Appendix 4: Experiencing God
Excerpts from Appendix 4 of…
Immanuel: A Practicum by Patricia A. Velotta
Experiencing God
Knowledge
We can know God intellectually, in our minds, and experientially, in our hearts and lives.
Words used in the original languages of Scripture tell us this. In Old Testament Hebrew the word yadahdenotes an encounter with the five senses. We can encounter God with our senses in both the physical and supernatural world. In New Testament Greek, gnosis, refers to intellectual knowledge, but epignosisrefers to experiential knowledge gained through our senses. Epignosis makes a distinction between knowledge of the mind and what I call knowledge the heart. Vine explains the difference this way:
“epiginosko [verb] signifies (a) to know thoroughly (epi, intensive, ginosko, to know); (b) to recognize a thing to be what it really is, to acknowledge…epignosis [noun] full and thorough knowledge, discernment, recognition…” Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, p. 27
“(a) to observe, fully perceive, notice attentively, discern, recognize (epi, upon, and ginosko); it suggests generally a directive, a more special, recognition of the object known than does ginosko; it also may suggest advanced knowledge or special appreciation…(b) to discover, ascertain, determine…to take knowledge…epignosis is knowledge directed towards a particular object, perceiving, discerning, whereas gnosis is knowledge in the abstract.” Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, p. 299
Here are a few Scriptures with epignosis, experiential knowledge.
Romans 1:28 As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Ephesians 1:17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Philippians 1:9 I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
Colossians 1:9-10 We do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, andattaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
2 Peter 1:2-3 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
2 Peter 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For epignosis I like to substitute the word encounter because it suggests knowing through the senses, experiential knowledge. In an encounter, I experience by seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. Try reading these passages with encounter for a better understanding of what the authors were trying to say. Let’s take Paul’s prayer for every believer in Ephesus:
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the encounter (knowledge) of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know …” Ephesians 1:16-18 NKJV
Here are other translations and paraphrases of epignosis in this passage:
Fuller knowledge The Twentieth Century New Testament
Intimate knowledge The Centenary Translation: The New Testament in Modern English
To know more of Him The New Testament in Modern English (J. B. Phillips)
A growing knowledge The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People (C. B. Williams)
In knowing him personally The Message
In the recognition of him 1898 Young’s Literal Translation
Imagination
Paul is asking the Father of the Lord Jesus to give us the Holy Spirit for an encounter with Jesus. He links the Spirit of Wisdom who shows the heart with the Spirit of Revelation or Understanding who tells the mind. (See Endnote to Appendix 4)
The Greek word Paul uses for understanding is dianoia meaning imagination, mind, and understanding. Dainoia
“denotes the faculty of thinking; then of knowing; hence, the understanding, and in general, the mind, and so moral reflection; it is rendered “imagination” in Luke 1:51 (negative) “the imagination of their heart” signifying their thoughts and ideas.” Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, pp. 248
Because imagination can be negative, often denoting fabrication and fantasy, I refer to the positive and godly use of dianoia as “sanctified imagination.”
Through the Spirit, the eyes of our imagination connect with the spiritual realm. Paul’s use of dianoia, translated as imagination, in Ephesians 1:16-18, suggests that dianoia/imagination, is the word used in scripture for that part of us that receives revelation; perhaps it is even the bridge between soul and spirit
Imagination can be used for good or evil. Dianoia appears in thirteen passages: Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 1:51, 10:27; Ephesians 1:18, 2:3, 4:18; Colossians 1:21; Hebrews 8:10, 10:16, 1 Peter 1:13; 2 Peter 3:1; 1 John 5:20. In nine of these passages, including Ephesians 1:16-18, it is positive. The other four have negative connotations.
One positive use is Jesus command, to love God. Luke 10:27 So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind (dianoia).,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” (See also Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30)
Jesus wording seems redundant if soul is defined as intellect, will and emotions. Yet it isn’t redundant if the meaning of mind or dianoia is imagination, If it is imagination, it makes complete sense to love the Lord with everything you are: heart/spirit; soul or intellect, will and emotions; mind/understanding/imagination and strength/body.
Vain, empty, evil imaginations, out of an evil heart block the knowledge of God. Luke 1:51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination (dianoia) of their hearts. Romans 1:21b …became vain in their imaginations (dialogismos) and their foolish hearts were darkened. (AV)Romans 1:21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. We are to reject these vain imaginations.
2 Corinthians 10:5 …casting down vain imaginations (logismos) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…(AV)
2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge (gnosis)of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…
A good, positive, sanctified imagination out of a pure heart has inspired thoughts. If imagination actually may be the bridge we use to receive revelation, when a sanctified imagination pictures God, it may be seeing God by the Spirit of Revelation. Matthew 5: 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shallsee God.
Paul prays that our spiritual eyes or imagination be “enlightened.” Our word for photograph comes from this Greek word, photizois .
Photizo from phos, light…(b) used transitively, to enlighten, illumine.
Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, p. 31
Seeing with spiritual eyes may include seeing a picture by means of imagination. Jesus says that we must be born again (born of the Spirit) to see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The Old Testament Hebrew word for mind in Isaiah 26:3 is yetser which means form, frame, purpose or imagination.
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
Yetser comes from the root yatsar. Yatsar means to fashion, form, frame or make. Yetser “a form; (figurative) conception ( i.e. purpose):–frame, thing framed,
imagination, mind, work. …This word also carries the connotation of something thought of in the mind, such as wickedness in people’s hearts (Genesis 6:5); or something treasured or stored in the heart (1Chronicles 29:18).” Hebrew and Greek Key Word Study Bible NASB. p. 1893
God wants us to see into the supernatural with our spiritual eyes, that is, our sanctified imaginations, so that we might intimately know, experience, and encounter Him in our hearts and not just have head knowledge. God wants us to walk in the light, in the whole truth of who He is.
Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
We are to see the Father.
Hebrews 11:27 …for he (Moses) endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
Acts 2:25, 28 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken…You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.
John 14:9 He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father?”
We are to see the Son.
Hebrews 12:2 …looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…
John 14:19 A little longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
We are to see the Spirit.
John 14:17 …even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Our birthright is to be like Jesus.
To be like him, we must know him for who he is.
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.Therefore, we are to grow and to be fruitful in the experiential knowledge of God—.
2 Peter 1:2, 3, 8 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Seeing God is normative Christianity. Paul prays for the whole congregation in Colosse as well as in Ephesus.
Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
As followers of Jesus Christ, He is our model for living in the Spirit.
He lived by imitating his Father who is in heaven.
John 5:19-20 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
Jesus lived by the same Spirit that lives in us. While on earth he put down his transcendent God abilities of omnipresence, omniscience, and all power and lived in the Spirit as a human, being. We are to live in the Spirit also.
Philippines 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
If you think seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling in the Spirit are only for
super stars, the Bible tells us that we are all alike.
James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.”
The complete text for appendix 4 in Immanuel: A Practicum also discusses the following additional points:
- God gives various gifts, talents and callings, but he wants all of us to
know, experience and encounter him. - We can hear his voice.
- We experience him through the sense of touch.
- We can know him through the sense of smell
- And what about taste?
- We can experience, with all our spiritual senses, deep, daily fellowship with God when we open to him.