God’s Revelation

God has been not been fully revealed in the past for two reasons: firstly

because we are prone to define divine things with human senses and secondly because

we have not been willing to bear the responsibility that revelatory knowledge brings

to our life.

Revelation for us humans typically comes through the process of sensory

information or natural things. We know that a stove is hot because at some point in

our life we felt the heat produced by the stove burner. Divine revelation is not dictated

by the five senses. Jesus asked His disciples to tell Him who men thought He was

(Matthew 16:13). They began to give a multitude of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah

and Jeremiah were a few of the answers (Matthew 16:14). Jesus probed deeper and

asked them who they thought He was (Matthew 16:15). Upon hearing this Peter spoke

up, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Matthew 16:16 ISV) Jesus then

says, “How blessed are you, Simon, son of John! For flesh and blood has not revealed

this to you, but my Father in heaven has.” (Matthew 16:17 ISV) The revelation of the

mighty God in Christ was not granted to Peter through natural sensory perception

rather it came from divine inspiration. Thus, Peter was willing to look beyond nature

and allow the Spirit of God to direct his ideas.

We sometimes fail to see the total revelation of God for fear that it will

somehow make us responsible to some saintly pursuit. Again we look at the life of

Peter, who after having this major revelation of the Christ, simply went back to his

nets. He did not set the world ablaze with his preaching but continued in his vocation

until the time came for his ministry to be made public. Some wrongly assume that if

God pours out revelation into their lives they will then be forced to bear the burden of

a professional clergyman. However, nothing could be further from the truth. God is
want to reveal Himself to us for a multitude of reasons the least of which is so we will

go to seminary or work in pastoral ministry. His desire to reveal Himself stems from

the same desire that He had in creating Adam and Eve: fellowship! Yet this close

fellowship with God is a scary thing. After all He is God, and I am not, so what would

He want with me? Well, He just wants to show Himself to us so that we would love

Him more and more which is no dangerous thing. Nevertheless some would shy away

from knowing God for fear of the responsibility it brings.

Because we are prone to defining things by our senses and sometime fear the

responsibility of revelation God was manifest in flesh to satisfy our senses and relieve

the burden of responsibility. The very fact that Jesus was human gives me great

comfort. I know that in His humanity Jesus was tempted, hungry, and tired. He

experienced the life of His creation first hand and is familiar with our frailties. He

knows what it is to feel, taste, touch, hear and smell. He understands how our senses

come together to form thoughts, action and revelation. He doesn’t merely know this

because He created us but more I think because He became one of us.

God was manifest in flesh also to relieve the burden of understanding the

divine. Jesus said, “Place my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and

humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is pleasant, and

my burden is light,” (Matthew 11:29-30). The incarnation of Christ brought the divine

into perspective. We know God through Christ because He is the express image of

God; He is God with skin on (Unknown). In Christ we see God touching the unclean.

In Christ we see God suffering. In Christ we see God rejected by friends. This

knowledge provides me with a foundation to accept the responsibility of knowing

Him because He took the responsibility of knowing us. The burden of carrying divine

revelation in my spirit can be managed. Nature did not put this revelation into my
spirit because nature could not help me bear the responsibility but Christ put within

me the knowledge of Him and then helps me work out the revelation in natural terms.

Joan Osborne asked, “If God had a face what would it look like? And would

you want to see? If seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven

and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets, (Bazilian, 1995).” This song became

extremely popular even reaching the number one song in the United States. However,

think about the questions Ms. Osborne is asking as she sings. These questions reflect

a society that seeks to do away with the revelation of God because it might force them

have to believe. I would say that God does have a face: it is the face of Christ. If we

were to behold His face we would not find it more beautiful than any other but it just

might help us to realize that when faced with divinity we are given the choice of

picking up our yoke or rejecting it and going it alone.

References

Unknown. Sermon Illustrations. In Sermon Illistrations. Retrieved November 25,

2007, from Baptist Top 1000:
http://elbourne.org/sermons/index.mv?illustration+4692.

Bazilian, E. (1995). What If God Was One of Us [Recorded by Joan Osborne]. On

Relish [CD]. Blue Gorilla Records/Mercury Records.