Sharing Life and Teaching: The Doctrine of Revelation
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Sharing Life and Teaching
The Doctrine of Revelation
Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 2:7-16
Contents |
Summary
Since it is only by God’s own self-revelation that His nature and works can be accurately understood, then it is vital that the people of God be active in the proclamation and display of revealed truth so that the lost may be saved by the preaching of the Gospel.
Guided Reflection
The essence of the Christian message is not that we find a way to reach God, but rather that we respond to His reaching out to us. It is not that we earn or attain or achieve or discover, but rather that we believe and receive what He has made known about Himself. Our purpose is not to “figure out what God is like,” rather to know what He has revealed about Himself through the means that He has chosen to use.
A native tribesman from the center of a continent joined a group of explorers and left his mountain homeland for the first time, helping them to live off the land as they journeyed to the ocean. As he approached the pounding surf, he was in awe, seeing nothing but water far out to the distant horizon. He stood in the incoming waves and felt the power of that water pushing against him, knocking him down, and rolling him up on the beach. He was shocked again when he tasted that water and found it to be salty. He obtained a jar and scooped up some of the ocean. He wanted to take it back and show it to his people in the mountains.
Will this tribe in the mountains be able to understand the ocean from the jar of seawater? How can we come to know or even begin to understand God? How can we proclaim the God who has shown Himself to us? Our lives must agree with the words that we preach.
Essential Truths Regarding God’s Self-Revelation
Revelation is God’s disclosure of Himself, His acts, and His will to His creation, by the Holy Spirit through various natural and spiritual means as He has ordained.
Core Issues
1. The Need for Revelation
- a) God is infinite Spirit, far above and different from what we are, so we need His help to recognize His nature and His actions (Is. 55:7-11; Job 11:7-9; Prov. 25:1-3; Eph. 3:14-19).
b) Humans tend to be ruled by senses and pay attention only to the natural world (1 Cor. 2:14-3:3; John 20:24-31).
c) Humans are finite and therefore limited in their ability to comprehend the infinite (1 Cor. 3:18-20; Jer. 9:23-24).
d) Humans are sinful and deceitful, and prone both to deceive and to be deceived, twisting and perverting the truth to suit their own fleshly desires (Rom. 1:18-32; Jer. 17:8-16).
2. The Content of Revelation
- a) Who God is and what God does (His nature and acts).
b) The Creation: God’s redemptive plan and expectations for His Creation.
c) Special communications from God to accomplish His purposes.
3. The Means of Revelation
- a) General Revelation through nature (Rom. 1; Ps. 19:1-6).
b) Special Revelation through spiritual means (Heb. 1:1-2; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ps. 19:7-11).
4. The Results of Revelation
- a) Negative Responses
- i) Rejection. From the beginning (Gen. 3) God’s revelation has been rejected and twisted. Satan said to Eve that God has not said, or that what God said is not true. When God’s truth is rejected then false ideas replace it (Rom. 1:18-32) and idolatry results.
- ii) Blindness. A group of people can be blind to the truth (2 Cor. 4:3-4). God must heal their blindness in order for them to grasp His revelation.
- iii) Ignoring the Truth. Some people have hard hearts and the word of truth does not penetrate and bear fruit, as Jesus explained in the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13).
- b) Positive Responses. When the revelation is received in faith as the Word of God, then it will be effective in its Divine purpose (Is. 55:10-11; 1 Thess. 2:13).
- i) Creating true worshipers (John 4:24).
- ii) Transforming the redeemed so they can display the will of God (Rom. 12:1-2).
- iii) Germination of the truth into the life of God within believers (Jam. 1:18-25).
- iv) Building God’s household on the foundation of truth (Eph. 2:18-22; 1 Pet. 2:1-10).
- v) Enabling the recognition of error and defense of the truth through an orderly system of teaching (I John 4:6; Matt. 7:15; 1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Cor. 10:3, 4; Col. 4:6).
- vi) Fellowship between God and man is fostered since knowing about God and then knowing God is possible only through revelation (1 John 1:1-3).
- vii) Proclamation of the Gospel (Matt. 28:19-20; 2 Sam. 18:19-29: Gal. 2:2) requires content provided by revelation, so the truth may be accurately spread throughout the world. Preaching the revealed truth is the means by which people are brought to a relationship of faith in God (1 Cor. 1:21).
Common Errors
1. Imagination.
- The error assumes that since there is no God in the first place, then everyone may freely imagine whatever they want about the supposed spiritual world. The notion is that we should tolerate everyone’s ideas since these are harmless make-believe worlds created in their minds. All views are “tolerated” as long as they do not claim to be the only true expression of the spiritual world; as a result, Jesus and Christianity are prominent in the “intolerable” category, inasmuch as Jesus makes it plain that He is indeed the only Way (John 14:6) and all others are liars and thieves (John 10:8).
2. Transference.
- This is the natural inclination of mankind, to imagine that God is like humans, and so we create a God who is in our own image. People who are planning to be married make this very mistake with regard to their future spouse, imagining that he or she will be just like some imagined ideal. It is vitally important to know God as He truly is, and not to impose our own idealized image upon Him.
3. Occultism.
- There are many sources claiming to provide information about otherwise unknowable things. The biblical revelation makes it very clear that there are deceptive sources that twist the truth of God (Gen. 3:1-10). Seeking alternate sources for hidden information, either about eternal truth or individual and specific direction is dangerous. All supernatural revelation must come under the authority of God’s revealed Word.
4. Incomprehensibility.
- A common, pious sounding error is that God is totally unknowable and far beyond our capability for understanding. So much mystery with God results in despair toward the idea of ever knowing Him. But on the contrary, revelation is the work of God who is all-knowing and all-powerful. It is certainly within His ability then, to overcome human frailty and communicate something of Himself to His creation. The Bible in particular is given to us to be understood by us, not to overwhelm us.
5. Rationalism.
- This is not the same as being rational, inasmuch as the truth of God is communicated rationally. The error of rationalism is thinking everything can be understood merely through the intellect to the exclusion of spiritual reality and spiritual communication. Rationalism tries to lay exclusive claim to science and puts science in conflict with revelation. However, science is neutral, and merely draws conclusions from observation. As they look at scientific evidence, some people assume that there is no God and that everything is natural; those who are wise include the revelation from the One who knows all things.
6. Education.
- Learning was part of the life of Christ (Luke 2:52; Heb. 5:8) and growth in knowledge is important for followers of Christ as well. Revelation is more than intellectual education, however; revelation is supernatural communication about things otherwise unknowable, including interactions between the divine and the human, between the spiritual and the natural, events beyond the view of humans – either in a distant location, or a different dimension, or in a time past or future. Revelation provides the divine perspective on natural events and realities as well, disclosing the truth about our world.
Connecting Points to 5Cs
Connecting Points to 4Ds
Essential Truths (Conclusion)
1. The need of the human race can be satisfied only with the Truth of God and that Truth must come by revelation from God. This Truth revealed by God is what His people are to proclaim. In fact, their proclamation is a form of revelation to those who hear them. When the hearers receive the message as the truth of God, then it will be effective in bringing about salvation and fellowship with God.
2. Our very lives reveal something of the truth of God. As we become His vessels, then not only our words, but also our manner of living will urge the world to be reconciled to God.
