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STUDY 8: A GOD WHO HAS SPOKEN

© Rosemary Bardsley 2023

In this study we look at the goodness of God in making himself known to us. He is not a God who has kept himself hidden. He is a God who has spoken. As Francis Schaeffer titled one of his books – ‘He is there and he is not silent’. And in this speaking, in this act of self-revelation, we see that God is personal, that God is good, that God is for us, that he wants to be known by us, that he wants to be in relationship with us. And more than that, in thus making himself known to us, God offers us life - that eternal, spiritual life, that reversal of Genesis 3, that is possible only by knowing him. As Jesus, the Son, said to the Father: ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’ – John 17:3.

A. GOD’S SELF-REVELATION IN THE THINGS HE CREATED

When God created the universe (‘the heavens and the earth”) he deliberately did so in such a way that his creation reveals his nature and his character. What he is like in his inner being, in his essential nature, is intentionally embedded in things he created. The truth about his invisible reality are visible in plain sight in creation.

This first level of God’s self-revelation is there for every human being, but it is not recognized or acknowledged by every human being. Indeed, left to ourselves, without God’s special intervention, we look at creation and do not see God and do not know God. We misinterpret the evidence that is plainly in sight, twisting it, distorting it, and arriving at concepts of ‘god’ far removed from the one true God. This is directly the result of our rejection of the true God in Genesis 3. Because we have rejected him, we do not recognize his glory in creation. But once our eyes are opened, and we look with eyes of faith, we see his power and his glory everywhere around us, affirming again and again that God is good.

Bible study: What do these verses teach about the glory and knowledge of God visible in the created world?
Job 9:8 – 10

Job 12:7 – 10

Job 26:6 – 14

 

Job 36:27 – 37:7

 

Psalm 8

 

Psalm 19:1 – 4

 

Psalm 97:6

Psalm 104

Isaiah 6:3

Romans 1:19, 20

E.J.Young comments on Isaiah 6:3 ‘the whole earth is full of his glory’:

‘The reference is to the declarative glory of God. ...the glory which He has displayed in the created universe. What is God’s glory? It is the revelation of His attributes. By regarding the universe which He has created we behold His glory, His perfection and His attributes. The revelation of God in the created universe, His declarative glory, is sufficient to convince men of God’s holiness, righteousness and justice as well as of His almighty power, so that man is without excuse. The entirety of creation, visible and invisible, speaks with voices clear and positive of the glory of the Holy God. Wherever we turn our eyes, we see the marks of his majesty, and should lift our hearts in praise to Him who is holy. This is His world, the wide theatre in which His perfect glory is displayed.’ (p245, 246, The Book of Isaiah, Vol 1, Eerdmans, 1972)

Discussion questions: Read Romans 1:18 – 23.
Where did God reveal himself?

What did he make known?

What did people do with this revelation?

Why are people who refuse to acknowledge God without excuse?

What conclusions are people today making on the basis of what their knowledge of the created world?

 

How do these conclusions prevent people from knowing the goodness of God?

What further information is given in 2Peter 3:5?

 

B. GOD’S SELF-REVELATION IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL

From God’s initial call of Abram (Genesis 12:1 – 3) to the post-exilic restoration (recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah) God revealed himself in the history of Israel. This history is recorded in the Bible, and so forms part of God’s self-revelation in the written Scriptures. A later study will focus on the goodness of God in the history of Israel.

 

C. GOD’S SELF-REVELATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

God’s self-revelation in the created world is non-verbal. It is simply there for all to observe. There God revealed his glory. There God put on display, as Romans 1 tells us, his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. Day after day, night after night the creation declares God’s praise. But such is our sinfulness and alienation from God that that revelation in nature is misused and abused by us. But God, in his great goodness to us, has provided us with verbal revelation. God has spoken to us and clearly stated the truth about himself and the truth about us. Bit by bit – to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Job, to the descendants of Abraham – the nation of Israel. Through Moses and through the prophets. And God has ensured that that verbal self-revelation was accurately recorded and preserved.

This verbal word of God gives and sustains spiritual life because it reveals God to us and reconnects us with God. The Old Testament people of faith (distinct from the geo-political nation Israel) knew this and exalted in this.

Bible study: What do these texts teach about the Old Testament?
Psalm 1:1 – 3

Psalm 19:7 – 11

Psalm 119:105, 130

Luke 24:25 – 27, 44 – 47

2Timothy 3:15 – 17

2Peter 1:20, 21

Everything that we need to know about God, everything we need for salvation, and everything we need to live as God’s children is in the Bible. This is what God in his goodness has provided for us.

However, just as his self-revelation in creation is not recognized by humans since Genesis 3, so also his verbal revelation falls on deaf ears and hard hearts.

Read John 5:39 – 47 and John 8:19 – 59, and answer these questions:
Did these people have the written Old Testament?

Did they really believe it?

What does Jesus say that makes it clear that, even though they had and knew the Old Testament, their concept of God was twisted?

 

 

Read Romans 1:25 – 32. Answer these questions:
Which verses indicate that these people had and knew the truth about God and his laws?

What did they do with what God had revealed about himself and his standards?

 

In section A we saw people who had God’s self-revelation in the created world, rejecting that revelation. Now in section C we see people to whom God had given verbal and written revelation of himself, also rejecting and twisting that revelation. God’s verdict on these people is ‘they are without excuse’ and, given their extreme rejection of him, we are told three times that God ‘gave them over’ (verses 24, 26,28).

 

D. GOD’S SELF-REVELATION IN JESUS CHRIST

[Note: this final self-revelation of God is recorded and explained in the New Testament.]

But such is the goodness of God that he still did not leave us in our ignorance of himself, he did not leave us with our twisted concepts of ‘god’. He came to us in the person of his Son, and he said to us ‘Look at me. This is who I am. Believe in me.’ And this saving us from our ignorance of God is essential, because the salvation from sin that he accomplished on the cross is promised and given only to those who believe in him. We must first see, know and believe in the true God before we can receive salvation from him.

Bible study:
What do these verses say about God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, his Son?
Matthew 11:27

John 1:14

John 1:18

John 8:19

John 12:44 – 46

John 14:6 – 9

1John 5:20

How do these verses indicate that to be saved it is necessary to acknowledge that Jesus is God/God is Jesus?
John 1:12

John 3:18

John 8:24

Romans 10:9

1John 2:22, 23

1John 4:2, 3

1John 5:10 – 12

But here again, there is this terrible thing, this negative human response to God’s self-revelation. Just as God’s self-revelation in creation is rejected or twisted, just as his self-revelation in the written Scriptures is rejected or twisted, even here, here in Christ where God stands face to face with us, his self-revelation is also rejected.

Bible study: what do these verses say about human rejection of Jesus Christ?
John 1:5

John 1:10,11

John 3:19

John 5:16 – 18

John 8:58, 59

John 10:31 – 33

John 15:22 – 25

REVIEW
In Genesis 3 we believed the devil’s lies and from that point onwards have had inaccurate concepts of God. God, in his goodness to us, has spoken. He is the God who actually does speak, does communicate. He did not leave us in our blindness and ignorance. In the created world his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen, because creation is also revelation [see Section C in  this study. ]. In the written Scripture he has given us an objective, verbal , authoritative and trustworthy record regarding himself, his promises and his commands. [See these studies. ] And, in his final self-revelation, the incarnation of God the Son, God has spoken - Jesus Christ is God’s final word. If we reject his self-revelation here, then we are lost forever. If we do not recognize God here, we will not see him, we cannot know him, anywhere. [See  these studies.]

Review discussion questions:
How is God’s goodness to you evident in the fact that he has chosen to reveal himself?

 

Discuss this statement: ‘If someone believes that God is not good, he does not know the God of the Bible’.

 

And this: ‘Jesus Christ has revealed in a final, unquestionable way, that God is good’.

 

And this: 'It is our goodness that should be questioned, not God's'.

 

Note: there will be more about the goodness of God in the incarnation of Christ in a later study.