BYT-03 Relying on Revelation

Have you ever given someone a gift only to learn later that they never used it? An artist once gave his friend a beautiful painting. His friend was extremely busy at the time, so he stuck it in a closet until he could decide where to put it. About a year later, the artist visited his friend again. Looking around, he asked about the painting, but his friend had forgotten all about it. His friend felt terrible as he tried to explain what had happened. But no matter what he said, the artist still assumed that he hadn’t liked the gift.

Something like this is true as we build our Christian theology. As followers of Christ, we believe that God has given us his gift of revelation in countless ways. But we show how much we appreciate his gift by how much we actually use it in our lives. When we fail to rely on God’s revelation, we demonstrate how little it matters to us, and we foolishly try to build our theology without it.

This is the third lesson in our series Building Your Theology, and we’ve entitled it “Relying on Revelation.” In this lesson, we’ll explore how to make use of God’s gift of revelation as we develop our theology.

This lesson will divide into three main parts. First, we’ll explore what the Scriptures teach us about finding revelation. Second, we’ll examine some of the more important dynamics involved in understanding God’s revelation. And third, we’ll consider ways of developing confidence in the theological conclusions we draw from God’s revelation. Let’s begin by looking at where we find God’s revelation.

Theologians have often spoken of God as the “hidden God,” or in theological terms, the “Deus Absconditus.” And God would be entirely hidden from us if it were not for the fact that he’s revealed himself. All genuine believers should acknowledge our need for divine revelation. After all, Old Testament prophets, Jesus and New Testament authors spoke with one voice on this issue. And faithful Christians throughout church history have done the same. We simply can’t build reliable theology on human speculation. We must build on the solid foundation of divine revelation. But all of this raises a crucial question. Where do we find God’s revelation?