The Revelation of God

Gary Henry

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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; who [is] the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person . .” (Heb 1:1-3).

IN SURROUNDING US WITH HIS GLORY, GOD’S PURPOSE IS TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO US IN ORDER THAT WE MIGHT OBEY THE GOSPEL AND HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. The fact that God’s purpose is to reveal Himself is a marvelous truth to think about. Contemplating this truth ought to have a powerful practical effect on our lives. Having rebelled against God, Adam and Eve were banished from God’s presence (Genesis 3:22-24). The consequence of sin is that we are cut off from the God whom we were made to desire. But no sooner had sin taken place than God began to reach out to us and to work toward a restoration of what had been lost. The God who made us is not a God who hides from us. He has moved toward us, making it possible for us to know Him again.

If God’s purpose is to reveal Himself to us, this must mean that He is MINDFUL of us. It must mean that we — yes, even WE — are of concern to Him. And this in itself is marvelous. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3,4). Our Creator desires that we be encouraged and refreshed by this knowledge. At our moments of greatest weakness or rebellion, even then God is thinking of us and wanting to reveal Himself to us. Not any of us is a lost cause, as far as He is concerned. Our ignorance of Him is a matter of active, personal concern to God. On our part, we must more deeply desire to know Him. We must determine to stay more awake and more alert, eager to receive every bit of truth that is available about God as He really is. As He restores to us the knowledge of His character and His will, it is God’s intention to lead us back to His immediate presence. “No one ever graduates from Bible study until he meets the author face to face” (E. T. Harris). The Bible is a book, but it is a book at the end of which God Himself is waiting for us.