The Value of General Revelation: Podcast Episode 4

Introduction

Welcome back to the Bibleofile Podcast with Corey Ramsey.

It is Corey Ramsey who thus speaks to you and in this episode, we are continuing in the book “The Wonderful Works of God’ by Herman Bavinck.

Today, we will be looking at chapter 4 as we continue learning about General Revelation, this chapter specifically speaking of the value of General Revelation.

If you are unfamiliar with the program and the way it works, we have been going through this book chapter by chapter, summarizing, expounding on the important points and discussing them, and me adding feedback from my own experience and study.

It is not necessarily that you follow along with us in the book although it is preferred. If you are not following along, you will not be in the dark but should find this program completely understandable without the book.

For more information on the podcast, I would like to point you to the website at www.thebibleofile.com

Before we look at the Value of General Revelation, lets take a look at what we learned last episode regarding What General Revelation is.

Recap & Transition

In this past chapter, we looked at how one is to come to this knowledge of God.

We see that God has revealed himself generally in nature and history so that it is plain to all that there is a God.

Everybody was also created with a sense of divinity or a seed of religion within them because we were created in the image of God.

We can look to all of Gods work and learn something about who he is.

Apart from the testimony of the Scriptures, this view of God from nature and history is incomplete.

As we continue to the Value of General Revelation today, we will be tracing this general revelation through some Biblical history and also see how because of the sinfulness of the human heart how this general revelation in some cases has turned into idolatry and false religion.

Lets go ahead and get started.

Section 1

In the beginning of this Chapter, Bavinck points out that when dealing with General Revelation, this the great danger of either over estimating it or under estimating it.

What does he mean by this?

Well, he points to Special Revelation and how one can become so enamored in it that General Revelation loses its worth to us.

or

On the other hand, when we reflect on the beauty of the General Revelation set before us, it is possible that Special revelation loses its appeal for the eye of the soul as Bavinck says.

He says the danger is either to stray off to the right or left.

Reflection

I dont believe that this danger just occurs here but almost with every doctrine one is presented with.

For example, when speaking of soteriology, I think it is a temptation of the creature to give himself more credit than is due to himself in this glorious work of salvation.

On the other extreme, you get something like hyper-Calvinism which goes way to far in denying human responsibility.

The healthy medium is Calvinism.

Not only with a doctrine such as this, but you also get this same kind of concept in Legalism and Anti-nomianism.

Legalism sets before the Christian a means of keeping the law for salvation whereas antinomianism says that the law is no longer valid for the Christian because they have been set free.

Both of these groups miss the mark and fail to find the healthy medium in this case being that we are not saved by how well we keep the law for we were saved on how well another kept the law, and that was perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now that we are saved, the law is not void but still exists and we are called to live by it.

Continuing

He continues by saying that we must be on our guard against one-sidedness.

He now proposes that in order to be best advised against this one-sidedness that we should take a look through the history of mankind and see what is owed to general revelation.

Starting in this history of mankind, Bavinck goes to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

He points out that when they transgressed Gods law by eating the fruit there, their punishment did not come immediately nor in full force.

What is meant by that?

Well he said the day they eat of it they shall surely die and they did not physically die on the same day they ate it.

They also were not sent to hell but were given a task on the Earth.

Their line did not perish.

They also receive the promise of the seed of the woman.

Adam and Eve are now placed in a special situation.

This special situation as Bavinck points out “is one which wrath and grace, punishment and blessing, judgement and long-suffering are mingled with each other.”

This condition still exists in nature among men today and comprehends the sharpest of contrasts within itself he says.

In this present state that we now live in, God is continually manifesting his wrath yet is always again revealing his grace.

We says we are consumed by his anger and yet in the morning satisfied by his mercy.

He says that “Curse and blessing are so singularly interdependent that one sometimes seems to become the other.

Me mentions work and says how it is a curse and a blessing.

Reflection

Thinking about that statement, it may make one wonder how work can be a curse and a blessing.

On the one hand, Solomon says all is Vanity, what does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Then on the other hand, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

Ecclesiastes 3:12–13 NIV

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

Before the fall, Adams work in the garden must have been a lot different than it was after.

As a result of the fall, God says that the ground is cursed because of Adam.

It will produce thorns and thistles.

From the sweat of his brow shall he eat bread.

It says in pain shall you eat of it the rest of the days of your life.

We were created to work and maintain the earth but after the fall, it appears this became painful and burdensome.

Looking at this today, it is true that you have to work to eat.

I think some jobs are more enjoyable than others and some people may find their jobs more fulfilling than others.

But, I think what Solomon is trying to say in Ecclesiastes is that no matter what your job is, it is the gift of God that you would find satisfaction in it.

Whether you are a janitor or the president of the United States, it is possible to find no joy in your work and that makes your life miserable because most people work at least 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week.

If you do find joy in your work, no matter what your job is, is that not a blessing that these 40 hours a week are not so harsh to you?

I have found that when you do your work to the glory of God, it will make any kind of work enjoyable.

Section 2

In the next section of this chapter, Bavinck continues that although general and special revelation are distinguished, they also stand in constant interrelationship with each other.

He says at this point in time, Special revelation was not yet given to a few individuals nor limited to a single people but was distributed among all who were alive.

As an example of this, he points out how stories such as the floor appear in the history of other cultures.

He says that a schism soon developed among men and the cause of it was religion or how men stood in relationship to God.

What was worship like in these early times, pre flood that is.

He says that the service of the Lord was simple.

There was no possibility of public worship as we know it since mankind only existed of a few families.

In these early times, he says that the worship of the Lord existed in sacrifices and prayers.

These sacrifices came from a dependency and of gratitude to God.

He says that it wasn’t the gift that truly mattered but the disposition of the giver expressed in the gift.

After the story of Cain and Abel, we start to see a division among the children of Adam, the righteous and unrighteous.

Cain killed Abel and the schism spoken of earlier worked its way through and separated the Canaanites and Sethites.

Reflection

I find the early way of worship very interesting.

At this point there was not yet the law of Moses but people realized their need for God and wanted to express this dependence upon him and brought their gifts to show that.

I think this is interesting because it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor since it is not about the gift itself but the heart of the giver.

Like the rich man who gave large amounts but the poor woman who gave all she had.

I think being a rich man it is easy to say look, I give all of this money to God.

Look how much it is compared to everybody else.

I must be doing pretty good in this area.

But does that really compare with poor woman who gave all she had?

We should not evaluate our sacrifices and giving by looking at what other people do but by asking ourselves are we being rich towards God?

Do we value God above all else?

The example of the poor lady definitely shows that.

She found giving to God all she had worth it whereas the rich man only gave a portion.

Why did Jesus tell the rich man to sell all he had and give to the poor and then come follow Him?

The poor lady did that, even though all she had was this one coin but she was rich because she saw the value in God.

The rich man was poor because his money held more value in his heart than God.

I think that is important for us today.

Whether we are barely getting by or we are well off, our sacrifices to God should be appropriate to our dependency and surrender to God.

We must remember its not about how much we give but our heart behind the gift.

Section 3