It’s our calling. Every believer’s calling.
A Christian Guidebook: Why Has God Saved Us? (6)
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. Psalm 119.105
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19.1
The God Who reveals Himself
“If God is real, then why doesn’t He do something? Something I can see?”
Ever heard that response to sharing the Good News of Jesus? This defense of wrong belief has been around for a long time. Those who employ it insist that if God really cared about our knowing Him, He would make it plain, you know, by healing a sick friend, or bringing bread and loaves to the hungry masses, or making my boss ease up on me a bit.
The implication, of course, is that, if God did something like that, then, well, I might consider Him.
This demand that God reveal Himself is not unreasonable. Indeed, it plays right into God’s wheelhouse. Scripture tells us that He has revealed Himself and continues to do so in three powerful ways. The Word of God is what we might call the bright light of divine revelation. Everything we can know about God, all the knowledge of Him we need to be saved and enjoy Him forever, is right there in Scripture.
But there is also a secondary light of divine revelation, and this comes through the things God has made, through creation. Trees, birds, stars, all the creatures of the woods, even our own divine-image-bearing friends and co-workers. Even many aspects of the culture we create—all these are revealing something about God.
Finally, Jesus Christ is the focusing light of divine revelation. He shows us what to look for in Scripture and creation—Him, in all His beauty, wisdom, power, love, faithfulness, kindness, patience, goodness, suffering, death, and resurrection. Him, exalted in glory, the Centerpiece of all Scripture and the end toward which all other knowledge is to be referred.
The problem, of course, is that most people are blind and deaf to the vast, full, rich, clear, and transforming revelation of God. In part because they can’t see or hear it, but mostly because they won’t.
And this is yet another reason why God has saved us.
Witnesses
We who have been saved are appointed to be witnesses for Jesus Christ (Acts 1.8). This is not an optional vocation. Every believer is called to it because God has saved us to make known the joy of knowing Him. In fulfilling this calling, we should make wide and thoughtful use of all the light of divine revelation, so that we can help others see through the fog of wrong-belief to the light of divine revelation in Jesus.
The world is not what wrong-believing people think. And the Scriptures are an impenetrable mystery to them because, like the Ethiopian in Acts 8.26-40, they haven’t a clue as to its meaning, even if they were reading it. Lost people need someone to interpret the revelation of God in Scripture and creation, to show how it all points to Jesus.
To that end, we interpret the Word of God and God’s world in the light of that Word (Ps. 36.9). For we can only understand how creation speaks of God and His glory, and how it points us to Jesus, by looking to the Word of God in the Scriptures. There we learn how the many and wondrous works of God bear witness to Him all day long. The more we learn from God’s Word about how creation praises and reveals Him, the better able we will be to explain His revelation to others.
But we’re not content for people merely so experience some revelation of God from the things He has made. We want them to know Jesus. For that, we’ll have to lead them to the Scriptures. The better we know the Scriptures and are daily immersed in them, the more we will see Jesus there and be made like Him. The more we are made like Him, the more we will see Him in all His works, and the more our hope will grow and be visible to others, some of whom may ask a reason for the hope that is within us. We must be ready when any such opportunity arises (1 Pet. 3.15).
Getting ready
God is always doing something. We must prepare to help others see and hear both what God is doing and what He has done through our Lord Jesus Christ. For He has appointed us as docents of His glory, that those to whom He sends us may realize His grace and turn in gratitude to Him (2 Cor. 4.15).
God has saved us to be agents of His grace, helping others gain insight and understanding of Him through the various avenues of revelation by which He is making Himself known. Our desire is to see the grace of God break through their wrong belief and bring them to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, like us, they will know the joy of His Presence, the wonder of His revelation, and the beauty, goodness, and truth by which He guides and keeps us day by day.
We must make ourselves ready to bear such witness. We are part of God’s plan to reach others with His grace, so that many might experience His grace and know all the reasons He has saved us for Himself. We must learn the ways of Jesus and increase in living in that path. But we also must prepare ourselves with a word of witness, to explain from anywhere in Scripture what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and how we may come to know Him. And it will help our witness overall if we begin to pay more attention to the revelation of God in creation so that we can, like docents in a fabulous art museum, point out the praises of God in all the things He has made.
The better we prepare to fulfill our calling as witnesses, the more consistent and effective we will be in this work that God has appointed to us. And the more we discover just how gracious and kind God is to have chosen us for this vocation, the readier we will be to step into His work of making Himself and His glory known throughout the world. Immerse yourself in His Word! Learn to know Him from His works in creation! Then you will fulfill your calling to be His witness in all you say and do.
Search the Scriptures
1. Meditate on 2 Timothy 3.15-17? Why has God given us the Scriptures? How many of those purposes are you realizing in your own life?
2. Read Psalms 111 and 148. What is our role in bringing out the praises of God in the things He has made? Why must we do this?
3. What do we mean by thinking of ourselves as witnesses and docents?
Next steps—Transformation: Begin journaling as you read the Bible concerning hos Jesus is revealed in each passage. In the same journal, record observations of the glory of God in creation.
T. M. Moore
Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
If you would like some help seeing Jesus throughout the Bible, sign-up to receive our daily worship devotional, Scriptorium. Our current study speaks directly to this question. The series begins here, and you can subscribe to Scriptorium by updating your subscriptions here.
Support for ReVision comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or you may send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
