Saturday 2 January 2010

Revelation and Humility

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)

The fullness of the Deity, the essence of God, is unknowable to human reason or examination. It was made known to the Apostle, by revelation, that this fullness of God was in Christ, a permanent union of divinity and humanity. This is made known to us, not as to the Apostle by an immediate revelation, but by a mediated revelation, or a special revelation - through Scripture.

God is, he has being and existence, revealing himself to us through the union of divinity and humanity in Christ God shows himself to have personality - in Christ (and in Scripture) the personality and absoluteness of God go hand in hand.

Our knowing God, in which eternal life consists (John 17:3) is a knowing of God as he has revealed himself to us. Even if we do not know God as he is in himself, his essence, we have a sufficient knowledge of God as a result of his revelation in Christ, which now is revealed to us in Scripture.

Such a knowing of God should not, must not, lead to pride - how great are we that we know God! No, acknowledging that all we know of God is a result of his gracious self-revelation we live humbly before him, we receive with humility that revelation of himself he has given to us. Our approach to God, to his Scripture must be a humble approach. Such humility will give birth to great joy - we have received from God that which we do not deserve, a knowledge of him. How can we not rejoice and give glory to this gracious God?

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