A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF GOD (4)

God:  The Revealer (1)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   Reveal:  to make known, disclose, to lay open to view

 

B.   In order for something to be revealed, that something at one time had to be concealed, that is, hidden from view.

 

C.   In this lesson, we want to continue the series entitled:  “A Better Understanding of God.”  The subtitle of this lesson is:  “God:  The Revealer.”

 

I.             GOD REVEALED HIMSELF

 

A.   Having created the Universe, God could have withdrawn Himself from the affairs of men and allowed the natural laws of the Creation along with man’s flesh to exist in the world.

1.    The world would have rapidly degenerated.

2.    The world would have lived in depravity.

3.    The world would have rushed to its own destruction.

 

B.   God chose not to do this.  Instead, He revealed Himself to man over the course of several thousand years.

1.    Creation

a.    He showed that He is a God of power. 

1)    Eight times in Genesis 1, we read the words:  “And God said…” (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).

2)    These words illustrate God’s power to speak and bring things into existence.

b.    He showed that He is a God of order. 

1)    This is especially seen on Day 4 when He created the lights. 

2)    They were created “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14). 

3)    The two greater lights were created “to rule” (Gen. 1:16).

c.    He showed that His is the God of all life. 

1)    The grass, herbs, and trees were alive. 

2)    The fish of the seas and fowl of the air were alive. 

3)    The creatures of the earth were alive. 

4)    Then, “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7).

2.    Adam

a.    He showed Adam that He is a God of blessings (Gen.2:8).

 

And the LORD planted a garden eastward in Eden:  and there he put the man whom he had formed.

 

b.    He showed Adam that He is a God of covenant (Gen. 2:16-17).

 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:  for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

c.    He showed Adam that He is a God of accountability (Gen. 3:11)

 

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?  Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

 

3.    Noah

a.    He showed Noah that He is a God of judgment (Gen. 6:5-7).

 

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart.  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

 

b.    He showed Noah that He is a God of deliverance (Gen. 6:8).

 

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

 

4.    Abraham

a.    He showed Abraham that He is the Almighty God (Gen. 17:1).

 

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

 

b.    He showed Abraham that He is a God of hope (Gen. 22:18).

 

And in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

 

C.   God revealed Himself to man in many ways.

1.    By speaking to them directly

a.    He spoke to Adam.

b.    He spoke to Cain.

c.    He spoke to Noah.

d.    He spoke to Abraham.

2.    By speaking to them through others

a.    In the days of patriarchy God spoke to the children through their fathers.

b.    God spoke to Pharaoh through Moses.

c.    God spoke to the Jews through the prophets.

3.    By speaking to them through judgments

a.    God spoke through the flood.

b.    God spoke through the fire and brimstone rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah.

c.    God spoke to Pharaoh and the Egyptians through the ten plagues.

4.    By speaking to them through His providence

a.    God spoke through the preservation of Israel at the hand of Joseph.

b.    God spoke to Israel through the preservation of the man Moses.

5.    By speaking to them through the written word (Duet. 31:9).

 

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

 

6.    By speaking to them through His miracles (Exo. 7:4-5)

 

But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.   And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

 

7.    By appearing to them in dreams and visions

a.    Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord upon His throne (Isa. 6:1-4).

 

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  Above it stood the seraphims:  each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts:  the whole earth is full of his glory.  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was full of smoke.

 

b.    John saw the Apocalypse that we now call the Book of Revelation (Rev. 1:1).

 

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.

 

D.   God revealed Himself especially through His Son Jesus Christ.

1.    John 1:18

 

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

 

2.    John 14:7

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:  and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

 

3.    In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Jesus is described as “the image of God.”

4.    In Colossians 1:15, Paul again describes Jesus as “in the image of the invisible God.”

5.    Hebrews 1:3a

 

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   We have not touched the hem of the garment in the ways God revealed himself throughout the course of Bible history.

 

B.   The first verse of the Bible contains the word “God,” and the very last verse contains the words, “our LORD Jesus Christ.”

 

C.   One of the main purposes of the Bible is to reveal God to man.

1.    Man should fear Him.

2.    Man should put his faith in Him.

3.    Man should learn His will and obey it.

4.    Man should seek to glorify Him all the days of his life.