Since its inception, one of the things that Christians have stated about the Christian faith is that it is the only system of belief in which God has reached out to mankind, seeking to reveal Himself and enter into a relationship with us. All other religions consist of people trying to reach out to their god. While all religions claim to have their prophets, who hear from their gods; only in Christianity do we find God Himself speaking directly to the believers who are not prophets.
Yet there are many more ways in which God reveals Himself to us. Taken together, they can provide overwhelming evidence, to those who are looking for it, that God is real and that He is directly involved in the believer’s life.
At the same time, there are plenty of people who will deny that God speaks to us or has ever done so. This is expected from those who don’t believe in Him; but there are also those within the church who accept that God spoke through the prophets of old, but don’t accept that He speaks to us today. Since there are many different denominations within Christianity, with a wide range of teaching, not all believers accept that God speaks to us today.
At the same time, many of the methods we are going to look at today are overwhelmingly clear and are accepted throughout the Body of Christ. The evidence of God’s existence and His ongoing efforts to reveal Himself to us far outweigh those manners that God communicates to us, which some believers are unable to accept.
This God we are making reference to is the creator of the Universe. None of us, nor anything we can see, would even exist without Him. So, it only makes sense that he would place within us a means of recognizing Him and His work. While not everyone recognizes that within themselves, those who have accepted Him and the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross do.
God’s Creation Reveals God
The people who started what we know as “modern science” were mostly deeply religious Christians, who wanted to use science as a means to prove the existence of a Creator God. Their observations of nature were intended to show that the world we live in is not an accident and could not have happened all by itself. Yet the majority of today’s scientists seem to be trying to prove the opposite; that God doesn’t exist and that everything happened all by itself, without any guiding hand, through the process of evolution.
In my opinion, it takes more to believe in evolution than it does to believe in a creator. While the evidence that is used to support evolution can point in that direction, it by no means proves that evolution is true. Worse, for the evolutionist, the more scientific knowledge we accumulate, the less likely evolution is. That’s why the evolutionary time scale keeps changing, getting longer.
There are many things we could mention in this regard, but let’s just look at one. The basis of all life is DNA. Without DNA to act as the code or blueprint for the growth of living organisms, none of them could exist. Yet evolutionists claim that life started in a “prebiotic soup in the oceans.” In other words, minerals dissolved in the oceans somehow combine themselves to first form proteins and then organize those proteins to become the most complex molecules known to man. That’s truly amazing. In fact, I’d have to say it is beyond belief.
Many of the things that evolutionists say proves their theory can also be said to prove the existence of a designer. The commonality in design of all animal life indicates a common designer. After all, all cars share common design traits, because they are all designed by human engineers, for use by humans.
We can find many verses in the Bible talking about God’s creation and how it shows His handiwork, starting with the creation story in Genesis, chapter 1. While all religions have their own creation story, the one contained in the Bible is the only one which has the major steps of creation in the same order that science, especially astrophysics, shows that the universe had to have been created in. Perhaps this is why King David wrote:
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. – Psalm 19:1
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? – Psalm 8:3-4
This is what nature says to someone who is seeking God through His creation. While others, who don’t believe in God or aren’t seeking Him might find other meaning, looking at the heavens. As with many things, the interpretation starts in our own hearts and beliefs, more than what we see.
We must remember that the Bible is a historic document, which provides first-hand testimony of what has happened in the past. Even the creation story is a first-hand account, given my God Himself of the work that He did. It was merely transcribed by Moses.
There is perhaps nowhere in this historic document where God speaks of His direct involvement with nature, then that which we find in the book of Job. Few people spend much time in this book, as it is normally a hard one to understand. But in the 38th through 41st chapters, God speaks of Himself in a way that is not seen anywhere else in the Bible. As an integral part of that, He speaks of his relationship with nature and how He cares for the animals, even speaking of Himself as the midwife to the animals (Job 39:1-4).
One of the most profound statement about creation revealing God was written by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans:
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that re made. even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. – Romans 1:20
Our Hearts Reveal God
As God’s special creation here on the Earth, we are created to be in relationship with Him. He prepared us for this, in giving us a longing for that relationship. While not everyone recognizes that longing for what it is; it is there in our hearts.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11
The very existence of religion, including false religion, shows us the truth of this verse. Why would we humans seek out an answer to the question of what happens after death, without a longing for eternity and a belief that it actually exists. Yet somehow we do know of the existence of eternity and actively seek it out, even if we look in the wrong places.
But our hearts reveal God in an even more profound way, in that most people have an understanding of right and wrong, even if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior or have a relationship with God the Father. Paul wrote of this as well, in his letter to the Romans:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law (speaking of the Old Testament Law), by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or excusing them. – Romans 2:14-15
The statement these verses make becomes even more profound when we realize that we humans, by our very nature, are evil beings. Just look at a small child. That child doesn’t have to be taught how to misbehave; it comes by that naturally. Rather, it has to be taught how to behave. Parents spend countless hours working with their children, teaching them to behave. Yet there are invariably times when things come up, which were not included in that instruction. What do those children do then? That’s where we see gentiles, who do not have the law, doing things that pertain to the law. In other words, doing the right thing.
Granted, there are also those who do the wrong thing; but this does not negate the point. Somehow, these people know what the right thing to do is and do it. We call that the conscience and all people have it; even those who have chosen to ignore it. There are even those who have chosen to ignore their conscience to the point where the conscience has been seared.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having tier own conscience seared with a hot iron. – 1 Timothy 4:1-2
But there’s another part about God revealing Himself to the heart; one which not all Christians today believe in; that is God speaking directly to our hearts. We readily accept that God spoke to the prophets of the Old Testament, but some say that God no longer speaks in that manner, pointing to Jesus’ words in Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John…” In their understanding of this verse, there were no more prophets or prophecies after the death of John the Baptist. Yet the book of Revelations, the only book of prophecy in the New Testament, was written by the Apostle John some 60 or 70 years after John the Baptist’s death.
Part of this misunderstanding comes from our concept of how God speaks to the prophets. Unfortunately, we’ve accepted a Hollywood understanding of that, with God speaking in a deep voice, with lots of reverberation, coming from the clouds. But God doesn’t speak that way. He speaks in a still, small voice, as He did when He spoke to the prophet Elijah.
Then He (God)2 said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord. “And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings 19:11-13
At this time in the story, Elijah was an experienced prophet. So, when God directed him to “stand on the mountain before the Lord,” he was not distracted by all those supposedly obvious signs, because he recognized that “the Lord was not in them.” Rather, he waited for the voice of the Lord to come to him, keeping himself quiet, so that he could hear when God spoke.
Much of why we do not hear God so much today, is because we do not give ourselves times when we are quiet enough to hear His voice. God had to wake Joseph, the husband of Mary, Jesus’ mother, to speak to him; apparently that was the only time Joseph was quiet enough to hear God. And God did that not only once, but three times! (Matthew 1:20; 2:13; 2:19-20).
Hearing the voice of the Lord should not be a contentious issue amongst believers; for Jesus Himself said:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. – John 10:27
I suppose that some could say that this only refers to those who were alive at the time of Jesus. But if that were the case, why would He even bother to say it? He would have been stating the obvious. On the other hand, if we take it as Him speaking to His sheep, throughout the ages, it makes much more sense.
The Bible Reveals God
The greatest resource we have available to us, in understanding the revelation of who God is, is the Word of God itself. Through it, 35 authors transcribed the words and teachings of God’s Holy Spirit, speaking as if it were God the Father, speaking to us Himself. We must throw out of our thinking, the that the Bible is people talking about God and accept the idea that it is God Himself, speaking through those people.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. – 2 Timothy 3:16
While the Bible speaks of many things, it all points to God Himself. We can find Him revealed in every page, even parts where we don’t expect to. Take the Law for example. Most Christians totally ignore the Old Testament Law, thinking that it is not for us today. Yet we are commanded to “be holy,” both in the Old Testament and the New.
As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 16 because it is written, “be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
One might complain that this passage in Peter’s first epistle is quoting the Old Testament, but it is Peter who is doing that, the disciple whom Jesus selected to be the head of the early church. In writing this, Peter shows us that holiness is just as important a part of the life of a New Testament believer, as it is to the believers of Old Testament times.
So, where do we find out what holiness is and how to be holy? I’m not talking about being made holy by accepting Jesus; but rather living a holy life, as Peter wrote. We find that in the Old Testament Law. That Law didn’t exist as a list of rules to get into heaven; but rather so that we might know that we can’t make it there on our own. It shows us what holiness is and how far we fall short of being holy, without the express help of God working in our lives.
Since the Old Testament Law reveals to us what holiness is and God is holy, then that Law also reveals the character of God to us. While the commandments are directed at we humans, God, being just and righteous, would not expect us to do anything that is above and beyond what He does Himself. He even went so far as to make the ultimate sacrifice of His Son Jesus, in place of all the sacrifices that are listed in the book of Leviticus.
Every word in the Bible speaks about God and about Jesus in some way. When I was a young believer, I had an Oxford-Scofield NIV Study Bible. I would get irritated at the notes in the Old Testament part of that Bible, as they would often say something like, “This shows us Jesus in that…” My argument against that was that it was the Old Testament and Jesus hadn’t been born yet. Nevertheless, I eventually learned that the Old Testament does speak of Jesus, just as much as it speaks of God. After all, the two are one.
I and My Father are one. – John 10:30
One of the many things that Jesus had to teach his disciples was how the scripture showed who He is. Taken in the light of what we just read in John 10:30, we can see that this means that He was not only showing Himself to His disciples, but the Father as well.
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. – Luke 24:27
Oh, how I would have loved to be party to that conversation, listening to Christ expound upon the scriptures. Sadly, that conversation is not recorded in the Bible, not even a brief outline of it. Yet it is clear from it, that there is much in the Old Testament which speaks of Jesus.
With that being the case, how can it be that the Jews of the day didn’t recognize Jesus for who He was?
It is important to note that not all scriptures are as easily discerned as John 10:30. Some are written in symbolic manners, making them harder to interpret. Even so, a correct interpretation of those verses will reveal something about God. Many verses will reveal more than one thing about God, when we take the time to fully study out what the verses say. One can spend a lifetime gaining revelation about God, from just a few verses.
The problem here is that few people bother to study the Bible, as it calls for in Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15). Many do no more than read the Bible, because that is what they have been told all their lives. Yet there is much that can be learned about God by diligent study of the scriptures, which we will miss by merely glossing over the words, reading them.
Jesus Came to Reveal God
Finally, the clearest possible revelation that God has provided of Himself was in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ, to live and die here on Earth. Jesus told us about God the Father, taught us His teachings, demonstrated His power and ultimately died for us, as the final sacrifice for our sins, fulfilling the requirements laid out in God’s holy Law.
Should there be any question that God sent His Son to speak to us, revealing the Father, the writer of Hebrews clarifies it.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. – Hebrews 1:1-2
If this isn’t enough, Jesus Himself, spoke of the revelatory importance of His message.
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. – Matthew 11:27
While this verse talks about the relationship between the Father and the Son, the important part for us is the last few words, where Jesus says that the Father will only be known by those that He Himself decides to reveal the Father to. This isn’t speaking so much about the idea of predestination, as it is about the idea that Jesus came to reveal Father God to us. It was a major part of His work here on the Earth.
But we might ask, why would God need to send His only begotten Son to reveal Himself to us, when He had revealed Himself through the prophets?
If we look at the history of Israel, the very same people who those prophets came from, we see them having a constant struggle between serving God and turning away from Him, specifically into idolatry. Even though the revelation that they had of God should have been sufficient to keep them walking the narrow road, it apparently wasn’t. In recognizing this, God also recognized the need to send His Son to reveal who the Father is.
This does not in any way diminish the sacrificial work of the cross; but if all God needed was for His Son to die on the cross for our sins, then Jesus would not have had to spend more than three years gathering a group of disciples and training them to take over after His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. But He did spend that time, showing us that it must have been necessary.
If we take the time to analyze the teachings of Jesus, we will find that much of what He taught was expounding on the scriptures of the Old Testament, especially the Law. In some cases, He even went so far as to add requirements, over and above those which are clearly spelled out in the Law. In this, He took the Law from being something only of actions and turning it into something of the heart.
But that wasn’t all that Jesus taught on; He also expounded upon other areas of Old Testament scriptures, such as the prophets; clarifying much about the end times. We who consider ourselves New Testament believers don’t have the excuse of not knowing God that the Jews did, because we have the historic record of Jesus walking here upon the Earth, as recorded by His very own disciples.
In Jesus, we have God the Father embodied in human form, allowing ordinary humans to see Him, hear Him and commune with Him. The disciples weren’t priests and prophets; but rather ordinary working men, even a tax collector; people who the religious community thought weren’t worthy enough to have an experience with God, to truly understand His character and to act as His ambassadors here upon the Earth. Yet, that’s exactly what Jesus did through ordinary working men.
While the disciples may have seen Jesus as a man, He was the living embodiment of God. Every word that He spoke was God, speaking directly to mankind. There is no greater revelation of God possible, than that which came through Jesus Christ.
He (Jesus Christ)2 is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. – Colossians 1:15
No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18 NLT