The revelation of God to mankind is a progressive revelation as well as instantaneous revelation (Is. 28:9-13; Heb. 1:1, 2). The Bible teaches that there are two means by which God has revealed Himself to mankind. They are general revelation and special revelation.
1. General Revelation
It is the revelation from God to all the people everywhere generally. God’s general revelation has been through three sources. They are the revelation of God in nature, revelation of God in the conscience and the revelation of God in the history of the world. inner
a. Revelation of God in Nature
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God created the world in the beginning (Gen. 1:1). This created world makes known that there is a sovereign and powerful God who is behind the creation (Ps. 19:1-4). The wonder of order in nature, the beauty and the laws governing the created world suggest that there is a master designer behind creation. But many people refuse to accept that God created the world, even after knowing the wonder and beauty in creation (Rom. 1:21).
St. Paul wrote that the created world is God’s revelation to all people showing His eternal power and deity. But people fail to acknowledge this fact and to give glory and thanks to Him (Rom. 1:20-23). Paul told the people in Lystra that God left the testimony in nature and He confirmed it by giving ‘rain from heaven and fruitful seasons’ (Acts 14:17). He also preached in Athens that God created man and gave him this beautiful world to dwell so that man will seek to find God (Acts 17:26-29). So God created nature to enable man to understand the handiwork of God in the creation and seek Him,
But men failed to acknowledge the revelation of God in nature and seek Him (Rom. 1:21). When people accept the fact that God has revealed Himself in the creation, they start appreciating God’s revelation in nature. The revelation of God in nature is not adequate to enable man to know Him because creation shows that there is a God and does not show man the way to reach God. So the revelation of God in nature has its own limitations – it cannot lead man to God.
The revelation of God in nature is mainly to guide man to the additional revelation of God in the Bible and produce a desire in man to search God beyond nature. But men have failed to acknowledge God’s hand behind creation and look for the creator in the creation. They selected the created things as God and began to worship them (Rom. 1:25), heaping upon themselves the judgment of God.
b. Revelation of God in the conscience Soul or Sport Inner volce
In addition to the revelation in nature, God has revealed Himself through the basic knowledge of right and wrong that He has implanted in the hearts of all people. This knowledge of the awareness of right and wrong is called as conscience. It is the inner judge of moral issues. God has placed within each man a conscience because originally when He created man, He created him in His own image and likeness. This conscience was inactive until the fall of man. But when man fell into sin, the guilty conscience made man to hide from God (Gen. 3:7, 8). Although the Old Testament does not mention the word ‘conscience,’ it refers to the activity of conscience in a few places (Gen. 3:7, 8; 2 Sam. 24:10; Job 27:6; Ps. 32:3; 51:3-4).
The Bible says that the Gentiles have the conscience which bears ‘witness between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them’ (Rom. 2:15). God uses these conflicts in the human conscience to judge the Gentiles (Rom. 1:32; 2:16). The conscience has the capacity even to judge the behaviour of believers (1 Tim. 3:7; 1 Pet. 2:12). God has revealed Himself to all men in the conflicts in their conscience when they commit mistakes. The presence of guilt feeling when one commits sin and a sense of obligation to do good, point out the revelation of God in the conscience. The conscience suggests that there is a
lawgiver and men are accountable to Him. Hence conscience is the revelation of the ultimate Lawgiver, the Lord God.
Kevin J. Conner wrote on the insufficiency of the revelation of God in the conscience,
The revelation of God in conscience is insufficient on its own for two reasons. First, though the existence of conscience does indicate the existence of a divine law-giver, it does not give a personal knowledge of Him. Second, though the conscience is meant to be an internal witness to the law of God, that witness is fallible. Through sin, a man’s conscience may be corrupted, defiled and even seared (1 Cor. 8:7-10; 1 Tim. 4:2: Titus 1:15). Only through the blood of Christ and the word of God can a man’s conscience be restored to its rightful role (2 Cor. 4:2; 1 Tim. 3:9; Heb. 9:14:10:22) (Conner 1980:16).
c. Revelation of God in history
The Bible says that the Lord is the Most High Ruler and gives it to whomever He chooses (Dan. 4:25, 32). There is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God (Rom. 13:1). God is the controller of the nations in the history of the world and is involved in the history of the world. Here are a few examples from the Scriptures to show that God was involved in the history of the nations and revealed Himself in the history of the world.
1. God chose the nation of Israel (Deut. 4:34-40) and preserved them miraculously throughout the history of the world (Jer. 31:36, 37).
ii. God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt by His mighty hand (Ex. 20:2), and destroyed the Egyptians (Ex. 14:26-28; Ezek. 30:24, 25).
iii. God destroyed miraculously the great army of Assyria (2 Kin. 19:35), and caused the kingdom to fall (Is. 10:12-19).
iv. God chose Babylon as His agent (Jer. 25:9; 27:5-8), and later used Cyrus to destroy it (Is. 45:1-4; Jer. 50, 51; Is. 47).
v. God raised the nation of Medo-Persia and used it to destroy Babylon as prophesied by Daniel. Medo-Persia was later destroyed by Greece (Is. 44:28-45:7; Dan. 8:1-20; 11:1, 2).
vi. Greece was established and later destroyed by the Roman Empire as predicted by Daniel (Dan. 8:1-25; 11:3-35).
vii. The Roman Empire rose after Greece and ruled the Jews during the time of Jesus Christ. The Roman Empire was destroyed as foretold by Daniel later (Dan.
7:7-23).
