How God Shows Himself to the World in General and Special Revelation
Yosemite Valley; Photo by Austin Neill on Unsplash
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“If God is there, why doesn’t he show himself?” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this.
King David answers this question brilliantly in Psalm 19. “He does!” says David. God does show himself to the world in two very different but complementary ways:
First, God shows himself to us in his creation. This is called general revelation.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard. (Ps. 19:1-3)
The fact that anything exists is evidence of a self-existent Creator.[1] For it is true that “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.” Moreover, all that does exist bears remarkable structure, form, and design.
From the configuration of the atoms to the astonishingly intricate complexity of proteins and other basic building blocks of living cells to the movement of the stars and galaxies all of these “declare the glory of God” and “proclaim his handiwork.”
The great scientist Jane Goodall described a moment in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris late on a sunny day in the 1974. A wedding was taking place in a side chapel. The sun streamed through the stained glass of the North Rose. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor resounded from the Cathedral’s mighty organ. At that moment she knew that it could not all be by chance. She knew that there must be a God in whom “we live and move and have our being.”
God shouts out his existence to all the world at all times through all of his creation. Yes, we suppress this revelation, says Paul in Romans 1:18-21. But that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t spoken.
Creation, however, does not tell us all that we need to know. It doesn’t explain why things aren’t right in the world. It doesn’t tell us about our sin, our need of forgiveness. It doesn’t tell us about the mercy of God, and the gift of his Son to die for us. It can’t show us how to repent and believe in the Savior to find eternal life. So, it is good news that God has given us his word in writing.
Second, God speaks to us in the Bible. This is called special revelation.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple; (Ps. 19:7)
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb. (Ps.19:10).
The Bible records the precious words of a loving and merciful God to this broken world. When we read it, we hear his voice. We may not like what he says, but he speaks nonetheless.
The real question is not, “Why doesn’t God show himself?” He has, loud and clear, in creation and the Bible. The real question is: “Will we listen?”
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Notes:
[1] Please see Classical Apologetics by R. C. Sproul, John Gerstner, and Arthur Lindsley (Zondervan, 1984).
