Knowledge of God (Of Christ)

 Strong's #602: apokalupsis (pronounced ap-ok-al'-oop-sis)

from 601; disclosure:--appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

̓́

apokalupsis

1) laying bear, making naked

2) a disclosure of truth, instruction

2a) concerning things before unknown

2b) used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from view are made visible to all

3) manifestation, appearance

Part of Speech: noun feminine

Relation: from G601

Citing in TDNT: 3:563, 405

Usage:

This word is used 18 times:

 

Luke 2:32: "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people"
Romans 2:5: "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;"
Romans 8:19: "creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."
Romans 16:25: "of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,"
1 Corinthians 1:7: "no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus"
1 Corinthians 14:6: "to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or"
1 Corinthians 14:26: "hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done"
2 Corinthians 12:1: "come to visions and revelations of the Lord."
2 Corinthians 12:7: "through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the"
Galatians 1:12: "was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Galatians 2:2: "And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel"
Ephesians 1:17: "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:"
Ephesians 3:3: "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as"
2 Thessalonians 1:7: "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his"
1 Peter 1:7: "and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
1 Peter 1:13: "that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"
1 Peter 4:13: "when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
Revelation 1:1: " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show"

In Psalm 19, we have the example of a man who is really tuned into God, which resulted in him writing about one-half of the 150 Psalms. To David, the immense size, radiance, and regularity of the heavenly bodies spoke to him of the wisdom, power, and steadfast character of the God of creation, and he was thankful because he knew that God, and God only, had given to him this perspective. Recall that in Deuteronomy 8:2-3, the reason that God humbled the Israelites—and now humbles us too—is because He wanted to test them so that they would know that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." That was His ultimate reason. In other words, He did what He did so that they would listen to what He said. Here in Psalm 19, David demonstrates that he had been listening! He heard the "voice" of God revealing Himself, not in audible sound, but in what can be observed in the creation, and it resulted, among other things, in greater understanding, praise, and thanksgiving. All too often, we allow the events of life to distract us from the glory of God in what He has made and in what He is doing, permitting them to divert our attention from Him and His purpose. Because of a lack of faith, we look away from the light and focus our attention on the dark, and we soon become unthankful. We would do well to imitate David in this regard.

Proverbs 8:1-4 It is helpful to understand that God provides two distinct callings for every person on earth. The first is quite general, and everybody rejects it regardless of how religious he might be. Solomon writes in Proverbs 8:1-4: Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors: "To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men." Here, the wisdom of God, personified as a woman, claims that the knowledge of God is readily available to mankind. Proverbs 1:20-26 affirms this: Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke: surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes." Again, God's wisdom is personified, and her testimony is that no one paid attention. All of mankind "disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke." With this in mind, recall what Paul writes in Romans 1:18-20: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [divine nature], so that they are without excuse. In other words, no man can stand before God and claim that he turned away from Him because God never provided any understanding of, not only His existence, but also many details of His power and works among men. How is this possible? Apart from the reality of creation, one reason is the ready availability of the Bible. Into how many languages and dialects have men translated it? Nearly everyone on earth can read or hear it in his own tongue! Romans 2:14-15 presents yet another claim of God that blocks mankind's excuses: . . . for when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thought accusing, or else excusing them. . . . Deep within everyone, regardless of race or location, is a God-given awareness, a consciousness, not only of His existence, but even of some of the basics of what He requires, things written in God's biblical law. Despite all of this evidence, we universally reject Him. So thorough is mankind's rejection of God that, when He came as a man, we killed Him!

Matthew 12:41-42 The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and condemn the people of Jesus' generation because they did not respond to the message of repentance He brought. Then He says the queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba, will also condemn this generation because they did not understand the wisdom that Jesus brought—wisdom far greater than Solomon's.

1 Corinthians 1:19-21 God has purposely chosen this means to put proud and stiff-necked man totally in debt to Him for the most important achievement in all of life. Men have accomplished much and will continue to do many great things. However, verses 19-21 expose why the wise of this world will not submit to God. The reason becomes clear in the phrase, "the foolishness of preaching" (verse 21, King James Version [KJV]). This translation is somewhat misleading in the King James; it should read "the foolishness of the message preached," as in the New King James Version (NKJV). Paul is not saying that the wise of this world reject the act of preaching but that they consider the content of the message preached to be foolish. In other words, the wise will not believe the gospel, most specifically that God in the flesh has died for the sins of the world. It cannot be overestimated how important humility expressed by faith before God is to the overall spiritual purpose of God for each individual! Each person must know as fully as possible that Christ died for him, that his own works do not provide forgiveness, and that he has not created himself in Christ Jesus. Nobody evolves into a godly person on the strength of his own will. It is God who works in us both to will and to do (Philippians 2:13). No new creation creates itself. So, by and large, God calls the undignified, base, weak, and foolish of this world, people whom the unbelieving wise consider to be insignificant and of no account. He does this so that no human will glory in His presence. On this, a German commentator, Johann Albrecht Bengel, clarifies, "We have permission to glory, not before God, but in God." The term "in Christ Jesus" (I Corinthians 1:30) indicates that we are in an intimate relationship with Him. Paul then details—through the terms "wisdom," "righteousness," "sanctification," and "redemption"—that God, using our believing, humble, submissive cooperation, will be responsible for all things accomplished in and through us. Some modern commentators believe that, because "wise" and "wisdom" appear so many times earlier in this chapter, the terms "righteousness," "sanctification," and "redemption" should be in parentheses because Paul intends them to define what he means by true wisdom in this context. God, then, is pleased to save those who believe and to do a mighty work in them. This set Abel apart from, as far as we know, every other person living on earth at that time. What he did by faith pictures what everyone who receives salvation must also do to begin his walk toward the Kingdom of God. Everyone must be called of God; believe enough of His Word to know that he is a sinner who needs the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins; repent, that is, undergo a change of mind toward God; and be justified, made legally righteous by having Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed to him. This enables a relationship with God to begin, and sanctification unto glorification can proceed.

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 By using those who killed Christ as an illustration, Paul shows that everyone has been held captive to ignorance of God and His way. God's wisdom was hidden from "the rulers of this age." Had they had it, their minds would have had the material to reach a far different conclusion about what to do about Christ. They would have produced a different result.

1 Corinthians 2:7 The word "mystery" is not the same as our English usage of the word. "Mystery" to the Greek meant not a puzzle that was difficult to solve, but a secret impossible to penetrate. It was something that was hidden and unintelligible to those who were not initiated, as into a secret society or as into a religion. Most of you have heard of the mystery religions. What they did was unintelligible to those who were on the outside, but to those who were on the inside, what was being said or enacted in their ritual made clear sense. This is the idea here: a secret impossible to penetrate, not a puzzle that is difficult to solve. What is crystal clear to those on the inside is unintelligible to those who are on the outside. In like manner, to those who have received the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit has joined with the spirit in man, adding a dimension to their lives that they previously did not have (I Corinthians 2:11-12). So then, things that are crystal clear to them are unintelligible to those who do not have this added dimension. Thus, Paul says, the things of the Spirit have been revealed by God.

1 Corinthians 3:1 What an opening! Paul is one chapter beyond the subject of "the wisdom of men" and "the wisdom of God." Notice how the wisdom of men was affecting these converted Corinthians. That Paul says that they were still "babes in Christ" shows they were converted, but they were converted to such a small degree that Paul still had to speak to them as if they were unconverted!

James 1:5-8 Since we do not naturally have the wisdom from above—spiritual wisdom—then we must ask God for it in faith. We must be sure that our faith is in accordance with His will, and we must come to Him with the utmost confidence that He will grant it. When we go to God with a request, His answer, whether yes or no, will be for our ultimate good. Our faith is not believing that God will give us what we want regardless of our request, but that His answer will always be the wisest answer for our ultimate good.

James 3:17-18 James concludes chapter 3 by describing the wisdom that comes only from Almighty God. It is the bit and rudder by which we can effectively gain control of our speech. Godly wisdom begins in the heart, replacing the self-indulgent human motivations with purity, peacefulness, gentleness, yieldedness, mercy, goodness, fairness, and sincerity. Words that employ these godly attributes contrast to the raging winds that fan flames of war toward total destruction. The apostle does not allow us any time to spend in the middle; our words should be fresh and trustworthy, without the bitter and shocking elements of a sharp tongue. In Matthew 12:34, Christ says, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." The real issue is that our words reveal the essence of our hearts. They will tell whether we are motivated by the earthly wisdom of human desire or by the godly wisdom of the fruit of the Spirit. Unkind words reveal an unkind heart, and kind words, a kind heart.

1 John 4:6 No Christian thinks that the message of Christ is foolishness, nor do we think that the wisdom of men is really all that wise—in fact, we have a tendency to reject it. What the Bible shows is that we are susceptible to it. "Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12). We should not willingly put ourselves in the line of fire. None of us is strong enough to resist Satan as Jesus Christ did—it took Christ to defeat him! All that God asks us to do is resist him. If we do this, Christ will come to our aid and rebuke him. Never be deceived into believing that we can out-think, out-wit, out-subtle, or spiritually overcome Satan alone. His powers and "wisdom" would put us to shame. Hebrews 8:6-13 In verses 8-12, Paul quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The writer begins by telling us that God found fault with the men of old, and this leads to the quotation from Jeremiah 31 in Hebrews 8:8. From the failures of the past, Jeremiah turned his vision to the future. There are four significant things prophesied by Jeremiah and quoted by Paul about the new covenant in verses 10-12: First, the New Covenant is inward and dynamic: It is written on the hearts and minds of the people. A shortcoming of the Old had been its outwardness. It had divinely given laws, but it was written on tablets of stone. Jeremiah looked for a time when people would not simply obey an external code but would be so transformed that God's own laws would be written in their inmost beings. Second, there is a close relationship between the God who will be "their God" and the people, he says, who will be "My people." The change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant is that while the formula of the covenant remains the same from age to age, it is capable of being filled with fresh meaning to a point where it can be described as a "new" covenant. "I will be your God" acquires fuller meaning with every further revelation of the character of God. Third, all who enter it will have knowledge of God. There will be no need for a person to instruct his neighbor. The word rendered neighbor in verse 11 means "citizen," and thus a "fellow-citizen." Jeremiah moves from the wider relationship in the community to the narrower relationship in the family, saying that in neither case will there be a need to exhort anyone to know God because everyone will know Him. This does not mean that under the conditions of the New Covenant there will be no place for a teacher. There will always be the need for those who have advanced in the Christian way to pass on to others the benefit of their knowledge. Rather, the meaning is that the knowledge of God will not be confined to a privileged few (as with the priesthood of ancient Israel). All those under the New Covenant will have their own intimate and personal knowledge of their God. Fourth, under the New Covenant, sins are forgiven. Following repentance of sins and acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, sins are forgiven. The superior sacrifice of Christ is offered once and for all, paying the penalty of sin for those who repent.