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01.012. HOW GOD HAS SPOKEN TO US

8 min read · Chapter 13 of 100

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Lesson Eleven HOW GOD HAS SPOKEN TO US Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4, Romans 1:18-23, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.

Scripture To Memorize: “God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

106. Q. Is it possible for the world to know God through its own wisdom?

A. It is not.

1 Corinthians 1:21—“For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.”

107. Q. In view of this fact what did God do for us?

A. He made Himself and His will known to us in a series of revelations.

108. Q. Why has God thus spoken to His creatures?

A.Because He loves us, wants us to be saved from our sins, and wants us to be holy. In order for Him to accomplish these ends in us and for us, it was necessary that He reveal to us all the truths we need to know about His nature, attributes, works, purposes and plans; and all the truths we need to know regarding our own salvation and growth in holiness.

109. Q. Why, then, was it necessary for God to speak to us?

A. Because if he had not done so we should be lost forever.

Without His divine revelations, we could never know what we need to know about God, His attributes, works, purposes and plans; and what we need to know in order to be saved from our sins and to grow in holiness ourselves. Without his knowledge, we should be hopelessly lost forever.

110. Q. Why does God want us to be holy?

A. For three reasons:

1. Because He loves us; 2. Because His ultimate end in creation and redemption is to have a holy universe; and, 3. Because, in the very nature of things, any lack of that holiness on our part “without which no man shall see the Lord,” would make it impossible for God to have that fellowship with His creatures which He sought and purposed when He created them.

111. Q. In what two books has God revealed Himself to us?

A. He has revealed Himself to us in the Book of Nature, and in the Book of Scripture.

112. Q. What do we mean by the Book of Nature?

A. By the Book of Nature, we mean the physical universe or the world around us.

113. Q. What has God revealed to us in the Book of Nature?

A. He has revealed His omnipotence and glory.

Romans 1:20—“For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity.” Psalms 19:1—“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” “Nature is God’s art,” says Philip James Baily.

114. Q. Why was it necessary for God to reveal Himself and His purposes further, in another Book?

A. Because He could not reveal his moral attributes, such as His love, justice, goodness, holiness, compassion, faithfulness and longsuffering, in the Book of Nature; and because He could not reveal in the Book of Nature the truths necessary to our salvation and growth in holiness.

(1) In Nature we see evidences of order, beauty, energy, force, even of intelligence. But Nature is silent in the presence of sorrow, suffering, sin, despair and death. Yet these factors are ever present in human life and experience, and we must have a God who will meet these needs of the soul. Therefore “in the fulness of the time God sent forth his Son.” In Christ Jesus, these cries are heard and answered. He reveals a personal Father God, a God who cares, a God who forgives, a God who gives the abundant life, a God who redeems; and this revelation is embodied in the New Testament Scriptures. Hence our God is the God of both Nature and Scripture. (2) “While God may reveal Himself to us in many ways, through nature and through the wondrous laws of science, of which He is the Author also, yet He speaks to us only through the Bible. Through nature we may come to know Him as Creator, but only through the Bible can we hear His voice speaking to us as the Father. It is to learn to hear this ‘still, small voice’ that we study the Word, observing that His voice is ever attuned to those who would hear, whether in the simple days of the beginnings of spiritual knowledge or in these days of completed revelation” (C. J. Sharp, New Training for Service, p. 5). (3) It is obvious that without the Bible we should still be worshiping the sun, the heavenly bodies, animals or idols, as the ancients did. Psalms 119:105—“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.” Psalms 119:130—“The opening of thy words giveth light.”

115. Q. What do we mean by the Book of Scripture?

A. By the Book of Scripture, we mean the Bible.

Scripture is inspired (God-breathed) literature. 2 Timothy 3:16-17—“Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.”

116. Q. What does the word Bible mean?

A.It means The Book. The Bible is the history of redemption through Jesus Christ. It is the faithful and inspired record of God’s revelations to man. It is the only Book of which it can be said that God is the Author. In every sense of the term it is The Book.

117. Q. What has God revealed to us in the Bible?

A. He has revealed all the truths we need to know about Himself, His nature, His attributes, and His purposes; and He has revealed in the Bible all the truths we need to know about our own salvation and growth in holiness.

118. Q. By what method did God reveal Himself, His attributes, and His purposes and plans?

A. He did so progressively; that is, as man grew in his capacity to understand and make use of the truths revealed.

Hebrews 1:2—“by divers portions and in divers manners.” Isaiah 28:10—“precept upon precept . . . line upon line . . . here a little, there a little.” Mark 4:28—“first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”

119. Q. Through whom did God reveal Himself and His purposes in olden times?

A. Through holy men of old, men of great faith.

(1) 2 Peter 1:21—“men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” Hebrews 1:1-2—“God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets,” etc. (2) Through the patriarchs, He revealed His self-existence, unity, personality and providence; and through them He revealed also the source, nature, evidences and rewards of faith. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. See Hebrews 11:1-40. (3) Through Moses and the early leaders of the Hebrew nation, He revealed His uniqueness, His superiority, and His omnipotence. The miracles wrought by Moses were largely for the purpose of demonstrating God’s power and superiority to false heathen deities. Through Moses He also revealed the eternal principles of right and wrong, in the Ten Commandments. See Exodus 20:1-26. (4) Through the Hebrew prophets, He revealed His wisdom, righteousness, justice and holiness; and His Messianic purposes and plans. The prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, etc.—were expounders of personal holiness, national righteousness and social justice.

120. Q. Through whom did God fully reveal Himself and His purposes?

A. Through His Son Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

Hebrews 1:2—“God . . . hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son,” etc.

121. Q. What did He reveal through Jesus Christ and the Apostles?

A. He revealed especially His divine love and compassion, and His plan for the salvation of the world.

1 Peter 1:10-12, “Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.” Ephesians 3:4-5—“the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit,” etc.

122. Q. What is said of Jesus in this connection?

A. It is said that He was the very image of the Father’s substance.

Hebrews 1:3—“who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance,” etc. We humans are the image of God only in a personal sense. But Jesus is the very image of God, i.e., in every particular, moral as well as personal. He manifested in Himself all the wisdom, purity, power and holiness of the Godhead.

123. Q. What did Jesus say of Himself in this connection?

A. He said: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

124. Q. Did Divine revelation end with Jesus and the Apostles?

A. It did, because with them everything pertaining to life and godliness was revealed.

2 Peter 1:3—“seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” Jude 1:3—“the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.”

125. Q. Where is this final and complete revelation recorded?

A.It is recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. No human being has ever been able to add one iota of moral or spiritual truth to the body of teaching recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. The teaching of the New Testament is sufficient to furnish the man of God completely unto every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

126. Q. In view of these facts what should we do?

A. We should search the Scriptures diligently and reverently, in order that we may learn to know the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ, whom to know aright is eternal life.

Acts 17:11—“Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” John 17:3—“And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.” John 14:6—“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but by me.” John 6:68—“Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” John 6:63—“the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.”

REVIEW EXAMINATION OVER LESSON ELEVEN 106.Q.Is it possible for the world to know God through its own wisdom?