GOD REVEALS HIMSELF. This is an amazing reality when we pause and really consider it. God, who is completely distinct from us, is at the same time gracious and kind, and willing to make himself known to us. We, who often have shelves full of Bible’s and more than one sitting on the coffee table, can too easily take God’s revelation of himself for granted.
God is the infinite, eternal, and incomprehensible Creator. We, on the other hand, are finite creatures. God is not merely greater in size, he is immeasurable in essence; he is a different type of being altogether. This is why idolatry is such a prominent theme and warning in Scripture. Sinful man wants his god to be like him. But there is an infinite distance between God and man because God is not a created being. John Calvin said God stoops far below his “proper height” and “lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children”.
God has revealed himself generally (general revelation) in creation (the heavens declare the glory of God -Ps 19:1, see Rom 1: 20) and in the human conscience (Rom 2:15). God has more fully revealed himself in what is known as special revelation. Special revelation includes visible manifestations (think of the clouds of smoke and fire on Mt. Sinai), dreams and visions, angels, etc. All of these ultimately pointed to the special revelation of God in the Son of God himself. Jesus himself is the revelation from God because he is God incarnate (Heb. 1:1; John 1:1). He does not merely bring a message; he is the message.
But God, in his kindness and wisdom, went even further to reveal himself. Michael Barrett says, “as important as each of these mediums may be, God determined that his enduring, permanent witness to himself should come through a written word, namely, the Scriptures, what we Christians call the Bible. Even Christ ascended into the heavens after his resurrection from the dead. Scripture, however, is the Spirit’s enduring, ever-present gift to God’s people, and one through which the Spirit brings us into union with the resurrected and ascended Christ, our Lord. We do not know Christ apart from the word of Christ inscripturated; it is through this inspired text that the Spirit makes Christ known to us in a saving way. So, although Scripture may be but one form of special revelation, it is the permanent form God intends his people to possess and live by for faith and practice.”
The word inspired is critical here. That word is often used and understood in different ways. Someone who is creative can be inspired. An athlete who performs at an extraordinarily high level plays inspired. A politician can give an inspired speech. A dancer or singer can give an inspired performance. But inspiration in the Scriptures means much more than any of these. Paul wrote to Timothy about Scripture saying, “All Scripture is breathed out by God…” (2Tim 3:16). In other words, the Scriptures do not originate with the human authors but with God himself. All the words in Scripture are God’s words.
Peter tells us that, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). Like a ship moved along by the wind, the Spirit worked in and upon the human authors moving them to say and write exactly what God himself said and intended. So, when we read the Bible, we are reading the very words of God. God is speaking to us, revealing himself to us, when we open the Bible and read it.
I point all this out to ask you (and me) one simple question: How well are we listening? Does God have my full attention? Am I separating myself from other distractions and mediums of media as I try to hear from God? Or do the notifications on my phone, laptop, watch, etc. continue to ping as I try to read and pray? Is my (printed on the page) Bible open in front of me and my phone elsewhere, or is my Bible app open alongside my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram?
Would you be distracted by Bill Gates and his toys, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook or Twitter’s tweets if you recognized that God himself is sitting with you and speaking to you?
Just asking……………
