When it comes to the Higher Christian Life, one of the most important words in Scripture is ginṓskō. In fact, I’m not sure we could overstate that fact. The difference between the lukewarm life with Christ, which He has much to say about in Revelation 3:16-17 and has plagued the church for centuries, and the Higher Christian Life we are striving for, is found not in academic head knowledge, but in firsthand experience with God and His Word. In other words, it is one thing to know something mentally, and quite another to know something by experience. One is transitory and untested and can change over time, and the other is what the foundations of life are built upon. Let me explain.
In Scripture, there are several Greek words that are translated, know, or knowing. Primarily, in regards to the Higher Christian Life, we need only concern ourselves with two, ginṓskō and eidō. When it comes to knowing something or acquiring knowledge about someone, we tend to fall into one of two broad categories: head-knowledge or first-hand experience. And if you are honest with yourself, experience always trumps what we believe in our head. Plus, in regards to the Higher Christian Life, God wants us to not just know Him in a mental, doctrinal, sterile, academic way, but wants His children to experience Him in the very core of their being. Because it is in the arena of experience that faith in Him and His Word grows exponentially. For example, what kind of knowledge do you think Paul is referring to in the following passage?
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know (ginṓskō) Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead – Philippians 3:8-11.
Do you see the faith experiences being described in this passage? Paul is not talking about academic, mental knowledge, but the knowledge that only comes from a shared experience, or knowledge that is birthed in the fire of adversity. Look at what he says, I have “suffered the loss of all things”— which is an experience. Or, that I may “know (ginṓskō) Him and the power of His resurrection”— which is definitely an experience. Or, the “fellowship of His suffering”— nothing mental or academic about experiencing sufferings. Or, “being conformed to His death”— again, an experience and not mental assent, that “I may attain to the resurrection from the dead”— which is another big-time experience. Do you see the point?
Maybe it would help if I defined our two Greek words, ginṓskō and eidō. First, ginṓskō means “to know in a full or completed sense, to know by experience, to know fully.” But it is also used in Scripture as a euphemism for an intimate, sexual relationship between a man and a woman, whereas Joseph did not “know” (ginṓskō) Mary until “she had brought forth her firstborn Son” (Matt. 1:25). Also, it conveys the idea of “love, approval, favor, with goodwill and care for the object of His knowledge.” We see this revealed many times in Scripture. For example, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know (ginṓskō) My sheep, and am known (ginṓskō) by My own. As the Father...
