Video Transcript: Religion and Revelation

The teachings of Jesus and the apostles are rightly the focus of Christians who  want to follow in their path. But those teachings found in the New Testament,  build on a legacy and a story told in the Old Testament that reaches back to the  beginning of the world and beyond. Jesus knew this story very well, but many of  us don't. And as a result, find it that much harder to grasp the riches of what  Jesus and the apostles taught. And that's too bad. After all, the stories and  teachings of the Old Testament are part of every Christian story, and are  essential for helping us understand what God has wanted from the beginning.  And that's the reason I wrote this book, longing for a better country, and develop this course. I hope it will help you better grasp how the redemption we have in  Christ builds upon and completes God's earlier redemptive activity. Now, so far,  what I've done with my book is to try to get people to commit to using it for a  year. That's a big commitment, but one worth doing for the results it brings. But  what works even better is if a small group of people who are using this book to  study the Old Testament get together once every week or two for conversation  about the readings, those who have done that have gotten the most out of their  study, you're probably taking this course because you not only want to grow and mature spiritually, but you want to help others do the same. I hope to help you  do that with a background in supplemental material in these lectures, a good  grasp of it will help you be an effective leader. Let me explain the outline I'll be  following part one of this course, the first third of it gives an overview of the  redemptive historical story of the Old Testament. I'm trying to condense the story told in 365 daily readings into a few lectures. Part Two, the last two thirds of the  course, deals with some important biblical topics addressed in the Old  Testament narratives. Take prayer, for example, as you read through the various stories, you can't help but notice the significant role of prayer, as the daily  readings offer some reflections on this in passing, but in the lecture on prayer,  I've addressed prayer in a topical rather than an expository way. And I've done  similar things with 20 other topics, the sovereignty of God, spiritual warfare, our  covenanting, God, and so on. Just before we get to parts one and two, however, I should be clear in this introduction about the presuppositions or underlying  assumptions I bring to this study. These concern my perspective on the nature  of religion, and revelation. What is religion anyhow? The dictionary defines it as  a particular system of faith and worship. But this might be a little misleading  because some people claim they have no religion, you may hear something like  this, my neighbor, why he's got no religion at all. Or she's a very religious  person, or as one recent convert, asked another When did you get religion?  What do you think? Is religion really something that you can have or not have? I  suppose it is if you define religion as belief in God or in the supernatural. But if  religion really has to do with where you put your faith and what you regard is  most important in your life, then everyone has religion. I don't know who first  said it, but I'll repeat it. Humankind is incurably religious. In the days of ancient 

Israel, all the other nations of that world everyone except Israel thought there  were many gods. They had gods for fertility and gods for war and household  gods. They found gods in the sky and gods on the earth and gods in the water  and gods and animals, they found gods everywhere. Today too, you may travel  to the farthest corners of the world, it doesn't matter where and when you do,  you'll find religion in operation, even if it looks a little different than it did in  ancient times. Usually there is outright worship involved. But religion may also  take the form of relegating God to a small slice of life or denying him completely. Your religion whether you call it that or not, is what you build your life around.  What is most important to you, as shown not just in official acts of worship, but in your behavior, and lifestyle? So then, those who intentionally worship God or  some idol are religious But so are those who devote all their time and energies  to material gain, or to the experience of one pleasure or another, or even to the  attainment of what some scientists pursue godlike omniscience. Many people  like to say that such things are just a matter of personal preference and that one person's preference or religion, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone, it's just as  good as anyone else's. But that assumes there is not one who demands and is  worthy of all worship and service. But my starting point is that there is such a  one, God, the very One who created everything and without his constant  involvement, everything would degenerate into the nothingness from which it  came. If that is so, then true religion involves doing what God wants and  commands and false religions of which there are many varieties are those in  which people's lives are devoted to any other purpose than the service of the  one true God. And that brings us to the questions of how we can tell the  difference between true and false religion. And what the requirements of true  religion are. The Judeo Christian religion as well as most of the offshoots  religion, offshoot religions that have been derived from it, such as Islam, says  that outside revelation is the key to understanding true religion and knowing  what it requires. In other words, the source of revelation is not the human mind.  Nor does revelation depend on the initiative of those who seek it. Instead,  revelation comes from and by the initiative of the Creator of the universe, who is  not himself locked into the world he has made. Revelation is a sovereign act of  God, who chooses to expose us to Himself and His ways through a variety of  methods. True Religion, therefore, is not a matter of inventing God or creating  truth but of discovering God, and coming to know him as he has revealed  himself. The core idea in Revelation says Dr. Gordon's Spykman, is a notion of  unveiling. Think of unwrapping a gift or unveiling a monument or drawing aside  the curtains at a theater. Revelation means making known something previously unknown and still unknowable. Apart from the revealing act with deeds and  words, God informs our hearts of his claim upon our lives and his plan for the  world, opening doors of understanding which would otherwise remain forever  closed. A knowable God and a knowing mankind This is the foundation of true 

religion. But how can we know someone so Great and Majestic? Only when and if he communicates with us in words we can understand? God has to put his  word into human words. Dr. Spykman writes even His names personal  revelations are drawn from earthly vocabularies. He takes his revelation down to our level of understanding our capacity and our need. There are hidden depths  we cannot plumb dazzling heights we cannot ascend. Yet the light that shines is  true though filter, filtered, and in that light, we see light. If we look at God's Word, the Bible which is certainly the major document of his self, Revelation, we see  that the revelation of God takes several forms. In the beginning, God spoke his  creative work out of nothing. He called heaven and earth and everything in it into existence. His creative word is not merely a devout wish, but an all mighty and  effective command. Psalm 33:9 tells us, God spoke, and it stood fast. The so  called natural world is a continuing witness to what God did in the beginning.  After that, and progressively, God spoke his prophetic apostolic word. He spoke  to Adam and Eve and after the fall, met men and women and their need by  gradually unveiling his plan of salvation through such prophets as Moses,  Samuel and Isaiah, and through such apostles as Peter, John and Paul, what  God wanted passed on was written down in the scriptures of the Old and New  Testaments. And then, of course, about 2000 years ago, God revealed Himself  most clearly through his incarnate work. God became became flesh in the  person of Jesus Christ, who said that anyone who has seen him, has seen the  Father that's in John 14:6. In other words, Almighty God revealed himself in all  that Jesus said and did in his life. In short, then we have the book of the world.  In the book of Scripture, the book of God's general revelation, the world is a  mirror which reflects its maker. Sin damaged it, but did not shatter it. Before sin,  the world revealed only the goodness of God. And now that sin is in the world, it  reveals both God's goodness and His judgment. But the world remains a self  revelation of God. Would that everyone had the eyes to see this and the ears to  hear it. And the book of Scripture read and preach declares God's will is  revealed to the prophets, apostles in Jesus Christ. These different forms of the  word are not at all contradictory, but complimentary, for they are all means by  which God has revealed and continues to reveal himself. Psalm 19 speaks of  God's self revelation in both the book of this world and the book of Scripture.  These first verses are clearly about the book of this world. Psalm 19, beginning  at verse 1, The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night, they display  knowledge, there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their  voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the end of the world. In The  Heavens, He has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming  forth from his pavilion, like a champion, rejoicing to run his course, it rises at one end of the heavens, and makes its circuit to the other. Nothing is hidden from its  heat. And then after this, these opening verses, Psalm 19, goes on to speak of 

God's written word, which reveals more of God and of His plan for the world and for mankind, including his plan of salvation. Starting at verse 7, or continuing at  verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord  are trustworthy, making wise a simple, the precepts of the Lord are right, giving  joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes,  

the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are  sure, and altogether righteous, they are more precious than gold, than much  pure gold, they are sweeter than honey than honey from the comb. By them is  your servant warned, in keeping them there is great reward. The Psalmist isn't  talking here merely about the 10 commandments, or even the expanded version of God's written law, but about the principles by which God consistently acts. We can call those principles by any one of several synonyms, laws, statutes,  precepts, commands or ordinances. These are closely tied to God's character,  and on display. Therefore, whenever and however God reveals Himself, in the  way he runs the world, in the way he relates to us to people, it is clear that the  Lord's ways are both of one piece with no inconsistencies, and without parallel  in revealing his love for creation. Scripture is not a substitute for general  revelation, but a restorer. The scriptures are like eyeglasses to help us refocus  our distorted sight. They're more like a guidebook for life than a textbook in  science, art and culture. They're a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path as  we explore and live in God's world. Without specifically mentioning the two  books of God's revelation, Psalm 19, nevertheless praises in both. It recognizes  that God reveals Himself in nature, and in the law and prophets, and thus helps  mankind to know him and walk in his perfect ways. What we see through the  beauties of creation and instructions of God's word, if we have the eyes and  ears for them, is enough to show us our sinfulness and misery when we stray  from God and the necessity of our return to him. What God reveals to us is  enough to convert us and draw us back to whom He made us to be to  ourselves, to him and our duty. God's central messages is this it's simple. You  shall have no other gods. I'm the only one. The others are useless and  powerless. I control of everything. There is only one God and I am he. Do you  see that if you get that straight, everything else falls into place. We don't have a  religion that's based on what we can dream and pursue. Our religion is not some interior journey of self actualization? No, our religion is based on the revelations  of the Creator of the universe, we could never find him. We don't even speak his language. But he is found out. He speaks our language. He reveals himself in  ways we can hear and understand, and it's in our journey of response to him  that we really find ourselves. For when we see him. We also see our purpose  and our reason for existence. And what's more, we receive from him both  forgiveness for sin and strength for source. In the course of your life, you may  pass through spiritual deserts in which you despair finding any strength of  direction from God's word. But keep reading submissively and prayerfully. 

Because God's word is dependable, and powerful. It is Holy Spirit inspired,  behind it stands all the authority of God, In it, he will never deceive you. If you  follow it, you will not be mistaken about the salvation God offers you. If you live  by it, you will be sure to achieve his purpose of helping your religion to be true  and pure. That is helping you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and  with all your soul and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as  yourself. This is the only acceptable response to God, who alone controls and  oversees everything. To God who not only has no equals, but has no real rivals,  love him. Don't spread your love around all sorts of false gods reserve it for the  Lord God alone. There's only one God and True Religion is to love and serve  him. Is God's word really powerful enough to help us do this? Isaiah 55:10-11  says it is. See here, Isaiah 55:10-11 as the rain and the snow come down from  heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and  flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my  word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty, but it will  accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. As God  speaks. Things happen, just what God wants to happen. His Word does not  return to Him empty. When God says something, it is not useless or ineffectual.  It always accomplishes what God desires it should accomplish. We don't know  quite how this works. For at the same time, God does not secure people's love  by overriding their own wills. He speaks effectively, and yet allows people to  exercise their own responsibility and how they respond to his work. But in any  event, and regardless of individual choices, what results is always the advance  and prospering in the work of God's kingdom. And this will continue to be the  case forever. God speaking is in the eternal present, so that it remains effective.  And what's more every time people retell what God has done and is doing his  project comes closer to full realization for the repeating of God's Word of Truth  actualizes it both in the hearts and lives of believing people and in the universe  as a whole. At the same time, wherever God's truth is actualized Satan's lies are defeated. This is not always immediately apparent for in our sin damaged world,  the liars and trickster seem to win too often. Yet, in the end. Later, if not sooner,  the truth will show itself. lies may win for time. A liar may even make it through  life and what looks like the success line. But lies and liars will not win in the end. For God's Word is truth, powerful truth. God's reality breaks through now here  and there. It broke through most significantly in the incarnation of Jesus. And  we're moving towards the day when and will break through to fulfill all that Jesus in the whole Bible has promised the time when all lies will be exposed and all  tears wiped away. It cannot fail to do so. So it's never a mistake to be on God's  side and to relate to rely on his work. Other scriptures besides Isaiah 55 support its power Ephesians 6:17 calls it the sword of the Spirit. Jeremiah 5:14 calls it  the devouring flame Jeremiah 23:29 calls it a crushing hammer. John 17:17 calls it a purifier of people. Ezekiel 37:7 depicts it as a life giving force that makes dry 

bones live. Romans 1:16 calls it the power of God, for the salvation of everyone  who believes, and more. So we must keep speaking and studying and  memorizing the word and watching for the times and the waysit does bre ak  through in the present and do its work. So with this clarification of our  presuppositions, we'll move on in the next lecture to primeval history. The  biblical story from creation to the post flood world.