01.03. General Revelation.

3. General Revelation.

If in truth there can be any knowledge of God with man, it presupposes that God from his side has made Himself known to him in one way or another.

We do not owe the knowledge of God, nor can we owe it to ourselves, to our own inventions, research or thinking. If it is not given to us freely and out of unrestricted goodness, there is no possibility that we could ever acquire it by exerting our own forces. With the knowledge of created things the situation is somewhat different. Although we are wholly dependent on God for the acquisition of this knowledge, when He created mankind, He assigned him the task of subduing and controlling the entire earth and gave him the desire and the power to do so. Man stands above nature; he can observe, investigate and to a certain extent artificially cause and produce the phenomena of nature; he can, as it were, force nature to reveal itself and its secrets to him.

Yet even this power is already limited in all kinds of ways and in all directions. The deeper science penetrates into the phenomena and approaches the essence of things, the more riddles it finds itself surrounded from all sides by the unknowable. There are not a few who are so deeply convinced of the limitations of human knowledge that they not only confess: we do not know, but also add the dismal prophecy: we will never know.

If this finiteness of human knowledge is already apparent in the study of inanimate nature, it goes without saying that it comes to the fore even more clearly in the study of living, animate and rational creatures. For here we come into contact with phenomena, which we cannot "make or break" at will, but which are objectively opposed to them and can only be known by us to a certain extent through their similarity to what we find in ourselves. Life, consciousness, sensation and perception, reason and intelligence, desire and will, cannot be broken down or put together. They are not mechanical, but organic in nature; we must take them as they are and respect them in their mysterious nature. Whoever would like to dissect life, would kill it at the same time. To a greater extent this all applies to man. For although he is a physical being and in so far as he cannot escape our observation, we only observe his outward appearance; behind this lies a hidden life, which in its outward form is only very imperfectly and inadequately revealed. To a limited degree, man even has the power to keep the inner parts of his being hidden from others. He can restrain his face in such a way that not a muscle reveals what is going on inside; he can use language to hide his thoughts; he can adopt an appearance in his actions that is in conflict with his inner being. And even though we are dealing with an honest man, who despises all these pretenses, to get to know him we still need him to open up his being for us. It is true that he often does this unnoticed and unwillingly; he does not have complete control over himself and has only a small part of himself in his power; he often betrays himself without wanting to. Nevertheless, he must emerge from the secrecy of his being by his appearance, words and deeds, whether without or with his will, if we are to know him truthfully. There is only any knowledge of a person if he opens up his being to us involuntarily or also with consciousness and freedom and reveals himself to us. This consideration leads us to a clear understanding of the conditions under which there can only be talk of knowledge of God in mankind. God is the totally free, the totally independent God; He is in no way dependent on us, but we are in a totally dependent sense, not only naturally, but also intellectually and morally; we therefore have not the slightest disposal, not the slightest power over Him; we cannot in any way make Him the object of our research or reflection; if He cannot be found, we cannot seek Him; if He does not give Himself, we cannot accept Him. Furthermore, God is invisible; He lives in an inaccessible light, so that no human being has ever seen Him or can see Him. If He hides or conceals Himself, we can in no way bring Him within the range of our physical or spiritual perception; and without any perception, of course, no knowledge is possible. knowledge is possible. Finally, to mention nothing more, God is almighty; not only does He have all the creatures, He also has Himself completely in His power. While we humans always show ourselves in some way, outside and without our will, God reveals Himself only because and insofar as He wills. There can be no question of an appearance of God which would be involuntary and beyond his awareness and freedom. God controls Himself completely and reveals Himself only to the extent of His will.

Knowledge of God is therefore only possible on the basis of a revelation from God’s side. Man can only gain knowledge of God when He, and in so far as He, makes Himself known to man freely. This disclosure of God’s self is usually referred to as revelation. The Scriptures use different names for it and speak of appearing, speaking, ruling, working, making Himself known, etc. They indicate that God’s will is to be revealed to man. It indicates that revelation does not always occur in the same way, but takes place in very different forms. In fact, all God’s outward works, whether in word or deed, are parts and elements of the one, great, all-embracing and always continuing revelation of God. The creation, maintenance and government of all things, the calling and guidance of Israel, the sending of Christ, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the recording of the Word of God, the preservation and propagation of the Church, etc., are all ways and forms through which a revelation of God comes to us. They all make something of God known to us. All that is and is done can and should lead us to the knowledge of Him, whose knowledge is eternal life. This revelation, whether taken in a general or a particular way, always bears the following characteristics.

First, it always proceeds freely from God himself. He is here, as everywhere, the sole agent, and He acts here completely consciously and freely. It is true that those who reject the confession of a personal, self-conscious God often still speak of a revelation of God. But this is a use of the word contrary to its real meaning. From the point of view of those who believe only in an impersonal, unconscious, omnipotent force, one can still speak of an unconscious, involuntary appearance of that force, but no longer of an actual revelation, since it presupposes the complete consciousness and freedom of God. All revelation, which rightly bears this name, is based on the idea that God exists personally, that He is conscious of Himself and can make Himself known to creatures. God’s knowledge of mankind has its basis and starting point in God’s knowledge of himself. Without God’s self-consciousness and self-knowledge there can be no knowledge of God with man. Whoever denies this must come to the unrhymed thought that there is either no knowledge of God at all, or that God first becomes self-conscious in mankind, and thus causes man to take the place of God.

Scripture teaches quite differently. Although inaccessible, it is nevertheless a Z/c/rt in which God lives; He knows Himself completely and can therefore make Himself known to us. No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and whomever the Son wishes to reveal, Matthew 11:27. In the second place, all revelation that comes from God is self-revelation. God is the origin, and He is also the inhotid of His revelation. This is true of the highest revelation that has come to us in Christ, for Jesus himself says that he has revealed the name of the Father to men, John 17:6; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared God to us, John 1: 18. But this also applies to all the revelation which God has sent forth from Himself. All God’s works in nature and grace, in creation and re-creation, in the world and in history, make us know something of the incomprehensible and adorable being of God. They do not all do it in the same way and to the same degree; there is an infinite variety here; the one work of God speaks more of His justice and the other of His goodness; here God’s omnipotence shines forth and here His wisdom. But all together, and each to its own degree, they proclaim the great works of God, make us acquainted with His virtues and perfections, His essence and self-distinctions, His thought and word, His will and pleasure,

Here, however, we must never lose sight of the fact that God’s revelation, however rich its content, never coincides with God’s self-knowledge. God’s self-knowledge or self-consciousness is as infinite as His essence, and therefore, of course, cannot be communicated to any creature. The revelation of God in His creatures, both subjectively in the works of His hands, and subjectively in the consciousness of His reasonable creatures, always comprises but a small part of the infinite knowledge which God possesses of Himself. Not only mankind on earth, but also the blessed and the angels in heaven, and even the Son of God according to his human nature, have a knowledge of God which is distinct in principle and essence from God’s self-knowledge. Nevertheless, the knowledge which is communicated by God in His Revelation and which can be acquired from it by reasonable creatures, although limited and finite, and even remains so throughout eternity, is nevertheless a true and pure knowledge. God reveals Himself in His works, as He is. From His revelation we learn to know Him ourselves. There is therefore no rest for man until he ascends from the creature to God Himself. Revelation must be about God Himself. It does not serve to teach us a few sounds or words, but it does serve to train us through the creatures to the Creator Himself and to bring us to rest at His Fatherly Heart.

Thirdly, revelation, which emanates from God and has God as its content, also has God Himself as its goal. It is of, through and to Him; God has wrought all things for His own sake, Proverbs 16:4, Romans 11:36. Although the knowledge of God, which is communicated in His revelation, is and remains essentially distinct from His self-knowledge, it is nevertheless so rich, so broad and so deep, that it can never be fully included in the consciousness of any reasonable creature. The angels are far superior in intellect to man, and daily see the face of the Father who is in heaven, Matthew 18: 10, but they are nevertheless desirous of seeing the things that are presented to us by the preachers of the Gospel, 1 Peter 1:12. And the more deeply people consider the revelation of God, the more they are compelled to cry out with Paul: O depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and unsearchable His ways, Romans 11:33. Revelation therefore cannot have its final destination in man, but partly bypasses him and rises above him.

It is true that man occupies an excellent place in this revelation. It is addressed to mankind in order that they may seek the Lord, that they may seek Him and find Him, Acts 17:27, and the Gospel must be preached to all creatures, that believing men may receive eternal life, Mark 16:15-16, John 16:20, and John 17:20. John 16:15-16, John 3:16, John 3:36. But this is not and cannot be the last and highest goal of revelation. God cannot rest in mankind. But man must know and serve God, that he, with and at the head of all creatures, may bring glory to God for all his works. In revelation, whether through or by man, God prepares His own praise, glorifies His own name, spreads out His virtues and perfections in the world of His creatures before His own eyes. Since revelation is of and through God, it also has its destination and goal in His glorification. This entire revelation, which is of, through and to God, has its center in the person of Christ, and at the same time reaches its climax in Him. It is not the shining firmament or the mighty Nighthawk, nor a prince or the great man of the earth, nor a philosopher or an artist, but the Son of Man who is the highest revelation of God. Christ is the Word incarnate, who in the beginning was with God and was God Himself, the Only-begotten of the Father, the Image of God, the radiance of His glory and the expressed image of His independence; he who has seen Him has seen the Father, John 14:9. The Christian stands in that faith; he has come to know God in the face of Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. God Himself, who said that the light would shine out of the darkness, is the One who shone in his heart to give light to the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:6. But from this high vantage point the Christian sees all around him, backward and forward and to all sides. And when, in the light of the knowledge of God, which he owes to Christ, he lets his eyes wander over nature and history, over heaven and earth, then everywhere in the whole world he discovers traces of the same God, whom he has learned to know and to call upon as his Father in Christ. The Sun of Righteousness opens to him a wonderful panorama, which extends to the ends of the earth. By its light he sees back into the night of past times and penetrates into the future of all things; backwards and forwards the horizon is light, even though the sky is often covered with dark clouds. The Christian, who looks at everything by the light of God’s Word, is therefore not a narrow-minded creature; he is broad of heart and of mind; he looks over the whole earth and counts everything as his own, because he is Christi and Christ Godes, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23. He cannot give up the faith, that the revelation of God in Christ, to which he owes his life and to which he owes his life and salvation, bears a special character. But this faith does not shut him off from the world, but rather enables him to perceive the revelation of God in nature and history.

God’s revelation in nature and in history, and gives him the means by which he can recognize the true and the good and the beautiful everywhere and separate them from all the lying and sinful mixture of people.

Thus he distinguishes between a general and a special revelation of God. In general revelation God uses the ordinary course of events; in special revelation He often uses unusual means, apparition, prophecy and miracle, to make Himself known to people. The first is addressed to all men; the second to the world of men; and the third to the world of men. The first is addressed to all men and, by general grace, stops the outbreak of sin; the second is addressed only to those who live under the Gospel, and, by special grace, glorifies Himself in the forgiveness of sins and the renewal of life. But however much the two are distinct, they are nevertheless closely related to each other. Both have their origin in God, in His free goodness and favour. General revelation is due to the Word, which was with God in the beginning, which made all things, which has shone like a light in the darkness and enlightens every mankind, coming into the world, John 1:1-9. Both revelations have grace as their content, the one general, the other particular; but so that the one is indispensable to the other.

It is the general grace that makes the special grace possible, prepares it, and carries it on; the special grace in its turn raises the general grace to itself and employs it continually. Both revelations also have as their goal the preservation, the protection, and the salvation of the human race, and along these lines they lead to the glorification of all God’s virtues. The content of both revelations, not only of the special but also of the general, is contained in the Holy Scriptures. The latter, although derived from nature, is therefore included in the Scriptures, because we human beings, because of the darkness of our understanding, could never deduce it purely from nature. But now Scripture throws a light on our path through the world, and gives us the true conception of nature and history. It makes us perceive God where we would not otherwise see him; and, enlightened by it, we behold the virtues of God displayed in all the works of his hands.

Already the creation, taught by Scripture, proves to us the revelation of God in nature. For creation itself is an act of revelation, the beginning and principle of all subsequent revelation. If the world had existed eternally alone or eternally apart from God, it could not have been a revelation of God; in the latter case it would have been an obstacle to God revealing Himself through it. But whoever upholds the creation of the world with Scripture, confesses at the same time that God reveals Himself in the whole world. For every work bears witness to its maker, and the more so the more truly it can be called a product of its maker. -

Since the world is God’s work in the fullest sense, and since it owes not only its being but also its very being to God from the beginning and throughout, something of God’s virtues and perfections is expressed in every creature. As soon as, on the other hand, the revelation of God in nature is denied, and confined, for example, to the mind or feelings of man, the danger is close at hand that the creation of God will be denied, that nature will be governed by a power other than that which reigns in the human mind, and that thus, openly or in secret, polytheism will be reintroduced. Scripture, teaching creation, thereby also upholds God’s revelation, and in it the unity of God and the unity of the world.

Furthermore, Scripture teaches us that the world was not created by God in the beginning, but is constantly maintained and governed by that same God from moment to moment. He is not only infinitely superior to the world, but He also dwells with His omnipotent and omnipresent power in all His creatures; He is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live, move and are, Acts 17:27-28. The revelation that comes to us from the world is therefore not only a reminder of a work of God in days long gone, but also a testimony of what God is and will and does in these times. When we lift up our eyes, we not only see who created all these things, and brought forth their host in number, but we also see that He calls them all by name, because of the greatness of His power, and because He is strong in might; and that not one is lacking, Isaiah 40:25. He covereth himself with the light as with a garment; He stretcheth out the heavens as with a curtain; He covereth his chambers with the waters, maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind, Psalms 104:2-3. He sustains the earth with the fruit of his labors, makes the grass grow for the beasts, and the grass for the service of man, bringing forth bread from the earth and wine that gladdens the heart of man, Psalms 104:13-15. He establishes the mountains by his strength and quiets the roaring of the seas, Psalms 65:7-8, makes the outlets of the morning and evening to rejoice, visits and enriches the land, blesses its fruit and crowns the year of his goodness, Psalms 65:9 ff. He feeds the birds of the air, covers the grass of the field with glory, Matthew 6:26-30, makes His sun rise on the bad and the good, and rains on the just and the unjust, Matthew 5:45. He made man a little less than the angels, crowned him with honor and glory and gives him dominion over all the works of his hands. Glorious is his name on the face of the earth! Psalms 8:1-9. And not only in nature, but also in history God carries out His counsel and brings about His work. He made the whole human race from one blood, to dwell upon the whole earth, Acts 17:26. He destroys the first human race in the flood and at the same time preserves it in the household of Noah (Genesis 6:1-22, Genesis 7:1-24, Genesis 8:1-22, Genesis 9:1-29). He confounds the talk of mankind in Babylon’s tower and scatters it over the whole earth, Genesis 11:7, 8. And when the Most High gave the inheritance to the nations and separated Adam’s children, He humbly ordained the times beforehand and the provisions of their dwelling places, and set their land poles according to the number of the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 32:8, Acts 17:26. Although He chose the people of Israel to be the bearers of His special revelation, and allowed the Gentiles to walk in their own ways, Acts 14:16, yet He did not lose sight of them nor leave them to their own devices. On the contrary, He did not neglect Himself, doing good from heaven, giving us rain and fruitful times, filling our hearts with joy and gladness, Acts 14:17. That which is evident from God was manifest in them, for God revealed it to them, Romans 1:19, that they might seek the Lord, whether they might touch Him and find Him, Acts 17:27.

Through this general revelation God has preserved the peoples and led them to the dispensation of the fullness of time, in which it pleases Him to gather all things into one again in Christ, both those in heaven and those on earth, Ephesians 1:10. From all races and tongues and peoples and nations He is bringing His church, Romans 11:25, Ephesians 2:14 ff. Revelation 7:9, and is preparing that end of the world, in which the saved will walk in the light of the City of God and all the kings and peoples of the earth will gather in it all their glory and honor, Revelation 21:24, Revelation 21:26. In theology, attempts have been made to rank all these testimonies, which bear witness to the nature and history of God’s existence and being, and to divide them into a number of groups. Thus, over time, we have come to speak of six proofs for the existence of God.

Firstly, the world, however great and powerful it may be, still bears the testimony everywhere that it exists in the forms of space and time, that it has a finite, accidental, dependent character, and thereby points back from itself to an eternal, necessarily existing, independent being, which is the final cause of all things (cosmological proof).

Secondly, everywhere in the world, in its laws and orders, in its unity and harmony, in the organization of all its creatures, a purpose is discernible which makes a mockery of all explanations based on chance and leads us to recognize an all-wise and all-powerful being which has established that purpose with an infinite intellect and which pursues and achieves it through its omnipotent and omnipresent power (teleological evidence). In the third place, the consciousness of all people contains the awareness of a highest being, above which nothing higher can be thought of, and which at the same time is thought by all to be necessarily existing. If such a being did not exist, the highest, most perfect and necessary thought would be an illusion, and man would lose faith in the testimony of his consciousness (ontological proof). This is immediately followed by the fourth proof: man is not only a reasonable, but also a moral being. In his conscience he feels bound by a law that stands high above him and demands his unconditional obedience; and that law points back to a holy and just legislator, who can save and destroy (moral proof). To these four proofs come two more, taken from the agreement of the peoples and from the history of mankind. It is a remarkable phenomenon that there are no nations without divine service. Some have claimed otherwise, but historical research has increasingly proved them wrong; there are no atheistic tribes or peoples. This phenomenon is of great significance; for its absolute generality demonstrates its necessity and thus confronts us with one of these two conclusions: that either mankind as a whole suffers from a foolish imagination on this point, or that the knowledge and service of God, which exist in corrupted forms among all peoples, are based on His existence.

Likewise, the history of mankind, considered in the light of Scripture, shows a plan and a course which point to the government of all things by a supreme being. It is true that in the lives of individuals and peoples all kinds of objections and difficulties arise from this consideration. But it is all the more striking that everyone who practices history, consciously or unconsciously, starts from the premise that it is guided by thought and plan, and that it is by discovering this thought that he sets his goals. History and the interpretation of history are based on faith in God’s providence.

All these so-called proofs have no power to compel man to believe. Besides, in science there are few proofs that are capable of this. In the formal sciences, thesis and logic, this may be the case; but as soon as we come into contact with real phenomena in nature and even more so in history, all kinds of objections can usually be made to the reasoning and decisions based thereon. In religion and morality, in law and beauty, whether or not a person will give himself up depends much more on his state of mind. The fool can, in spite of all testimonies, keep saying in his heart: there is no God, Psalms 14:1, and the Gentiles, although knowing God, have not glorified or thanked Him, Romans 1:21. The above-mentioned proofs for the existence of God do not address man as a mere human being, but they address him as a reasonable and moral being. They do not appeal only to man’s dissecting and reasoning mind, but they also appeal to his heart and mind, to his reason and conscience. And then they have value, strengthen faith and confirm the bond between God’s revelation outside and His revelation in mankind. The revelation of God, which comes to man through nature and history, would have no effect on him if there were not something in man himself that corresponded to it. The beauty in nature and art would be unbearable to man if he did not have a sense of beauty in his bosom. The law of morality would not resonate with him unless he himself heard the voice of conscience within. The thoughts that God embodied in the world through His Word would be incomprehensible to him if he were not himself a thinking being. And likewise, the revelation of God in all the works of His hands would be utterly incomprehensible to man if God had not implanted in his soul an inextinguishable awareness of his being and being. But now it is an undeniable fact that God has added to the external revelation in nature an internal revelation in man himself. The historical and spiritual studies of religion show again and again that religion cannot be explained without such an inborn awareness; always they return in the end to the often rejected proposition that man is a religious being by nature.

Scripture raises this beyond all doubt. After God had made all things, He created man, and in that same instant created him in His image and likeness, Genesis 1:26. Man is God’s race, Acts 17:28. Although he, like the prodigal son in the parable, has left his father’s house, he still retains the memory of his origin and destination in his furthest error; in his deepest fall he still retains some small remnants of the image of God, after which he was created. God reveals Himself outside He also reveals Himself in man; He does not leave Himself untouched in his heart and conscience. This revelation of God in man, however, is not a second, entirely new revelation, added to the first, no self-contained source of knowledge apart from and independent of the latter. But it is a capacity, a susceptibility, an urge to notice God in his works and to understand his revelation. It is an awareness of the Divine within us, which enables us to perceive the Divine outside us, just as the eye enables us to see light and colors, and the ear enables us to hear sounds. It is, as Calvin called it, a feeling of Godhead, or, as Paul described it, an ability to perceive, from among creatures, the unseen things of God, namely His eternal power and divinity. When we try to derive this innate sense of Godhead, it appears to contain two elements. In the first place, it contains a sense of absolute dependence. Before all reasoning and action, there is in us a self-consciousness, which is intimately woven together with our selfhood and coincides with it, as it were. Before all thinking and acting, we are and exist; we exist in a certain way; and we have a consciousness of our existence and of our so-existence which is inseparably connected with it. And the core of this sense of self, which is almost identical with our self being, is a sense of separateness. In our innermost being we are immediately, before all reasoning, aware of being a creature, limited, dependent. Dependent on everything around us, on the entire spiritual and material world; man is ״dependent on the universe. And furthermore, dependent with everything, in the fullest sense, on God, who is the one, eternal and true being. But this feeling of Godhead contains a second component. If it were nothing more than a complete feeling of dependence, and thus left the essence of that power on which man knows himself to be dependent entirely undefined, that feeling would lead him to powerless rebellion or to mute, passive resignation. But the feeling of Godhead implies a certain awareness of that being on which man depends; it is a consciousness of a higher, absolute power, but not of a blind, unreasonable, immovable and insubstantial power, equivalent to a destiny, but of a supreme power, which is at the same time perfectly just, wise and good. It is an awareness of the ״Eternal Power," but also of the ״Godliness," that is, of the absolute perfection of God. And that is why man is not led to despondency and despair by this feeling of dependence, but rather it encourages him to religion, to serving and honoring Godhead. The dependence of which man is conscious in relation to the Divine essence is of a very special kind; it implies freedom and urges us to act freely. It is the dependence, not on a slave, but on a son, even a prodigal son. The ״sense of Godhead is thus, according to Calvin’s description, at the same time the ״seed of religion."