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Tag: truth

  • 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.

  • A Progressive Revelation of Heaven: Seeing Jesus More Clearly Every Day

    A Progressive Revelation of Heaven: Seeing Jesus More Clearly Every Day

    A progressive revelation of Willow Badger from River Edge Farms books

    This image is of Willow Badger, the primary character in my book series “River Edge Farms.” It is split into thirds. Each with a little more detail, moving left to right. Line art – illustrated novel, ink style – full color. It’s a progressive revelation.

    We gain a progressive revelation of what heaven would be like through life.  As non-believers, we have absolutely no real concept. If we think of it at all, it’s based on wishes, half-truths and skewed ideas about God.

    As we become believers, we grow in our knowledge of the Bible’s teachings and in our intimacy with the Father. As we begin to see Him more clearly, we begin to develop a clearer idea of the afterlife.

    John’s Revelation of Jesus the Christ (the last book of the Bible) devotes several chapters to describing what was revealed to him. That begins to give us a picture of what he saw. It’s an incomplete illustration to be sure, but I think it gives us a taste.

    The apostle Paul speaks of this progressive revelation of glory.

    When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:11-13

    Paul is speaking of so much more than glory. He is talking about seeing and becoming more Christ-like. He speaks of the things of utmost importance.

    He has hit on something far more important than what heaven will be like. He realizes that the one he will be with is far more important.

    We will be with the one who loves us beyond measure, our perfect Creator. We can trust that whatever glory will be like, it will be beyond our wildest expectations in His presence.

    In this life, we have been forgiven, transferred from the bondage of sin into the family of God. We have been adopted as His children and given the Holy Spirit. We are being shaped more closely into His image every day.

    Even when we don’t recognize it, we are being blessed far beyond what we deserve. When we get to glory, where there is no sin to practice, and no sin present, and the Lord is present in all His glory, what a blessing that will be.

    Do I wonder what it will look like? Of course I do!

    Am I more looking forward to being with Him? Without question.

    He’s given us a progressive revelation of Himself. It’s not that he changes, but that we see and understand more clearly. The more I see and understand, the more blessed I feel.

    I want to see the beauty of heaven, and I’m coming to realize, more and more, that the beauty is Jesus. Everything else is secondary.

    I can hardly wait. What about you?

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God) 

    Be blessed 

    Kevin 


    SUMMARY

    This life gives believers only a partial glimpse of heaven, but as we grow in Christ and understand Him more deeply through Scripture, our view becomes clearer. In the end, the greatest joy of glory is not merely heaven itself, but being forever in the presence of Jesus Christ.

    KEYPOINTS

    ·  Unbelievers often view heaven through distorted or incomplete ideas, but believers gain clearer understanding through Scripture and intimacy with God.

    ·  Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13 that our understanding is partial now, but one day we will see fully and face Christ face-to-face.

    ·  The true beauty of heaven is not its appearance, but the presence of Jesus, who loves and redeemed His people.


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