No, this blog will not focus on the last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation. What I want to focus on is the fact that all we can ever know about God (who is invisible) and His plan for the world, including you and me, must be “revealed” to us by God Himself. We can’t simply “figure it out” on our own – we need His help so that we can both know and understand “spiritual truths.”

Let’s begin with what the theologians call “General Revelation,” that is, revelation that has been revealed by God to every human being. King David, the “Shepherd King” who lived a millennium before Jesus, had this to say,

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, and their voice is not heard” (Ps. 19:1).

In other words, God’s message is a “silent” message that “loudly” proclaims for all to “hear” that the heavens publicly declare not only the existence, but also the glory, of God. On Paul’s first missionary journey he spoke to the people in Lystra,

“…God has not left Himself without witness in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying our hearts with food and gladness” Acts 14:17).

And, the Apostle Paul returned to this subject in his letter to the church in Rome saying,

“Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made…” (Rom. 1:20).

And so, the Bible is consistently clear that God’s invisible attributes, including His eternal power and divine nature can be seen and understood through His physical creation.

But if we are to know more of God’s nature and plan for us, we need more that “General Revelation.” We need “Special Revelation,” that is, revelation that is much more “specific.” And this special revelation began with God speaking to Abraham, and then to Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and to all the Prophets in the Old Testament. God used them as His “mouthpieces” to call the people of Israel to repentance, and to reveal to them things to come, namely the One who was to come, the Messiah. And when He arrived, the Apostle John said,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1, 14).

The One who was with the Father in the beginning became a man and dwelt on planet Earth, and the apostles were witnesses of His glory, a glory that was full of both grace and truth. The writer of Hebrews continued speaking of Jesus’ mission and ministry saying,

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things…” (Heb. 1:1-2).

In the “last days” of the Old Covenant (the generation in which Jesus lived), God chose to move beyond the prophetic office of the Old Covenant and to speak through His Son. And as Jesus said during His ministry,

“…the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me” (Jn. 5:36).

The works that Jesus did, His miracles, His teachings, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension all point to the fact the He was the long-expected Messiah, God’s Son, and the epitome of God’s special revelation. And His message was the message calling us to repent and believe that God sent His Son to die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.   

And so we have it – God has spoken to us through “General Revelation” (through what He has created), as well as through “Special Revelation,” (through the prophets and finally, through His Son). But He only revealed Himself to us so that we might believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, and is alive today and seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I pray that we might all come to know, by faith, the One who has revealed Himself to us. After all, the point of God’s revelation was so that we might have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus.