01.A God's Self Revelation

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Continual Inward Fellowship
God's Self-Revelation

See also:
Bringing Theology Back to Life
01 Revelation

Key Passage: Psalm 19:1-14

Contents 1 Summary 2 Guided Reflection 3 Essential Truths Regarding God's Self-Revelation 4 Core Issues 5 Common Errors 6 Connecting Points to 5Cs 7 Connecting Points to 4Ds 8 Essential Truths (Conclusion)

Summary

This psalm declares that the Ultimate Revelation is the Lord Himself in all of His glory. The glory of God is what creation proclaims in the universal language of nature (vv. 1-3). God’s revelation is as the shining of the sun, over all the earth (vv. 4-6). In contrast, the special revelation of the written word (vv. 6-9) is over every aspect of our lives for our benefit (vv. 10-11). It is not a revelation of mere ideas and information, but of the glorious Lord. He delights to focus the revelation of Himself in order to nurture relationship (vv. 12-14). The psalmist interacts with God in increasingly personal depth, moving from the glorious God (v. 1), to his own redeeming Savior (v. 14). This psalm teaches that all of God’s revelation will deeply transform our lives.

Guided Reflection

Many people are locked away in mental hospitals because they are battered with uncontrollable thoughts, delusions of grandeur or self-condemnation. Christians often live far below the divine purpose for their lives because they fail to take hold of the revelation of God for themselves. They may see how it applies to others, but they never look in the Word as a mirror to examine and build their own character.

There are two extremes resulting from this neglect. Some people are full of knowledge, strutting around lifted up with pride and causing great damage to themselves and others. Others are victims of self-condemnation and destructive thoughts of worthlessness.

Everyone is being shaped by something. Christians must rely on the right sources for healthy inner transformation. Like a healthy meal, if good ingredients are used, then the eating will be more enjoyable and wholesome. The Word of God is the raw materials for the building of our lives and our ministry to others (Col. 2:6-10). God’s Word will make us right on the inside so that our lives can be effective in the proclamation of the Gospel.

Consider your thoughts over the past several hours. What do they reflect about your view of God, yourself, the lost? How do they reflect your priorities in life? What are the main influences that are shaping who you are? How can you become more responsive to the transforming power of divine revelation?

Essential Truths Regarding God's Self-Revelation

There are three broad categories of God’s self-revelation: first a general revelation through the created world of nature and then special revelation through various spiritual means provided by God, through which the general revelation must be explained. Finally, the ultimate revelation of God is in His Son.

Core Issues

1. General Revelation is broadly communicated and general in content. It can be either external or internal; in both cases it is limited.

a) External General Revelation

Within the larger category of General Revelation, “External” refers to what exists in the material created world, both in its grand immensity and also in its minute detail. The vast universe and the intricate cell, both point to the wise and powerful God of order.

The existence of the universe and mankind is a revelation. The creation itself, though fallen and broken, still speaks of an almighty Creator (Ps. 100:3).

Along with the very existence of the creation, the systems, properties, laws, and forces of the material world serve to make God known. The amazingly complex design of the universe and even the history of the world declare the glory of God in His sovereignty and Kingship (Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:20; Acts 14:15-17).

The external world speaks to everyone, regardless of language, culture, or mental capacity (Ps. 19:3-4).

b) Internal General Revelation

The “Internal” aspect of General Revelation speaks of the inward witness to God’s being and existence (Rom. 2:14-15; John 1:9). Man was created originally in God’s image (1 Cor. 11:7; Jam. 3:9). In man’s fallen state, the image of God is corrupted but it is still present in every human being. Our ethical ponderings, disputes about values and standards of judgment, dilemmas about cruelty, injustice and suffering all point to some form of moral absolute and basis for truth (Rom. 2:15). We are troubled by the presence of evil and we yearn for a higher good. By this fear and hope we perceive a law written in the heart that comes from beyond ourselves, from a Creator who is personal, moral, and just, but higher than us (Ps. 61:1-2).

c) The Limitation of General Revelation

General Revelation is limited in two ways. First, General Revelation is limited by God’s design. From the beginning, the world was designed to require revelation. Even before the Fall special revelation was necessary when, for example, God gave details of His will to Adam (Gen. 2:16-17).

The need for specific revelation became even more apparent after the Fall. While nature shows that there is a great God and a wide gap between God and man, how the gap is to be bridged must be specifically revealed. From the revelation of nature we may recognize the general goodness of God, but we cannot know the full extent of His grace, justice, and mercy until we hear about the Cross (Rom. 10:13-15).

The second limitation of General Revelation comes from mankind’s damaged perception that resulted from the fall into sin (Gen. 3). Fallen human reason distorts the reality of God. Man has a profound propensity to reject or to suppress the truth about God and to selfishly invent “more convenient and comfortable” alternatives (Rom. 1:21-32).

General Revelation declares the truth about God but it does not provide the means to actually know God in truth. For this we need Special Revelation.

2. Special Revelation serves to clarify and complete the General Revelation of God and culminates in the Ultimate Revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). The Son of God as the Ultimate Revelation is a special category and is treated elsewhere specifically. The revelation of the Son of God is the core truth throughout the entire Word of God. We will consider Special Revelation in two categories: temporary and permanent.

a) Temporary or Incidental Revelation – The Gifts of the Spirit and Miracles

It is important to note that some forms of revelation are temporary, that is to say, incidental or intended only for the immediate hearers. Nevertheless, these are valid forms of revelation which God continues to use at His discretion. These forms of revelation may be perceived by individuals or whole groups of people. For example:

• The inaudible voice or witness of the Spirit in the inner man (Rom. 8:16)
• Divinely imparted guidance of the Holy Spirit
  • By inhibition, or apprehension - “check” in the spirit (Acts 16:7)
  • By anticipation, compelling intuition, or motivation (Acts 8:29)
• Dreams and visions (Num. 12:1-8; Acts 16:9)
• Miracles, signs of special power and knowledge (gifts –1 Cor. 12)
• Prophetic utterance (gifts –1 Cor. 12)
• Angelic or divine visitation (Acts 27:23-25)
• Audible voice of God (John 12:27-28)
• Tangible presence of God (Dan. 5:23-28; Acts 2)

Other revelatory methods may be added to this list. Such means of revelation recur throughout the Bible and should be expected today (1 Cor. 1:7; Acts 2:16-18). However the subjective nature of such revelation presents the danger of deception and error, hence the need for discernment by the community of faith according to the permanent revelation of Christ in the Scripture (Is. 8:20; 1 Thess. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 14:28-31; Gal. 1:8-9). Spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12), will be examined elsewhere.

b) Permanent or Universal Revelation – Scripture, the Word of God

God ordained that some of these incidents of temporary revelation be recorded for the benefit of all subsequent generations. God gives His Revelation in the inerrant Scriptures, a permanent external record delivered through human authors, using their character and history (1 Pet. 1:20-21).

The Scriptures are universal in authority in that they are to be received by all believers, all over the earth, until heaven and earth pass away (Matt. 5:18). Scripture is the standard by which all forms of temporary or individual revelation must be judged. To safely discern the true revelation of God in the more subjective forms requires familiarity with the voice of God as recorded in the written record of the Scriptures. The Inspiration of Scripture is covered more in detail elsewhere.

Everything in the Scripture is given meaning by the life of Christ. All of the teaching of the Old Testament – all the events, the history, the rituals, the judgments, the deliverances, the human figures, the genealogies, the laws, the proverbs, the worship – are given meaning by the events in the life of Christ, culminating in His atoning death and resurrection. Christ explained the Scriptures, showing that the Scriptures explain Christ (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46).

While everything in Scripture is given meaning by the life of Christ, the Scripture tell us who Christ is. Our knowledge of Jesus must be founded on the Scriptural record. No other source is reliable or authoritative. The true Lord and Savior is the Jesus of Scripture (2 Cor. 11:4; Matt. 24:5, 23-25).

3. The Living and Ultimate Revelation – Jesus, the Word of God. General and Special Revelation in all their various aspects serve to direct us to Jesus Christ. Jesus perfectly reveals God. The Person of Jesus Christ is the final and complete revelation of God (John 1:1-14; Acts 10:36-44; Heb. 1:1-3).

a) Transformational Revelation Through Fellowship

Even in the Old Testament, godly saints relied upon the Lord to reveal Himself and His will through their personal relationship with Him, receiving direct personal revelation by their fellowship with the Lord Himself.

In Psalm 19, David wrote about God’s revelation through nature and through the Scriptures (Ps. 19:1-11). He concluded by crying out for relational revelation through direct fellowship with the Lord of Israel (vv. 12-14).

We too experience fellowship with the Lord Jesus who is the Word of God, the ultimate revelation. As a result we are transformed into Christ’s image (2 Cor. 3:18). We are forbidden to make images of God, but God makes an image of Himself – in us! God is then revealed to the world through His redeemed and transformed people (Eph. 3:10). This union with Christ is both the key to and purpose of the entire Christian life.

b) Revelation Through the Life and Teaching of Jesus

The life of Jesus reveals God. Jesus as a Man walking on the earth showed us the Father. Jesus revealed the love of God simply in coming as a man (John 3:16). In addition, His deeds show the kindness and mercy of God (John 5:36-38; 10:36-37). The life of the Son of God was a display of the Word of God in action (Acts 10:36-44), the perfect revelation of God’s Being (John 14:6-11; Col. 2:6-9).

The words and teaching of Jesus perfectly explained and described the things of God and the invisible things of creation (John 3:12; 12:47-50). He was the perfect interpreter of Scripture (Matt. 7:28-29). Jesus as the ultimate revelation pointed out repeatedly that His life fulfilled Scripture (Mark 14:27; Luke 7:24-28; 22:37; 24:44-46). Furthermore, He always based His teaching on Scripture (Matt. 5:17-18; 12:3-8; 22:36-40). Likewise, we need to look to the Scripture as our source of truth.

Common Errors

1. Preferring Natural Revelation over Special Revelation

Giving supremacy to the conclusions of science over special revelation is a common and prominent error. This leads to the erroneous view that God did not create the universe as described in the Bible, but rather that He used gradual processes over billions of years to form the world.

a) In reality, only a limited knowledge of God and of how the world was formed can be gained from nature. Clarification and additional information is necessary, which is provided by the various forms of special revelation (Acts 17:23; Eph. 3:8-9).

b) In fact, nature does not insist on eons of gradual change. This is only a human interpretation of what is observed in nature, based on a faulty presupposition that Scripture is not a reliable account of the origin of the world.

c) When we begin with believing that God exists (Heb. 11:3, 6), and we accept all that God has declared regarding the creation of the world (which we could not observe), only then can we reach correct conclusions about what is now observed in the creation.

d) Observing and studying the created world in the light of special revelation brings us into greater understanding of God and deeper worship (John 3:12).

2. Giving Precedence to Inner Light or Human Conscience

Many wrongly give precedence to the human conscience, or some mysterious inner light as the ultimate basis for truth.

a) In fact, the conscience does not establish what is right and wrong, but only calls out in favor of right and against wrong. Conscience needs to learn what is right and wrong (Heb. 5:13-14; Rom. 7:7).

b) The conscience is defective and inadequate. Before his conversion, Paul was able to persecute the Church in good conscience, being zealous for the Law of God (1 Tim. 1:13).

c) The conscience is deceptive and can become seared (1 Tim. 4:1-2). Because of sin, men love darkness rather than light (John 3:19). Man’s conscience must be redeemed and then enlightened through the teaching of the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:15-17) and through illumination from the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10-16).

3. Elevating Internal Revelation Over the Written Scriptures

Elevating internal revelation over and above the written Scriptures and the reality of the Lord Jesus is another dangerous error.

a) Truth always agrees with Scripture (Is. 8:20). Much religion – modern and ancient – is derived from inner revelations that are contrary to what has been revealed and established through the written record of Scripture.

b) Some tend to overemphasize the “voice of the Spirit” or other forms of subjective special revelation to the neglect of Scripture. There is a trend today toward disdain for the whole of Scripture in favor of following the inner voice of the Spirit. We do indeed benefit from genuine inner revelation. Yet, such revelation will never have greater authority than the Scripture (Is. 8:16-20; Gal. 1:8-9). We cannot truly love the voice of the Spirit if we do not love the Scripture, since the Spirit is the One who gave the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

c) The Scripture demonstrates that while we are to be led by the Spirit, we are also to judge internal revelations by the external standard of the written Word of God (Acts 17:11 with 1 Thess. 5:21). We must base what we believe on what He has already said (Heb. 13:5-6), and be diligent in correctly handling the word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

4. Following a Mystical Jesus Who is Not the Jesus of Scripture

Many cults and false religions claim to worship Jesus, and many people, with no regard for Scripture, are simply following “another Jesus.” Often they will sound very pious in saying they want to “just follow Jesus and not words from an old book.”

a) Yet any personal, mystical relationship with Christ must be subject to the ultimate authority of Scripture as God has preserved them for us to read today.

b) The Scriptures warn against following another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) or false christs (2 Cor. 11:4; Matt. 24:24). The four Gospels convey the only authentic accounts of the life of Jesus Christ.

c) False gospels with perverted versions of the life of Christ proliferated in the earliest years of the Church. John’s writings specifically confront these mystery versions of Jesus, which were often disconnected from the true Jesus of history who actually came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7).

d) Today’s pop culture (books, movies, self-help psychology, etc.) seems to prefer drawing from sources that feature an alternate representation of Jesus. This shows that they are not being led by the Spirit of God. The Church must boldly proclaim the true Jesus just as He is revealed in the Scripture.

5. Emphasizing External Special Revelation to the Rejection of Inner Special Revelation

At the other extreme, there are those who reject all forms of inner revelation, asserting that the Scriptures are now our only source of revelation. They misapply Paul’s statement about that which is perfect (1 Cor. 13:10), proposing that once the New Testament was complete, God stopped speaking directly to man. Or they may claim that God no longer speaks by dreams and visions since He has now spoken perfectly through His Son (Heb. 1:1-2).

a) However, the Scriptures themselves make it quite clear that the believer is to experience revelation in daily communion with God by the Spirit (John 14:21-23).

b) In addition, after the incarnation God continued to speak very frequently in dreams and visions, as plainly recorded in Scripture (Acts 2:17-18; 9:10-12). The New Testament Church is characterized by all kinds of special revelation through the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12; Mark 16:15-18). These gifts continue until the second coming of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 1:7; Eph. 4:11-13).

c) The completed Scriptures teach the continuation, not the cessation, of divine revelation. The coming of the Son of God and the completion of the Scriptures do not eliminate the other means of revelation. Rather, the Son of God and the Scriptures are the culmination of the revelation and thus the standard by which other forms of subordinate revelation must be judged (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:21). In the end, all revelation is like looking in a hazy mirror until the time that we see Jesus face to face (1 Cor. 13:8-12).

Connecting Points to 5Cs

Connecting Points to 4Ds

Essential Truths (Conclusion)

1. God delights in revealing Himself. Through Nature and by His Spirit, God discloses Himself, His plans and His purposes.

2. Man’s deepest need is to know God, whose existence and power is revealed through General Revelation, but only by Special Revelation can He be known relationally.

3. God has chosen certain special revelation for permanent record in Scripture which is authoritative for all true knowledge of Christ.

4. The Ultimate special revelation is Jesus Christ Himself who perfectly fulfills all the General and Special Revelation of God. Jesus, Himself, is the perfect revelation of the fullness of God. He, Himself, is the Truth!