Divine Revelation - A New Dimension

by Sands, A. P. | Category: Never Man So Spake - Great Truths From The Lord's Min | Jan 1985

It will be our privilege during the coming months, God willing, to consider some important aspects of our Lord's teaching. May our experience be something like that which Luke so vividly describes, "the people all hung upon Him, listening" (1).

THE WORDS OF CHRIST

Christ's teaching is of course unique in many ways. Unique in authority and unique in grace; but above all, it is unique in its consequences. Why? Because, as He said, "the words that I have spoken unto you are -. . life" (2). The words of Jesus of Nazareth are fundamentally different from those of the world's greatest teachers because they are the words of Him of whom the Psalmist wrote, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made;... He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (3). May we then listen eagerly to Him, but firstly, a little of the background.

SHOWING US GOD

Although God is everywhere, we are incapable of discovering the Infinite Being. We may learn something about Him, but only to the extent that He reveals Himself to tiny human minds. The answer must always be "no" to the question "Canst thou by searching find out God?" (4). Yet our Maker has unveiled much about Himself. "His everlasting power and divinity" are seen in "the creation - - . the things that are made" (5). His providence is seen in His faithful dealings with individuals and nations in human history; and through the miracle of inspiration much of the character and ways of God are progressively revealed through the Holy Scriptures.

Now these great features of the divine revelation culminate in the ultimate revelation of "God manifestly seen and heard"; for the summit of divine inspiration is Incarnation; "God with us", as promised by the written Word. Hence Jesus said, "Ye search the Scriptures... these are they which bear witness of Me" (6).

THE SUPREME PRESENTATION

God reveals and expresses Himself in creation as mentioned above, through the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only is the Creator

revealed in the wonders of nature around us, but "the Word became flesh" and revealed the Father amongst us. This is why our Lord could say "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (7), and again, "He that beholdeth Me beholdeth Him that sent Me" (8). He is teaching us two profound truths here. Firstly, in His person, His actions and His words, He shows us the Father. Secondly, it is possible for ordinary people to "see" or "behold" the Son, and hence, to "see" the Father. This we suggest involves something more wonderful than mere physical sight, as we consider later.

One of the important lessons on divine revelation which our Lord teaches us, and which we might examine a litt4e, is recorded for us in Matthew 11:25-30, and Luke 10:21-24. The lesson concludes in Luke with these words:

"Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I say unto you, that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not".

What richest blessing! What priceless privilege! What solemn responsibility! to be favoured above others, and be shown the things of God in Christ.

THE MARVEL OF KNOWING GOD

We referred earlier to learning something about God through creation and history. Now happily for us, divine revelation produces something more wonderful than this. In the portions in Matthew and Luke now being considered, our Lord is speaking about knowing the Son, and knowing the Father; not merely knowing about the Divine Persons, and not merely "seeing" the Son in a literal sense. Ah no! this is a personal knowledge through a personal relationship; not an intellectual knowledge gained through the study of theology, and not an acquaintance gained by some who happened to meet Jesus two thousand years ago. But rather, this is a deep abiding conviction as to the true identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one's own relationship to Him, the result of a personal revealing of Himself by God to the mind and

heart of the individual. This produces true knowledge, because it creates a permanent relationship.

By way of an illustration of what we have been saying: one may learn much about the Queen of the Commonwealth, or the President of America, through reading and following the media. But can we compare that knowledge with the intimate personal knowledge of a member of the family who lives in Buckingham Palace or the White House? Surely not! What an unspeakable privilege to know God, the Father and the Son, in such a way! No wonder our Lord said, "And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (9).

GOD'S PART IN CONTROL

The teaching ministry of our Lord Jesus is never mere lecturing. Thus in the passage before us in Matthew 11 our Lord commences with a thankful prayer to God and concludes with a gracious invitation to men; praise to God followed by promises to men was our Lord's order and the pattern for our service too. We quote from this well-known yet profound and very precious lesson:

"I thank Thee, 0 Father ... that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes ... no one knoweth the Son save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him. Come unto Me all ye that Labour. -. and I will give you rest".

We have already said that we are incapable of discovering the Infinite Being. We are entirely dependent upon the sovereign work of God in what He discloses to mankind in general and more particularly, to the individual. Now the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of election are too profound for us to understand, but we are encouraged from this passage not to have a negative attitude towards them. Indeed, we learn from our Lord's example here that they are subjects for worship and witness, rather than worry.

We are impressed by what our Lord says regarding the initiative of the Godhead in the matter of man knowing God. "Father... Thou didst... reveal. .. unto babes" shows the sovereignty of the Father, and "he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him" denotes the sovereignty of the Son. Human wisdom is inadequate in all this; hence there is hope for the simple, and how thankful we are for this. We recall how on Peter's confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God", the Lord explained the source of this knowledge. It was not by a process of deduction; it was not hereditary, and it was not learned from other men. "Blessed art thou ... flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven" (10).

A misconception of the sovereignty of God can give a hopelessly narrow view of the will of God and produce negative fatalism and despair. Such gloom is dispelled, however, as we heed the close of the lesson, "Come unto Me, all . . ." We shall say a little in a moment about our responsibility in this, but meanwhile would stress two important things our Lord teaches us. Firstly, no one has the ability of himself to come to Christ; secondly, and in spite of what we have just said, we can be sure that people definitely will come to Him. He explained it this way, "No man can come unto Me, except the Father ... draw him ... All that which the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (11).

OUR PART IN RESPONSE

whilst stressing divine sovereignty, Our Lord also teaches human responsibility. To our finite minds these appear to contradict. We must, however, accept both doctrines although unable to reconcile them. The Lord indicates our responsibility in the expression "didst reveal them unto babes", reminding us of His later words, "Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom .. ." (12). So then, we are responsible to give up trying to earn God's approval, and come in childlike trust, and know the One who meets our need.

Now there are different kinds of "knowing" in the Lord's teaching, involving different words in the New Testament Greek. For example, there is knowing or recognizing a person, as in our Matthew 11 passage; then there is a definite, and in a sense, complete knowledge, e.g. "that ye may know ... that the Father is in Me" (13). There is also a progressive knowledge based upon relationship. We are responsible to develop this by listening to our Lord's words; not simply to gain knowledge, but in a spirit of willingness to live by His words. He promises, "If ye abide in My word ... ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (14). So then, progress in Christian experience is on the same basis as becoming a Christian - coming to Christ in childlike reliance on what God reveals through Him.

Finally, we stress that the One who gives the gracious invitation also warns of the serious consequences of refusing to see what God would reveal. This hardens the heart against God, and brings tragedy to both sinner and saint. Yes, all who are privileged and offered divine light are held responsible for the way they react to it. May we all then heed our faithful Teacher and come again and again, humbly to adore Him, and learn of Him. How we love Him! He humbled Himself to show us the Father!

References

(1) Luke 19:48

(2) John 6:63

(3) Psalm 33:6,9

(4) Job 11.7

(5) Rom.1:20

(6) John5:39

(7) John 14:9

(8) John 12:45

(9) John 17:3

(10) Matt.16:17

(11) John 6:44,37