Why Words of Knowledge?
Scripture: Colossians 2:3
“In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Words of knowledge help us to treasure who Jesus is and apply this nature to our everyday life. It is a revelation in the moment of the knowledge that is in Christ.
Teaching Point | WHY WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE - THEIR BIBLICAL PROMISE
In very real and real-time ways, Words of Knowledge help us connect to God’s heart—not just the principles but the person of God.
Colossians 2:3 tells us, “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Words of Knowledge help us to treasure who Jesus is and apply this nature to our everyday lives. In the moment, they offer a revelation of the knowledge that is in Christ.
The Greek word for “wisdom” here is sophia, which is the knowledge of how to regulate one’s relationship with God. It is a wisdom that is related to goodness. The word also describes someone who is spiritually prudent with others and knows how to access the Spirit to regulate circumstances: skillful, expert, sensible, judicious. It is the same word that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 12:8 for “word of wisdom”: “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.”
In the Colossians verse, the word “knowledge” here is gnosis, which in this context means “to know experientially.” It is present and fragmentary knowledge compared to the related word epignosis, which the Greeks used to convey a clear and exact knowledge gained through education or participation. Gnosis is an intuitive knowledge that is in the present. Again, it is the same word Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 12:8 to refer to a prophetic Word of Knowledge.
To know someone in a biblical sense was to have deep intimacy with that person. In fact, the Greek word for “know” or “knowledge” ( ginosko) is the same one used in the context of sexual intimacy. Receiving and sharing Words of Knowledge isn’t about gaining information. Studying the Greek shows us that this gift is about having intimate knowledge of the mind of God.
Our God is a just God, and Words of Knowledge in Scripture help us to see what He’s doing now in our culture today. In the life of Daniel, we see one of the clearest pictures of social transformation and God’s extraordinary protection over His people. God downloaded both spiritual knowledge and natural knowledge into the minds and hearts of Daniel and his friends (see Daniel 1:17). That special download helped the exiled Hebrew advise the Babylonian king and his kingdom. Daniel even interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams through words of knowledge, securing the whole course of Daniel’s life and the destiny of his people.
If you could download the knowledge inside someone else’s head into your own, how much would their perspective, life experience, and understanding affect yours? As we seek to know what God is thinking and what He cares about, we can literally get a transfusion of God’s mind and heart in an everyday way through Words of Knowledge.
Next Step: Do you participate with the mind of Christ in your day to day life? What about in your interactions with others? Journal your thoughts.
Getting to Know Words of Knowledge | Identifying Jesus in Situations
Matthew 16:16-17 "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'"
Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.'"
Luke 2:36 "There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
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