Daryl Aaron - Christian Theology for People in a Hurry

W e can know God for one reason only: God has made himself known. If God had not chosen to do this, we could not have known him. That is, God is not accessible through our senses, our reason, our experience, or any other means apart from his willingness to be accessible. Our knowledge of God is absolutely dependent upon divine revelation; and not only is he willing to be known, he desires to be known.

The term revelation comes from the Greek word apocalupsis (also the title of the New Testaments last book), which means an uncovering or revealing of something that was previously unknown. The doctrine of revelation, then, means we can know God because he has chosen to make himself and his works known.

There are two kinds of divine revelation: general and specific.

General Revelation

General revelation refers to knowledge of God that is available to all people of all times and all places. Such knowledge comes in three ways.

First, general revelation comes through nature , that is, through what God has made. Psalm 19:1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. God communicates through his creation. Paul writes, Since the creation of the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Some of Gods nature can be clearly seen through his works. This is not just communication but clear communication, which is why people are without excuse. Everyone should see the degree to which God is revealed through nature.

Second, general revelation comes through human beings, that is, those who bear Gods image. This would include, for one thing, a sense of the divine. In the verse before Pauls statement about what can be known of God in nature, he says, What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them (Romans 1:19). God has placed within all humans an inner sense of his existence, and he has made this plain.

All humans have a sense of the eternal as well. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, He has also set eternity in the human heart. This means we all have a God-given inner sense that there is more than just the here-and-now; there is an eternal realmGods realm.

As Paul shows, all humans also have a God-implanted sense of morality:

When Gentiles, who do not have the [written] law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.

Romans 2:1415

This moral sense is the human conscience, a reflection of God, who himself is the moral standard. He has written his laws on our hearts.

Third, general revelation comes through history , that is, how God works in time and space. This is what Daniel had in mind when he said that God changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others (Daniel 2:21; see also Job 12:23; Acts 17:26). History is the working out of Gods plans and purposes, and whether we know it or not, we experience and observe his work in all current events.

So through at least these waysnature, humans, and historyGod has made himself known to all people. Everyone everywhere knows that the one true God exists and knows something about him. As Paul makes clear, all people are accountable for this knowledge (without excuse, Romans 1:20), but tragically, all suppress the truth by their wickedness (Romans 1:18).