THEO 101: Chapter 2 || How God Makes Himself Known ||

 

CHAPTER 2  ·  WEEK 2 How God Makes Himself Known General and special revelation

 

WHAT WE BELIEVE God is not silent. He has made Himself known in creation and conscience (general revelation) and, savingly and clearly, in His mighty acts, in Holy Scripture, and climactically in Jesus Christ (special revelation). Nature shows that God is; Scripture and the Son show who He is and how we may come to Him.

 

Learning Aims for This Week

By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

· Distinguish general revelation from special revelation and give biblical support for each.

· Explain why general revelation leaves all people accountable, yet cannot save.

· Name the proper place of reason, tradition, and experience under the authority of Scripture.

· State why the incarnation is the climax of God’s self-disclosure.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning in this course
Revelation	God’s act of making known what we could not find out on our own.
General revelation	God’s disclosure of Himself to all people through creation and conscience.
Special revelation	God’s particular disclosure through deeds, words, Scripture, and Christ.
Natural theology	What can be known of God from creation by reason — real, but limited and easily distorted.
Inspiration	The Spirit’s work by which the words of Scripture are truly God’s words (developed in Ch. 3).
Illumination	The Spirit’s work of opening the believer’s mind to understand and receive what God has said.

 

Teaching Notes

1. Why revelation matters

If God has not spoken, theology is only autobiography. Christian faith rests on the claim that the living God has made Himself known. We do not climb to God by speculation. He comes down in speech and in the Son.

2. General revelation

Psalm 19:1–6 and Romans 1:18–20 teach that creation broadcasts God’s glory, eternal power, and divine nature. Romans 2:14–15 adds that the work of the law is written on the heart; conscience bears witness. This revelation is universal (it reaches all), constant (it does not wait for a preacher), and sufficient to leave every person “without excuse.” It is not a warm religious feeling. It is God’s public testimony.

General revelation is also limited. It tells us that God is powerful, wise, and morally serious. It does not name the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It does not preach the cross. Fallen people suppress even what they do know (Rom. 1:18, 21–23) and turn the knowledge of God into idols.

3. Special revelation

God also spoke in particular ways: to Abraham, through Moses and the prophets, in Israel’s history, and “in these last days… by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). The high point of special revelation is Jesus Christ — the Word made flesh (John 1:14, 18). Scripture is the Spirit-given, permanent, public record of that revelation, sufficient for salvation, faith, and life (2 Tim. 3:15–17).

Because Christ is the climax, we do not expect a later book, vision, or inner voice to correct or complete what God has said in the Son and in the apostolic gospel. The Spirit still speaks — by illumining the Word He already inspired, applying it to the church, and empowering obedience. That distinction will matter in Chapter 3.

4. Other voices, rightly ordered

·  Tradition can protect us from novelty and isolation. It cannot bind the conscience against Scripture.

·  Reason is a gift for understanding what God has said. It is not an independent source of saving truth.

·  Experience is real and often precious. It must be interpreted by the Word, never used to rewrite it.

A working rule. When tradition, reason, or experience agree with Scripture, receive them as helps. When they conflict with Scripture, repent of them. When they go beyond Scripture on a matter God has not decided for us, hold them loosely.

 

Key Scriptures

Read these passages slowly before class. Mark what they teach about this week’s doctrine.

· Psalm 19:1–11 — The heavens declare; the law of the Lord revives.

· Romans 1:18–25 — What may be known of God is plain; people suppress it.

· Romans 2:14–16 — Conscience and the law written on the heart.

· Hebrews 1:1–3 — God has spoken by His Son.

· John 1:14, 18 — The Word became flesh; the Son makes the Father known.

· John 14:6–9 — To see Jesus is to see the Father.

For Discussion

· What does a sunset actually reveal about God — and what does it not reveal?

· How does Romans 1 shape the way you think about people who have never held a Bible?

· Where have you been tempted to let experience overrule a clear text?

· Why is it good news that God has spoken in a Son and in a book, not only in nature?

Personal Application

· Take a fifteen-minute walk with Psalm 19 open. Thank God for one attribute creation displays.

· Identify one belief you hold mainly because “that’s how I was raised.” Test it this week by Scripture.

· Pray by name for someone who sees creation but does not yet know Christ.

This Week’s Work

· Read Grudem, Christian Beliefs, chapter 1 (the Bible) as assigned.

· Read Psalm 19 and Romans 1:18–32 in one sitting. List what each passage says God has made known.

· Continue memory work on 2 Timothy 3:16–17.

A Prayer to Carry into the Week

Father of lights, thank You that You are not hidden. Open my eyes to Your glory in what You have made, and still more to Your glory in Your Son and in Your Word. Do not let me suppress the truth. Amen.

Prepared by Rev Rolando E Santiago, ThD DPM