The Scriptures and God's Witness of Himself

Introduction:

We live in a time often portrayed as one of radical skepticism.

I am not so sure it is an age of radical skepticism as much as it is one of extreme open-mindedness.

Radical open-mindedness has the same effect on the emotional and mental strength of people to recognize that some things are true and others false as kryptonite has on Superman’s physical powers.

If nothing can be true, then, equally, nothing can be false. Of course the problem with such ideas is that they contradict lived and observed reality.

The absence of truth removes any foundation for understanding the world and understanding the self. MAN CANNOT FIND MEANING APART FROM GOD AND WE CANNOT PROPERLY KNOW GOD APART FROM HIS WORD.

God has revealed himself to us, his creation, in at least three ways:

The physical creation.

His Son Jesus Christ.

His Word.

We can know more than just his existence. We know about his character and his glory.

In the passages we read, the Psalmist, David places two of those forms of revelation side by side.

Let’s examine for a few minutes what he says about the physical creation.

Hopefully we can be reminded of the objective forms of revelation God has given us, and maybe we can be encouraged to stand bold as witnesses in this generation.

The Physical Creation Is a Written Text:

Notice the references to Genesis 1 (Heavens and Expanse).

David places in parallel the terms “declare” (in its noun form it refers to a written text - here in participle form, David refers to “one thoroughly explaining...”).

The heavens function like a scroll to reveal knowable information to man.

The expanse can mean “to prove,” “to give written evidence” as more precise meanings from its basic sense of “to tell.” Samson uses this same word in the same Hebrew stem in Judges 14:12 where it obviously means to explain correctly.

It is his “glory” that is made known. The weight of God, as here, refers not merely to his reputation for greatness which God alone deserves, rather it is the reality of his presence and person.

The most explicit reality revealed by the creation is God’s presence and his person. If we are going to live within reality, we must acknowledge that we live in this universe as God’s creation. God is not our creation.

The Physical Creation Provides a Universal Witness

All people should worship the same God.

There is only one creator.

The physical creation does not invite humanity to create their own version of God.

Instead, it provides witness of the one and the same God.

Notice that there is a 24/7 non-stop universal witness in the creation.

See Psalm 19:2-6.

Why do so many people either refuse to worship God or why do they make gods (historically) for themselves?

The problem is with man not with God’s witness of himself.

Notice that David recognizes in the second half of the Psalm that the word of God acts as a control to provide a complete, pure, and thorough witness of God and his nature to fallen man.

David knew that his fallenness would corrupt his interpretation of God’s creation.

Conclusion

The word of God is integral to thinking of God correctly and therefore to the acknowledgment of God’s person and glory.

Our fallen minds and emotions are no substitute, therefore, for knowing God through His word.

Where the authority of the Word of God is not valued, even in our churches, we will find people who know very little about the God they claim to worship.

Let us be grateful for God’s Word.