has moved on, waiting on me to do my part. He has allowed me to decide for myself how to handle and it is my responsibility to work on catching up with him. Can we ever comprehend the wisdom of God?”

Oh how true they still are today. I will never reach the understanding and comprehension of God. He is so far ahead of me and He leads from there, encouraging me to continue moving forward with the plan to get there. I may have understanding and a depth of knowledge of certain topics, but God, He has a depth of knowledge and understanding of all things. I can only strive to reach that depth and fully know that I never will, and that I am okay with.

How much do you know? Are you one of those that knows it all? What if you surrender the idea of knowing all and accept that God’s knowledge and wisdom far exceeds anything we will reach?

The world is in a shambles. I think that we all know this and are wondering what to do about it and how it will be remedied. Well we should be looking to God’s Word for the answers to those questions.

As I read this morning I am reminded that the world has always been in shambles. But there have always been those that lived righteous lives. In Habakkuk chapter 2 we see in the beginning where the LORD speaks of the righteous and how they “shall live by His faith”. God tells that when we are doing work for and with Him that we will wait for Him and His answers to our prayers and questions as we do His work.

And then, God speaks of those that are less than righteous, which as I know is a large majority of the rest of the world. They will “take up their taunt against him”. They will not do as the LORD commands, in fact they will largely do the opposite and work against Him. Reading in Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 6 through 20 we see that there are the many things that were/are done in direct contradiction to the LORD. But, there are verses that point to the glory of the LORD.

“¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. ²⁰But the LORD is in his holey temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” – Habakkuk 2:14 & 20 (ESV)

We are made aware of the glory of the LORD, if we would only look out for it. His glory is all around us. If only we would accept His salvation and live our lives to His glory only, we will be a part of the righteous and “live by his faith”.

I am not saying here that I am a righteous man by any means, as I am still learning and growing in my faith even as I reach 36 years saved. I am working each day to do the will of God and follow His lead in my life. But, I know that the glory of the LORD and how when I seek it out, I will live by faith in Him.

What are living by? Are you seeking the glory of the LORD? What if you read and studied to know and live for the glory of the LORD?

“⁹They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” – Isaiah 11:9 (ESV)

Notice in the verse above that “they shall not hurt or destroy”. I see that written and think of all of those that are against me. I then think of what can be done to make sure that I am protected against such destruction. And then I read the verses above that one and see the whole truth.

“⁶The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷The cow and the bear shall graze; their your shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand of the adder’s den.” – Isaiah 11:6-8 (ESV)

Now I see the whole story being told. We live in harmony with all, even those that want to destroy us. As such we find peace with them and are able to love and live together in this world.

I know that there will always be those out there looking to hurt and destroy me. But, even though they are, that does not mean that I should. I live by the LORD and with that I love all. My knowledge of the LORD provides me with the understanding that all are here for God’s glory, even if they don’t know it. I am the one that drives harmony in the world, knowing that God will protect me against the persecution that is contrary to His plan for me in this world. I am to use my knowledge to drive harmony.

Are you able to live and work with those that are out to “get you”? What have you done to turn the tables and live in harmony? What if you were to use your knowledge of Christ and understand the reasons for their persecution, forgive them and drive the harmony in the world?

Knowledge is for all of me. Not just my head and heart and body, but in my soul as well. I am always looking for ways to increase my knowledge and understanding and the verse I was brought to this morning helps me to understand how.

“²Desire without knowledge is not good,” – Proverbs 19:2a (ESV)

I know what you may be thinking, where is there discussion about knowledge and the soul. Well, where is it that real desire is found, in the soul. In my ESV Bible, there is a note tied to the word desire that indicates the meaning is “a soul”. The soul is where we find the true desire. Deep down it is that we find ourselves wanting for things and it is deep down in the soul that we need to make sure and have the knowledge to make the right decisions and choices related to those wants.

I am grateful to have information beyond what is written in the verses that helps to explain things to me therefore allowing me to gain in knowledge and understanding. Knowledge is where I find the meaning behind things. For me as I continue to grow it is important for me to look out for my desires. I have to think about my soul and are the desires I have truly worth all of the effort I am putting into them. Do I really “need” that new car? What about that new TV, or computer?

It is for me to sift through the desires and use the knowledge of needs that God will provide for. Again I use the word “need” to describe that which I should think about for my soul. When I do, I take the time to dig into understanding and that is where the knowledge comes to the forefront. Knowledge is not just for the head, the body, and the heart, but also for the soul.

What is it that you desire? Are you looking at the depths of your soul for your needs? What if you were to dig into your soul for knowledge?