Revelation 

Basic Christian Doctrines 6

 

1.   God Has Revealed Himself.

 

God describes Himself as "the Hidden God" (cf. Isa. 45:15). He fills the whole universe, but does not show Himself in His full manifestation except in Heaven. To us, He is invisible, inaudible and intangible. He conceals Himself. But He also reveals Himself. God is so great and far above us, that we would know nothing at all about Him unless He chose to show us Himself - and He has chosen to do just that (I Cor.2:11-12). We come to know God only by God's initiative and revelation, not by our searching for Him by our own minds or efforts (Job 11:7).

 

2.   God Has Revealed Himself Only in Part.

God has revealed some things about Himself, and left far more concealed. Deut. 29:29, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children, that we may do all the words of this Law." What He reveals is true, but not exhaustive. His revelation includes truths about the universe, man, sin, and especially about God Himself. This revelation makes moral and ethical demands on us. Because only part is revealed, His revelation is often a paradox, a mystery, implying there is more to the facts. But it is never a lie or a contradiction. We may study His revelation, but may not pry into what is not revealed, such as the details of the future (Matt. 24:16; Acts 1:7; Dan. 12:8-9). It is God's glory to conceal these things and our responsibility to believe what He reveals (Pro. 25:2). We know only in part, but will know far more when the revelation is full (I Cor. 13:12).

 

3.   God Has Revealed Himself Gradually.

 

Heb. 1:1-2 states that God has been revealing Himself in a variety of ways over the course of human history. We call this "Progressive Revelation". God has been revealing Himself by stages and levels. Each one builds on the previous one. This is working up to a climax. God does this in actual history, not in mythological saga or make-believe, as many Neo-orthodox liberals suggest. God also reveals Himself in various ways in different times and to different people. Similarly, when God sets out to save a person, He gradually gives him more light until he is saved, and then gives him progressive illumination and growth in knowledge.

 

4.   God Reveals Some Things by Nature.

Psa. 19:1-4 says that the heavens (things in the sky) are God's handiwork that display God's glory in a non-verbal way. Rom. 1:18-20 adds that the Creation tells us much about the Creator's attributes. We call this "Natural Revelation". God reveals much about Himself in Nature. For example, God's power  is displayed in lightning, His holiness in the sun, His peace in a quiet lake, His truth in the laws of science, His wisdom in the design of Man, His providence in the feeding of animals, His immensity in the vast number of stars, etc. All men everywhere have this revelation, and therefore are without excuse. Moreover, God also reveals some of this through conscience, the echo of God's voice (Rom. 2). Yet God does not reveal His special grace and salvation through Nature. All men know that God exists, but they do not know Him personally through Nature.

 

5.   God Revealed Some Things by Angels, Dreams and Visions.

God spoke or showed things to select people by dreams when they were asleep and visions when they were awake. Sometimes they were transported "in the Spirit" to Heaven, in or out of their bodies (Rev. 1:10, 2 Cor. 12:1-4). These were not natural dreams like we have, but supernatural dreams. Angels also delivered personal messages to these select people, who as prophets were to pass on the messages to other people.

 

6.   God Revealed Himself through Theophanies.

A Theophany was a visible (and sometimes audible or even tangible) phenomenon by which God personally revealed Himself. Examples: the Burning Bush (Ex. 3), the Pillar of Fire and Cloud, the fire and smoke and lightning of Mt. Sinai, etc. These were more direct than the other means of revelation, but still were not final.  Still more direct were the Christophanies, or supernatural appearances of Christ in a sort of pre-incarnate human form, as in the "Angel of the Lord", the Captain of the Hosts of the Lord, the Man who wrestled with Jacob, the Son of God in the Firey Furnace, etc. There was also some sort of Theophany in Eden. Another form of Theophany was the "Bath Kol", the voice of God from Heaven, such as the still small voice (I Kings 19:12f.), the voice at Christ's Baptism and Transfiguration or in John 12, etc.

 

7.   God Revealed Himself Verbally in the Bible.

The next highest form of revelation occurred when God not only spoke through these other means, but commissioned certain prophets and apostles to write certain words down. This is the Bible, the verbal revelation of God. Since Man's main means of communication is words (greater than gestures, facial expressions, pictures, music, etc), God used this means to communicate with us. He gave us actual words. These are the very words of God Himself. Hence, the Bible frequently describes itself as the Word of God, the words of God, and similar terms.

 

8.   The Bible Has Several Names for Itself.

It is called the following: the Book of the Law, the Law, the Law of God, Book of the Law, the ordinances of God, the Law and the Prophets, the oracles of God, the Testimony, the Word of Truth, and many other such terms. Some terms point out that this verbal revelation was written, not just spoken: the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, the Scriptures of Truth, etc. We call it "The Bible", from the Latin word "biblia". The fact that God reveals Himself verbally teaches us, among other things, that God is personal and not an abstract principle. He speaks, therefore is wise. He speaks to us, therefore He cares. Human language is adequate for this level of revelation. God condescended to speak human language.

 

9.   We Study the Bible to Know God.

It is through the Bible, not Nature, that we learn about salvation. This is how we know God personally. Special Revelation is superior to Natural Revelation, and is the means by which we correctly interpret Natural Revelation. God no longer reveals Himself through dreams, visions, angels, prophets, Theophanies, or the direct voice from Heaven. Our job is to diligently study this lasting revelation. To know God better, we read, study, understand, believe and obey the Bible. Special Revelation has ceased, but the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible continues. We call this Illumination, not Revelation. The light is on, but we need to have our eyes opened. This is how God now reveals Himself best.

 

10. Jesus Christ is the Greatest Revelation of God.

 

Heb. 1 tells us that Progressive Revelation led up to the greatest revelation of God: Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself often said that to see Him was to see God. To know Jesus is to know God. He is the greatest of all revelations, because Jesus is God Himself. He is God in the flesh (John 1:14). He is called "The Word" because He is the greatest revelation of God (John 1:1). He is the personal, living Word of God. This does not demean the value of the Bible, but fulfills it. Jesus is now in Heaven. We can pray to Him and love Him, even though we do not see or hear Him directly. We hear Him when we read His Bible.