"That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
How do we know that the things we believe are true are really true? There is no such thing as a brute fact; everything is interpreted. Every man and woman has a set of beliefs which determine how he or she understands the world. Sometimes those are beliefs that are consciously held to, and other times those beliefs are held to subconsciously.
Suppose a man has never seen the seasons change before. Its autumn, and all around him he observes the leave of trees change colors and die, falling from the trees. As winter comes the trees themselves look barren, stark shadows of the verdant life they possessed a few short months before. This man might consider the sight and weep at the death of the trees. He weeps because he does not know that spring will come and the trees will burst forth with new life. The following autumn, recalling the previous year's experience, he knows that spring will come and is able to enjoy the winter and the marvelous variety of the seasons.
In the brief example above, the man thought he knew that the trees were dead. Often we think that we know something. We observe it, read about it, see it on TV, or hear about it, and we believe that "know" it to be true. Yet, just as the man in the example above didn't know about spring, and when he found out it falsified the thing he thought he knew, so when we know something there is the possibility that something else we haven't learned yet would contradict or falsify what we thought we knew. In other words, since we don't know everything, we can't be sure of anything because what we don't know could change or falsify what we think we know.
So can anyone have absolute certainty of knowledge? No mere human can, because no one knows everything. Our knowledge is limited and finite. Yet the Bible reveals to us the living God, who is infinite in his knowledge. The verse above from Colossians tells us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ Jesus. The living God alone has absolute certainty of knowledge, knowing everything that every was, is, will be, or could be.
Could this have impact on our knowledge? If God, who knows all and is the source of truth, were to reveal to us certain truths, then we could know that those things were true. However, even in that our knowledge would be dependent upon the knowledge God revealed to us, because only God knows fully.
Since we are not God, but are creatures made by Him, it makes sense that our knowledge is derived from his. Dr. Donald Petcher summarized this idea well when he wrote,
"Our knowledge is not immediate, but always aquired through an interpretive framework, whereas only God knows fully. This is not to say that we do not know truly... Does this lead us to skepticism? Only if we demand absolute truth. It should lead us rather to a proper creaturely humility before the almighty God, and to the realization that all our knowledge is relative to Him, and based on faith that His word is sure and that He is faithful in carrying out His promises." [Petcher, "Is Our Knowledge Univocal With God's?", (Covenant College, Bagpipe, 17 January 1997), p. 2]
Petcher has grounded our certainty of true truth (not absolute truth but truth relative to God) upon the faithfulness of God in carrying out his promises. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the ultimate proof that God is faithful to his promises. The apostle Paul acknowledges this in stating, "And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty....If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (1 Cor. 15:14,19). Thus, if Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith is empty, and if our faith is the basis of our knowledge, then our knowledge is empty as well. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ there can be no certainty of knowledge.
But Christ has been raised from the dead! Not only do we who know Christ have life in him (click here if you want to know more about trusting Christ) but we also have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him--this means that we can have true knowledge, in humility because we recognize our dependence upon Jesus for knowledge.
People who are not trusting Christ, who are not Christians, still have knowledge of the world. However, when they claim knowledge, such as knowledge of the coming seasons, or knowledge that gravity works, they are implicitly assuming the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises as a basis for their knowledge. They live in God's world, and are therefor dependent upon him for knowledge.
I would like to close this with Paul's doxology to God found at the end of Romans 11.
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!'For who has known the mind of the LORD?For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Or who has become His counselor?'
'Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?'"
Email me if you have questions or comments about the thoughts above. Please email me if you believe I've said something contrary to Scripture. Thanks.