These prophesy are fulfilled in the New Testament. In the Christian era, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit indwell somebody through the word of God. The degree of the amount of the word the person retains will determine the extent to which the word is written in his/her heart. Also the extent to which the word of God is written into one’s heart would equal the extent to which the Holy Spirit indwells the person.
Let the word spoken by Christ [The Messiah] have
its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you
in [all its] richness, as you teach and admonish and
train one another in all insight and intelligence and
wisdom [in spiritual things, and as you sing] psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God
with [His] grace in your hearts.
[Colossians 3:16]. Amp. bible.
But if the spirit of Him that raised Jesus from dead
dwells in you, He that raised up Christ from dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit
that dwells in you.
[Romans 8:11].
When people hear the word and are convicted they give their lives to God by putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the word that act in the heart of men [of stone] to bring about the change [heart of flesh] we now witness and experience. The word of God was written by the auction of the Holy Spirit; it’s a two edged sword, powerful and penetrates the heart of men, breaking down walls of unbelief, religion, superstition and of sins. The word convicts us that we are sinners by birth and fallen short of God’s glory. It’s the word in the power of the Holy Spirit that cleans and sanctifies; the word heals and restores. It turns around drug addicts, homosexual, unbelieving believers and release the Satan possessed.
You are cleansed and purified already because
of the word which I have given you [the teaching
I have discussed with you].
[John15:3] Amp bible.
He sent His word and healed them, and delivered
them from their destructions.
[Psalms 107:20]
For the word of God is quick, and powerful and
sharper than twoadged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
Then He called His twelve disciples together and
gave them power and authority over all devils
and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach
the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
[Luke 9:1-2]
Now when they heard this [the word], they were
pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and
the rest of the apostles, men and women, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to
your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call.
Acts of the Apostles 2:37-39
The more the word lives in you, the better you are in depending and trusting in God. When a person receives the word and being convicted; he/she presents self for the sacrament of baptism and receives the Holy Spirit. However there were few exceptional occasions when people received the Holy Spirit and later were baptized. If the word lives in you, you manifest and reveal God in word and action but if otherwise you are nothing but flesh and you will reflect flesh. This is also reflected in the parable of the Sower. “Others are like seeds [the word] sown in a good soil [those who hear, accept and believe as well as act it]. The seeds bear good fruits and yield some in hundreds, sixty and another in thirty as much as were sown.
And these are they which are sown on good
ground: such as hear the word, and receive it,
and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty,
and some a hundredfold.
[Matthew 13:23; Mark 4:20].
God’s word is an instruction manual for righteous living.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof
for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works.
[2 Timothy 3:16-17].
Little wonder in the Ten Commandments, the first four talks about honoring God and the last six honoring one another. If you learn God’s word and apply it to your life, it will save you from avoidable errors and regrettable experiences. This experience led the Psalmist to confess: “Thy word is a lamb unto my feet and a light unto my path” [Psalms 119:105]. It follows that the word of God illuminates the path of our lives and guides us in the way to success in life. The word shall keep us away from sin and snares of death while sin will keep from studying and preserving in the word. The word of God is the pathway to heaven; prosperity and righteousness as well as joyful living on earth.
KNOWING GOD
God reveals Himself in various ways especially in His Word and in Christ Jesus. The purpose of God’s revelation is for us to know Him. When we know who He’s our perception, attitude, reaction towards him and other human beings will change for better. The word “know” has multiplied range of meaning in English; derived from Hebrews ‘yada’ and Greek ‘ginosko’ and ‘oida’ respectively. According to Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, ‘yada’ is the concept of knowing information or facts, the learning of skills, acquaintance with persons and even the intimacy of sexual intercourse. It further states that to know calls for a more than direct experience; knowing implies the process by which human beings structure experience – the process by which one recognizes, classifies and systematizes the date gained from experiences. Ginosko and oida are two basic Greek words found in the New Testament used to describe the concept of knowing.
Each indicates knowing and understanding. Both emphases the organization of one’s perceptions in order to grasp the true nature of an issue, concept or thing. In Greek culture, knowing is described as intelligent comprehension that underlines the assumption that knowledge is a true assessment of reality that could be known in our world.
I sometimes hear people say “I know how you feel,” when indeed they do not have the knowledge, experience and exposure the person has or is going through. They say this by way of condolence, comfort or encouragement. Can they be experience person in what they have not experienced? In the same vein some Christians claim to know God, even when they have no experiential knowledge of Him; made no commitment, put no faith in Him and no deliberate communication exist between God and them. They claim to know God when they do not understand Him; all they have may perhaps be head knowledge or hear about Him. Against these backgrounds that despite Apostle Paul knowledge and experiences with God he still desired to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comfortable unto his death [Philippians 3:10]. Also speaking about contentment and want Paul exposes us to his deep sense of commitment following his knowledge and experiences; “I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” [Philippians 4:12].
Let us peruse few biblical examples to buttress the word “know”:
1.“For God’s knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil……. ……[Genesis 3:5]
God is omniscience – all knowing God. In Him dwells the power of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Jesus is known as the wisdom of God and God’s Spirit reveals the depth things of God. God knowledge is pre-eminent and surpasses the knowledge of created beings and things. God incorporates every dimension of human capacity [1 John 3:20].
2. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil:………….[Genesis 3:22].
Here God draws attention on the process of making moral distinctions and make conclusions about what is good and evil. It also means more than just direct experience and more so to organize experience and abstract a perception of the world that provides the basis for response to different life’s situation.
3. Adam knew his wife and she conceived………[Genesis 4:1].
This refers to intimacy of sexual intercourse. It means Adam made love to his wife, Eve. Other ways of expressing this act are: He slept or lie or had carnal knowledge or had sexual intercourse with his wife.
4. “You do not know me or my Father” [John 8:19].
The Jewish leaders failed to respond to Jesus call for salvation and acknowledge Him as Christ and Lord demonstrated their lack of personal relationship with God and knowledge of Him. Little wonder Jesus said they did not know Him or His Father. Jesus further said “those who believes and obey will know the truth and the truth will set them free” [John8:32]. “Knowing” indicates personal relationship, a recognition, acknowledgement and believing response to God by putting faith on Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection [1 John 2;3-5, 21,29; 4:7, 15-16].
Apostle John further explained that knowing God is a matter of God initiating acts of self revelation in Jesus Christ; individual recognition of these acts and subsequent acknowledging Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior. The Holy Spirit within us testifies to this great gift of God and the reality of Jesus. This enables the believer to recognize and grasp the meaning of the truth. Also the individual daily life of obedience and love further reveal the believer’s knowledge of God.
Apostle Paul nature of knowledge includes strong emphasis on personal relationship that ranges to include other issues:
[i] Romans 1:18-32. God revealed to humanity in creation. God invisible qualities have been revealed by what He has made [vs 20]. “They knew God but did not glorify Him [vs21]. The mere refusal to respond to God’s great gift of salvation is considered ignorance. [ii] Romans 7:7-25. God revealed Himself to mankind in words; God’s revelation is both natural and special. When God made Saul on his way to Damascus, he discovered he was a sinner and turned around to totally relied on Christ alone. [iii] Some information about reality is not availed to humanity through natural senses. These hidden realities God had chosen to reveal to us now through the power of the Holy Spirit. [1 Corinthians 2:10; 6: 2, 9]. [iv] Ephesians 1:17-23; 3:14-19. Paul prayed that God will help the Ephesians “know Him better” and enlighten them that they may know the hope of their calling. [Ephesians 1:18; 3:19]. Know His love that surpasses knowledge [Colossians 1:9-12].God has revealed Himself in creation, in His written words and in Jesus Christ. God calls human beings to respond to His gift and revelations as the only way that the relationship with Him could be strengthened. Appropriate response to the Good News of Jesus is to trust Him as Savior and Lord. Making appropriate response calls for spiritual wisdom and insights. Paul gladly throw away everything only for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, his Lord [Philippians 3:8].