REVELATION
There is a God. God created man. Having made man in his image
(having intellect, wisdom, judgment, moral consciousness, etc.),
God has revealed Himself and His will to man. This revelation is
in the book we call the Bible.
I. THE MEANING OF REVELATION:
A. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21 -- The scriptures are "God
Breathed" or inspired. They did not come from human
impulse or human wisdom.
B. "Reveal"-- "apokulupto" is to uncover, unveil--that which
is presented to the mind directly as the character of
God as Father (Matt. 11:27), the will of God for the
conduct of His children (Phil. 3:15), the mind of God to
the prophets of Israel (1 Peter 1:12) and to the church
(Eph. 3:5).
C. Revelation -- "A laying bare, making naked." In the New
Testament, a disclosure of truth, instruction concerning
divine things before unknown, especially those relating
to the salvation offered to the soul by God Himself or
by the ascended Christ through the operation of the Holy
Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:10).
D. Man's limitation constituted the main obstacle (Isa. 55:8,
9).
1. God is infinite -- (without limitation)
a. He is omniscient; he knows everything
(Heb. 4:13).
b. He is omnipotent; He has all power (Mark 10:27).
C. He is omnipresent; He is everywhere (Ps. 139:7-
10).
2. Man is finite (having bounds or limitations as to
space, time, circumstances, etc.)
a. He is limited in knowledge (Jas. 4:14).
b. He is limited in time (Jas. 4:14).
3. Therefore, God's revelation had to remove the
covering (man's limitation) and bridge the gap
between human wisdom and divine wisdom, to light up
the darkness, to draw back the veil and to show man
what he is, where he came from, what he is here for,
what his moral obligations are, and what his destiny
is.
II. THE NECESSITY OF REVELATION:
A. Without a revelation from God to man, man by his own
wisdom and resources could never have known God nor His
will.
1. We cannot know God by nature.
a. It is true that the "heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth his
handiwork" (Ps. 19:1-4; Rom. 1:20). The design
and perfection of the universe certainly
speaks to us of a designer. However, we can
never know God, His nature, His will for man,
etc., by this means.
b. From his earliest history man, with all his
wisdom and all of his observation of nature,
has worshipped the creature rather than the
creator (Rom. 1:25). His gods have had no
higher standard of morality than he has. His
religious worship has simply made provision
for his own lusts and appetites. The God of
heaven has to all such been worshipped as an
"Unknown God" (Acts 17).
2. We cannot know God by intuition.
a. Some feel that we have some "inner light" that
instructs and guides us.
b. Jer. 10:23 and Prov. 16:25 show that man is
utterly incapable to direct his own steps.
c. If we do have an "inner light" or intuition, why
do we need Christ or the Gospel?
3. We cannot know God by human wisdom.
a. 1 Cor 1:21; 3:19.
b. Jer. 8:9.
c. With all the vaunted accomplishments of the
Roman Empire, with all the celebrated
Philosophers of Greece (Socrates,
Aristotle, Plato, etc.) the moral and
spiritual degradation of that generation is
graphically pictured in Rom. 1. Even Plato
himself realized the inadequacy and limitation
of human philosophy and human wisdom when he
said late in life, "We will wait for one,
either God or a God inspired man to teach us
our religious duties and to take away the
darkness from our eyes."
4. Therefore, since man was utterly incapable of knowing
the mind and will of God through his own devices,
it was necessary for God to draw back the veil and
dispel the darkness.
III. THE POSSIBILITY AND PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION:
A. Granting the premise that there is a God who created the
earth and man in His image, the following propositions
ought to be self-evident:
1. It was POSSIBLE for God to reveal His will to man
(Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37).
2. It was PROBABLE that He would do so.
a. God being grieved and offended by our sins would
logically want to show us a better way.
b. God, as our Father, would want to communicate
with His children as surely as any parent would
communicate with theirs. See. Heb. 12.
c. Man is inherently religious. To created man with
a natural desire and thirst for spiritual things
and to fail to provide a revelation to satisfy
that desire and to direct it into proper
channels, would be as unreasonable as creating
an eye without light or an ear without sound.
IV. CAN WE UNDERSTAND THIS REVELATION?
A. There is a prevalent idea in the world that we cannot.
1. The Catholic position as stated by Cardinal Gibbons
in Faith of our_Fathers: "We must therefore
conclude that the scriptures alone cannot be a
sufficient guide and rule of faith because they
cannot, at any time, be within the reach of every
inquirer, because they are not of themselves
intelligible even in matters of highest importance,
and because they do not contain all the truths
necessary for salvation."
2. The Denominational attitude is that creeds must be
written to explain and interpret the Bible and that
an educated "Clergy" must break it down and explain
it to the "laity."
B. We Can understand God's Revelation:
1. Definition: "to reveal, uncover, lay bare, to make
manifest," this was God's intention in this
revelation.
2. Isa. 55:11 -- God's word will accomplish that for
which it was given.
3. If we cannot understand it, then God failed in His
desire and His power is limited. Who can accept this
conclusion?
4. Jehovah promises that we can understand His
revelation.
a. Matt. 5:6 --
b. Matt. 13:15 --
c. John 6:44, 45 --
d. John 7:17 --
e. John 8:32 --
f. John 12:48 --
g. Eph. 3:3-5 --
h. Eph. 5:17 --
i. 2 Tim. 3:15 --
c. Objections considered:
1. "Doesn't the Bible claim to be a mystery?"
a. The term "mystery" in the New Testament does not
mean something that cannot be understood, but
rather something that has been hitherto covered
or not revealed.
b. Accompanying the term "mystery" are the phrases
such as "revealed," "declared," "made known,"
"manifested," to show that these former
mysteries are now revealed through the Apostles.
Rom. 16:25,26; Eph. 3:3-5; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor.2:6-
10.
2. "Isn't it true that you can prove anything by the
Bible?"
a. No, not true. This is a blasphemous and wicked
charge. To say you can prove anything by John
Doe (or anyone else) is to accuse him of deceit
and duplicity.
b. Such is not true of the writings of men. Take a
textbook on mathematics and try to prove that
2X2=4 and also that 2X2=5.
c. Such a charge makes God dishonest, the Bible
inferior to the writings of men, and the whole
idea of revelation a farce.
Much of this material was taken from
Indestructible Foundations,
by Peter J. Wilson.
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