Ch 4 Sect 3 Special, Scriptural Revelation

“Christianity, like all other religions, cannot survive on general revelation alone; a special divine disclosure or manifestation is needed.” All religions have a need for divine disclosure because of three things:

1) God is near

2) God reveals his will to man

3) Assistance of God to man in times of great distress.

And we see these 3 types of divine disclosure of God to man in the both Old and New Testament.

1) Jehovah dwelled in the tabernacle in the Old, and Jesus tabernacled with his people in the New.

2) Jehovah reveals the 10 commandments in the Old, Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount in the New.

3) Jehovah delivered his people from the bonds of slavery in Egypt, Jesus delivers us from the bonds of sin in the New.

Also these three basic types of divine disclosure satisfy the human quest for religion. (p75) In Biblical revelation these needs are met in different and distinct modes. The “angel of the Lord” who is very near and reveals his will to man and delivers his people from their enemies. Prophecy, “thus says the Lord”, is another mode of God communicating to his people. In miracles God reveal himself by his works. (p. 78) And finally the revelation of the person and work of Christ which Bavinck says “are the central revelation of God; all other revelation is group around this Center.”

All this revelation, from nature and from scripture, does not come to us in bits in pieces but rather is an organic whole, as Bavinck says, grand narrative from creation to consummation. As God’s image bears, man created in the God image, living in God’s world, the revelation that is outside of us is matched by the active revelation of God in our hearts. The purpose of special revelation is that man may know God and how to serve and honor God, all the while God himself is glorified. In this we see that revelation is subservient to redemption. The goal is redemption of man to the glory of God, the means, is revelation. Redemption is not possible apart from the saving work of the Holy Spirit working through the means of Special revelation.