Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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Living in the Light of Revelation
Living on the east coast of Vancouver Island in what I think is one of the most beautiful places on earth, I am often mindful of the glory of God that is demonstrated in his creation. Here I can watch ocean waves crash and see the vast expanse of the ocean. I can see and play in the majestic mountains. I can fish and hike and downhill ski. I am surrounded by growth of all kinds and huge trees. I can watch eagles soar. But, the truth is that in each place that we have lived, and it is true of wherever you live, there is a glory of God that is revealed in the surroundings. We call this natural revelation — God revealing himself from within nature — and there is for all mankind a graced reality or a "missionary glory" in his environment. Psalm 19 says,
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world" (Psalm 19:1-4).
Creation is itself a missionary simultaneously speaking to all people in every language. Do you hear it? Or do you just exist in it? Scripture says that "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). And all of these things that we see around us are engineered to point us to a Creator and encourage us to worship and serve him. Do we see the beauty around us each and every day and glorify God because of it? Revelation is all around us. Let us not be like the vast majority of people who either ignore it, or worse, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). Praise God for the piece of the glorious world in which he has placed you today! Live in the light of his natural revelation.
The second part of God's revelation to all of us is supernatural — from beyond nature. And this part of his revelation is centered around his word. Jesus was the ultimate revelation of his word (John 1:1-14). But we have a book called the Bible that is the word of God left for our benefit. Psalm 19 highlights this other half of God's revelation as well.
"The law — the instruction/teaching that is in his word — of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statues of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward" (Psalm 19:7-11).
God's word is perfect and trustworthy and right and radiant. It gives life and revives us when we are down. It makes us wise. It can give us much joy. It is a source of much enlightenment. Everything that we need for life is in there. God ultimately wants to show us himself through it because it is all of the things that he is. And he wants to help us to become more than we could be on our own. And so David prays at the end of Psalm 19,
"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart — may everything that I say and everything that I think and by extension, everything that I ultimately do as a result — be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).
When we learn to live in the revelation of God, in his world and in his word, then we are in a place where we are absolutely pleasing in his sight. We are living a life that has a divine stamp of approval. All we have to do is open our eyes and ears to his revelation. Take time for his world and his word today and discover his pleasure!
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