In Ephesians 3:19 AMP, the apostle Paul affirms this by saying,
(That you may really come) to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience); that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)!
The word know in this passage is the Greek word ginosko. It means “allow, be aware (of), feel, (have), perceive, be resolved, can speak, be sure, and understand.”79 Paul is making a huge distinction here between knowing Jesus and having knowledge about Him. Knowing someone is based on a personal relation¬ship. Having knowledge about someone or something is based on secondhand information such as another person, book, or something that we may have heard on the radio or watched on TV.
Knowledge is a reference to the information we have in our head. If you want to live the abundant life, then it is not enough to have information about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Information gives us logic and the ability to have sense and reason. This way of thinking has its roots in Greek culture in which most of our society has been influenced. Information by itself is just religious rhetoric, unable to bear fruit-giving evidence of the life of God in you. The information may be good but it will not lead you to the promise land!
Paul is not speaking of working and striving to have a relationship with an external far-away God. He is praying that we would get a revelation diffused throughout our soul about the relationship that we already have with Holy Spirit, so that we would know for ourselves by experience with Holy Spirit the flooding of our mind, will, and emotions with the fullness of God. He is praying that we would receive revelation in our soul, that we are already filled and flooded with the fullness of the supernatural presence of God Himself.
In John 4, Jesus says the Kingdom of God is within us. He tells the Pharisees that we don’t have to search here or there for the Kingdom of God. We don’t have to work and strive harder to find revelation. If we would just learn to enjoy the union that we already have with Holy Spirit, revelation would begin to naturally flow supernaturally, as a result, without any effort.
Many Christians are disillusioned and believe that God has let them down. They do not understand the importance of cultivating sensitivity in their spirit to train their spiritual senses. They don’t have continual interaction with Holy Spirit resulting in revelation. It is the essence of faith. Without revelation from Holy Spirit, we find ourselves struggling to overcome again and again.
We cannot live the abundant life by the information we receive through the physical senses of our flesh. In the Western world, many Christians fill their heads with information rather than revelation, leading to a life filled with results based on our own intelligence and abilities rather than on His mind and abilities. As a result, we keep finding ourselves unable to possess the promises of God. Eventually, we become discouraged with our constant failures. We grumble and complain that things have not worked out for us as we had believed, and finally it turns into unbelief.
On the other hand, Hebrew thought reflected a more practical, relational, and revelatory perspective of our relationship with our world and Jesus Christ. This can be seen clearly in the Hebrew term towbunah. It is translated understanding. It means “discretion, reason, skillfulness, and wisdom.”80 In other words, understanding means that you are experiencing a revelation of the information received so that you are actually putting it into practice in your daily life. It is this concept of understanding that the Bible refers to as real proof of a genuine relationship with God. It is the fruit in a believer’s life!