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Gleanings From The Word

Category: Scripture Index

  • General Revelation: Why No One Can Claim They Didn’t Know

    General Revelation: Why No One Can Claim They Didn’t Know

    I have a habit I did not set out to form. Most mornings, before the day gets loud, I end up outside for a few minutes. Not for any spiritual reason at first. Coffee. Fresh air. Quiet. But at some point I started noticing that the quiet was not actually quiet. Something out there was already talking.

    A bird. The light changing. The same trees that were bare a few weeks ago full again. And every time, the same thought: this did not happen by accident, and whoever is responsible for it has not stopped paying attention.

    That is not poetry. That is theology. And Scripture has been saying it since the beginning.

    God Made Sure You Would Know

    The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

    Creation has been preaching since Genesis and has not taken a day off. You do not need a seminary degree to hear it. You need to step outside.

    Job said the same thing from a very different place. He was not in a season of quiet morning coffee. He was in ruins. And still he pointed to the birds and the beasts and the earth itself and said, ask them. They know something.

    Who among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all the flesh of man? Job 12:9-10

    This is not a soft comfort. It is a hard fact. God has made Himself known through what He made, and He did it on purpose.

    I have written about how creation points us to a God who is near and who cares for what He has made. Creation Is a Signpost

    No One Is Without Evidence

    Here is where it gets serious.

    Paul did not write Romans 1 to comfort anyone. He wrote it to close every exit.

    For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

    Without excuse. Not without opportunity. Not without enough information. Without excuse.

    From the smallest particle yet to be discovered to the edge of an expanding universe no one has mapped, God is being declared. The smaller we look, the larger the claim becomes. The further we search, the less accidental any of it is. To look at creation and conclude there is no God is not a neutral position. Scripture calls it willful. Romans 1:18 calls it suppressing the truth.

    Some Judgment Day, no one will be able to say to the LORD, I didn’t know.

    What You Do With What You Know

    General revelation, the knowledge of God available to every human being through creation, is enough to leave us without excuse. It is not enough to save us. For that, God went further. He sent His Son. He gave us His Word. He sent His Spirit to open what our own effort never could reach.

    But it starts here. Outside. Any morning. With a bird and the light changing and the quiet that is not actually quiet.

    The question creation puts to every person who has ever lived is not whether God exists. That question has already been answered. The question is what you will do with what you already know.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    You might also like: Seeing heaven more clearly every day

    SUMMARY

    God has embedded the knowledge of His existence and care into every corner of creation, from a bird call on a quiet morning to the expanding edge of the universe, leaving every person without excuse. General revelation is enough to condemn but not enough to save, which is why God went further and sent His Son, His Word, and His Spirit.

    TAKEAWAY

    Psalm 19, Job 12, and Romans 1 together establish that creation is not passive scenery but active testimony to God’s existence, power, and care. 

    General revelation is universal and intentional — God made sure no one would be without evidence, and Scripture calls willful blindness exactly what it is. 

    Creation leaves us without excuse but not without hope; for salvation God went further, which makes the gospel not a backup plan but the completion of what creation started.

    The importance of reading the Bible. It’s your primary truth source.

  • Purpose in the Process: Why God Takes His Time with Sanctification

    a narrow trail atop a mountain stretching as far as the eye can see - the long road to holiness

    I’m not a big fan of process; I like instant results. Unfortunately, God’s timing seems a process to us. It’s a long, narrow road that isn’t always easy to follow. 

    Becoming a Christian is quick and simple. When we become believers, our sins are forgiven, the Holy Spirit moves in, we are justified and have the imputed righteousness of Christ.

    Becoming Christ-like, that is, the process of sanctification, is a lifelong process. It’s the day-by-day, moment-by-moment choices that lead us to be made like Jesus. 

    One source describes it this way: “Sanctification is the process by which believers are set apart for God’s purposes and are progressively transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. It is a work of God’s grace that begins at the moment of salvation and continues throughout the believer’s life. Sanctification involves both a definitive aspect, where believers are positionally sanctified in Christ, and a progressive aspect, where they grow in holiness and obedience.”

    It’s easy to get frustrated along the way and quit. We face the challenges of temptation and sin. Sometimes, it’s just plain hard work, and progress seems slow.

    C. S. Lewis wrote about the student who is tempted to quit his Bible reading because he hasn’t been perfectly consistent with it:

    “No, he doesn’t quit. You don’t expect to see a drastic change overnight. But he continues to work at it. Some days he misses. Occasionally, he makes sinful choices that really set him back. But he stumbles along, developing the skill of Bible reading and getting better and better at it. After a week nothing looks that different. After a month, you can kind of tell. After a semester, there’s noticeable change. After 5 years, he’s unrecognizable. Have you been struggling? Are you tempted to give up? Don’t do it. Get back and try it again. Little by little, “you are turning the central part of you…into something a little different from what it was before” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

    There must be a purpose in the process, or God would have just skipped it altogether. His goal in the process is laid out clearly in Paul’s writings.

    And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30

    It can be a long journey. It’s going to take our entire life to get there. When we do arrive, what a time that will be. We will have been fully sanctified – set apart for God, made Christ-like, and be ready for life ever after with the one who loved us enough to die for us.

    Press on, my weary companions. Keep your eye on the prize. When you fall, get back up.

    It will be worth every moment of struggle, hardship and effort.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God) 

    Kevin 

    You might also like “Profound Change: The Journey to New Creation“

    SUMMARY

    Salvation happens in a moment, but becoming Christ-like is a lifelong process of sanctification that God uses purposefully to conform us to the image of His Son. Though the journey is slow and hard, it is worth every struggle — press on.

    TAKEAWAY

     Justification is instantaneous; sanctification is progressive and lifelong 

    God has a purpose in the process — conforming believers to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30) 

    Falling short is not the end; the call is to get back up and keep pressing forward.

    You might also enjoy, “Right belief must become right living.”