We’ve already considered to some extent the place of Natural Revelation, and of the fact that truth in the created order subsists in the being of God and the word of God spoken and proceeding from the Father in the person of the Son. The final aspect of propositional truth that we need to consider is the nature of Christ as being also the redemptive word of God to a fallen humanity. Before we do that, however, I think it will serve us well to consider the idea of revelation, and how God reveals himself, in a more general way. When it comes to propositional truth, God’s revelation – both natural and redemptive – is the standard and measure by which all of our words are to be judged as true or false. Let’s think about this for a moment then.
To use the correct theological jargon, we’re now entering the domain known as: “The Doctrine of Revelation.” Under this head we are specifically studying the question of how God reveals himself to us – which is exactly where we landed at the end of our last question. This is a very significant area of theology. In fact, Mr Berkouwer thought it was the most significant: “There is no more significant question in the whole of theology and in the whole of human life than that of the nature and reality of revelation” (Berkouwer, General Revelation, p.17). Bavinck expounds a little further: “…the knowledge of God rests on the reality of his revelation. If God does not exist, or if he has not revealed himself, and hence is unknowable, then all religion is an illusion and all theology a phantasm” (Bavinck, Philosophy of Revelation, p.24). You can see why he would think that, because unless we have a revelation from God, we have nothing to build any faith or understanding on. What we believe about the issue of revelation therefore determines the starting point in our thinking as Christians. Every other doctrine one believes flows from one’s view of revelation.
Question 13: How does God reveal himself and his works to us so that we can know him?
Answer: In two ways. First, through his creative and sustaining work of natural revelation; and second, through his redemptive revelation in Jesus Christ.
Question 14: What is a revelation?
Answer: A revelation is an authoritative act of God wherein he reveals himself and his works to men to glorify his name.
The idea of a divine revelation is itself, in some ways, incomprehensible. How can we fully understand what it means to hear from God? To know him as he reveals himself to us? We don’t even understand fully what it means to understand another human person! Herman Bavinck, who I think has been one of the truly great theologians in Church History, says: “The distance between the Creator and creature is much too great for human beings to perceive God directly. The finite is not capable of containing the infinite” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics Vol 1, p.310). To fully understand what it means to communicate with God, specifically to hear from him, would be to fully understand the infinite. It truly is a task infinitely beyond any of us. So how do we go about understanding this thing we call the Doctrine of Revelation?
One of the first problems is that, when we think of communication (which is what revelation fundamentally is), we have such a limiting concept in our minds. As people, we primarily use verbal and written expressions of language, but we also use body language and various other ways to communicate. Pictures. Facial expressions. Music. Clothing. Our very actions. Using all of these things, we send messages to one another. But as I say, it is talking and words, primarily, that define how we communicate as humans. Naturally enough, then, we ask ourselves: How does God talk to us? And as we seek an answer, we unconsciously answer it in all too human terms. But God is no mere creature.
God certainly speaks, but we need to appreciate the fact that, because God is who he is, an infinite, all-powerful and eternal being, he communicates with us in a far more expansive way than merely speaking with us as we do to with each other. It simply has to be this way. When we talk to a friend, it is possible for us to communicate directly in a physical, bodily sense. We have similar capacities and faculties that we use, we are the same order of being. With God, however, we are communicating with an infinite spiritual being. There is going to be a difference!
In our simplicity, however, we are prone to think (or say) things like: “I just wish God would speak directly with me! It would make life a whole lot easier.” We want to sit down across from him on the couch on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps, to talk through things. Believe me, I know, I’ve thought this a few times myself, in a sense, it seems as that would be nice doesn’t it? I think that this kind of sentiment flows out of our desire for everything to make complete sense. We want easy, clear answers to everything. We want something that we can contain and control in our small little minds. But when you think about who God is, the ridiculousness of these sorts of ideas becomes obvious. It is good for us to long to commune with God (which is probably the good desire that’s really at the heart of these kinds of comments), but we must realise that communing with him is not going to be like anything else we’ve ever experienced. It’s going to be different, and daunting, and in some respects mysterious (especially at the outset). Maybe it will even be a little bit scary, like the feeling you get when you leap into a lake from a great height into a river below. The ground disappears, and your stomach lurches. It’s the feeling that you’re not in total control.
I’ll try to say this in a different way.
Remember when the people of Israel asked God to speak directly with them? The people arose that morning to find that Mount Sinai was shrouded in clouds. Lightning was flashing and thunder rumbled. Suddenly, a trumpet blast sounded, far louder than any trumpet made by mere mortals, its blast filling the air. Every atom of their beings was vibrating, and the sound filled everything. And then… the Lord himself descended. Fire, flame, and smoke came down upon the mountain, and the mountain shook to its foundations! Can you imagine what it must have been like to watch (and feel) a mountain shake? The people trembled and were terrified, and who wouldn’t be? This was far beyond anything they had ever known. Understandably, they asked Moses to speak with God on their behalf, for they were afraid that if they spoke with him directly they would die (Ex 19:16-20; 20:18-21). I don’t know about you, but if the Lord God descended into my lounge room for a Sunday afternoon chat in that fashion, I wouldn’t have a house anymore! He is not one to be trifled with, and he is not one to carelessly invite over for a casual conversation over coffee. He is the Holy, Living, Almighty God of heaven and earth! An infinite, all-powerful and Almighty spiritual being whose capacity is utterly beyond us.
So what then? Must we say that this is a mystery and leave it at that? Is there nothing we might grasp? Is there no way that we can know God? To speak with him, and he with us? Blessedly, the answer to this question is “no,” no he is not beyond all reach, relationship, and communication. He is infinite and exalted, but there is also a communion and intimacy to be found with God that is deeper and nearer than all other relationships. We can know God, he has revealed himself to us, and we can understand the nature of this revelation by accepting what he himself has told us about that revelation.
But let’s try and get a bit more specific. Just how does God then reveal himself? The idea of revelation is richly attested in Holy Scripture. We’ve already seen this to some extent in our consideration of God’s natural revelation. Smith puts it simply for us when he says: “…the idea that the word “revelation” conveys… is derived from the Latin revelation which denotes “unveiling” or “disclosure”” (Smith, ST.I, p.40). So when I say “revelation” here, again, what I mean is this: A revelation is an authoritative act of God wherein he reveals himself and his works to men to glorify his name.
This definition allows us a little more precision in answering our original question. We may now ask: What kind of things (acts) does God do to reveal himself to us? Once we’ve answered that, we can then consider the ways in which these various acts reveal him and his works to us, and how and why they serve the purpose of glorifying his name.
So… what kind of “acts” does God do to reveal himself and his works to us? Does he do the same thing every time? Does he sit down and talk to us? (I think we’ve seen that the answer to that one is a definite “no” – at least on this side of eternity). Does he arrange a carrier pigeon? Does he arrange an incarnation? How does he do it? Well, I’m going to put to you that there are two basic “modes” or ways in which God reveals himself. The first, which we’ve already considered, is the mode of natural revelation. The second, which we’re about to consider, is the mode of redemptive revelation in the person of Christ. Let’s give our attention to that now.
Q.13&14: How does God reveal himself?