THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - September 5, 2014 How by that revelation he made known unto me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words (Ephesians 3:3). All that we know about God comes by revelation. It comes because God is self-revealing and chooses to reveal himself to man in various supernatural ways. If He did not reveal Himself, we would all be guessing and wondering and making up our own ideas about God, but we would know nothing definite about Him. Nothing about the Christian religion is made up. Paul was adamant about this. In Galatians, he stressed that his becoming an apostle was not of men, neither by man (Galatians 1:1) and that the gospel which was preached of me is not of man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12). What he is saying is (in my words) is: I didnt make this stuff up! This came straight from Jesus Christ who appeared to me, spoke to me, took me to heaven and revealed Himself to me! Paul was caught up to the third heaven...into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (II Corinthians 12:2,4.) He was given an abundance of visions and revelations of the Lord (II Corinthians 12;1,7). This is how that he knows what he knows! These are his qualifications to say the things that he says. He does not say these things to brag (II Corinthians 12:1,5,6), but, rather, to explain the authority with which he speaks. Probably 80% of the people who reject the authority of the Bible do so because, in their words, It was written by man. Yes, but so wasnt the Encyclopedia Britannica! So wasnt the phone book, the prescription you took to the pharmacy, the paycheck that you just cashed. Isnt every schoolbook used in every school and college and every book in the public library written by man? Is it not possible to transmit knowledge and information in the form of writing? Should we just throw out all human knowledge, because it appears in written form? But the real issue us this - where did the people who wrote the Bible get the knowledge and information which they are transmitting? And the answer is that they got it from God! Thats what revelation is! Paul visited heaven! John visited heaven, heard the voice of God, saw the throne of God, and was told Write the things which thou has seen (Revelation 1:10-12, 19)! Matthew, Mark, Luke and John walked with Jesus. Isaiah saw...the Lord and heard the voice of the Lord which told him Go, and tell the people (Isaiah 6:1,8,9). God spoke to Jeremiah and put forth his hand, and touched [his] mouth and said to him Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth (Jeremiah 1:4,9). Ezekiel saw visions of God, had God speak to him, was handed a scroll written within and without and told: Son if man...eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel...speak with my words unto them (Ezekiel 2:1,2,9-10; 3:1-4). Daniel had the Lord appear to him with his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like a multitude (Daniel 10:6). After this, he tells us a hand touched me, which set me on my knees (Daniel 10:10) and touched my lips (Daniel 10:16). Moses has a cloudy pillar descend next to him at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Exodus 33:9-11). None of these are common human experiences (to say the least)! Nowhere does the Bible purport to be a book written by man to express human opinions or ideas about God. Everywhere, and on every page, the Bible presents itself as God revealing Himself to man, speaking to man, and giving him His ideas. T The Bible is Gods Word transmitted clearly and definitively through a process called revelation and telling us what we need to know about the most important things in life. We should treasure every word and every truth that He has revealed to us! I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure (Psalm 119:162, NLT).
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:43:54 +0000