Viewing Life Through the Lens of Scripture: Progressive Revelation

INTRODUCTION:

Imagine wearing prescription eyeglasses for three decades, and then deciding one day in your mid-forties that it would be better to go back to the first pair prescribed to you when you were a teenager. Does that sound like a wise decision? If someone told you that was what they wanted to do how would you respond? Especially after they claimed that was a better way to see the world around them?

I was first diagnosed with nearsightedness when I was sixteen years old. I was having a hard time seeing the chalkboard in school, and so, my parents made me an eye-appointment. The eye exam revealed astigmatisms in both eyes and a mild case of nearsightedness. I received a prescription for corrective lenses and chose my first pair of eyeglasses; which, came in about two weeks later.

After receiving the call that my glasses were ready for pickup, my mom drove me to the eye doctor. They adjusted them on my face, and then made sure that my vision was 20/20. It was the ride home when I noted the stark difference the corrective lenses gave me of the world that I faced on a daily basis. I looked at the trees on the mountain side, and the details were amazing. I could see the outline of the branches, and the texture of the leaves. Before then, I never realized what I had been missing.

The Bible offers a corrective lens to the believer in much the same way. We think that we see reality as it is before having our eyes opened by the Holy Spirit and His Law-Word. We think we see the mountains, the trees, their branches and leaves, and all the little intricate details that are apart of of their makeup. And then, we receive a new set of prescription glasses to view the world. It is as if we are looking at a new and vibrant world; truly seeing it for the first time.

Our eyes had been darkened, our understanding skewed because of it, but we didn’t know it. Until our redemption becomes a reality, until the proverbial scales fall off our eyes we cannot truly comprehend the world in which we live. Neither its purpose or our own. The power of God and His Word changes all of that.

A straight line…

Biblical revelation is linear in its timeline. Much like our lives are linear. Because all of history is linear in fashion. It has a past, present, and future sense. The Lord God (aka, the Triune God) did not give to our first-parents all knowledge and wisdom regarding His plan and purpose for them and their progeny throughout history. He revealed to them and their children after them that which was necessary in accordance with His divine plan. Therefore, when we read the Biblical record we see that God reveals little-by-little until the advent of His blessed Son’s inauguration in history.

By way of analogy…

Take for example our lives. Our parents do not teach us everything on the day of our birth. The learning process is in many ways a lifelong process. We first learn dependence, trust, and submission to our parents. We are inquisitive by nature seeking to learn all that we can about the world around us. We learn to speak, to write, and read. Our learning continues step-by-successive-step. As we mature in life more and more is revealed to us about the world around us, both the visible and the unseen. Eventually, we begin to hone our skills into various ways depending on the gifts/abilities that we learn we possess in time.

This same truth plays out in our spiritual lives as well. We are born from above by the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3). We grow and are brought up under the tutelage of the Word of God and those ministers of truth that God has graciously placed in our lives (Eph. 4:11-13). As we are sanctified and purified by the water of the Word (Eph. 5:26-27; also see: Rom. 12:1-3), we go from being babes drinking milk (1 Pet. 2:2) to adults eating meat (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6); from being taught as little ones, to teaching others the finer points of this spiritual life (cf. Heb. 5:12-13; Eph. 4:14-15). Learning to exercise and hone the gifts that the Spirit has given us in being a fruitful member of the body of Christ.

The Progressive Nature of Biblical Revelation…

God did not reveal everything in the beginning. He gave a little bit here and there. Once His timeline had matured to the point where He believed it necessary to shed more light (revelation) on the overall situation (the Creator and His creation, and the plan He had for them/us), He would do so.¹ All of which came about according to His perfect plan. This historical outline presented from the beginning to the end of revelation highlights the progressive nature of Biblical revelation. We are given a small glimpse of the world that God intends to fashion. Now this is done so in dual tones—The Bible offers a negative and positive perspective on the world in which we live, move and breathe.²

Little by little…

Revelation speaks of that which has been revealed or made known. In the Bible, God gives to His people—readers of the book—a panoramic view of what He has made known since the beginning of history. (What He has revealed in previous times to those who bear His name). The covenants that were enacted in the Bible are successive in nature with each one building upon the other.³ In the Christian dispensation we find that the dividing wall has been torn down because of the finalized work of Christ Jesus, and we have become partakers of all those former promises:

“…Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity” (Eph. 2:12-17; emphasis added).

“You were… separate[d]… excluded…and strangers to the covenants of promise…But now [you’re not]… [For] in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood [life] of Christ.”⁴ No longer are we aliens to the covenants of promise—many covenants, but one promise—we are partakers of them, of the promise that is solidified in Jesus Christ, the Holy One. The covenants of promise apply one and all to the adopted children of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The progression of the law…

We first see the Law of God expressed in the garden when God gives instruction to Adam as to what he is authorized to do. The Lord further explains that Adam (man) will be held accountable for how he⁵ responds to the Torah⁶ of the Lord. The violation of this simple command—do not eat of the fruit of this tree—invited the death penalty; whereas, the fulfilling of it promised life.

From Genesis 2:16-17 we first see the principle of listening (submission) or disregarding (rebellion towards) the voice of God, what we find later expressed by Moses to the children of Israel:

“Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. What I am commanding you today is to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess.” (Deut. 30:15-16; NET).

In essence what the Lord God says to Adam in the garden is repeated by Moses over a thousand years later. This is an example of progressive revelation at work. It is this type of revelatory instruction that we see disclosed in Holy Scripture. God presented to Adam and the children of Israel LIFE and DEATH, BLESSING and CURSE. This principle of listening and obeying what God instructs, and the consequences of either submitting or rebelling is finalized in our confrontation with the gospel of God. That is to say, what was told to Adam and later repeated in much more detail to Israel through the mouth of Moses, the prophet of God is declared once more in light of the gospel. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:16,

“To the one it [the gospel] is a perfume of death to death; to the other a perfume of life to life”

(BBE; bracket added for clarity).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a choice between life and death. And unless we miss the significance of the statement, we need to recognize that this is not a suggestion or an “invitation,” but a command:

“The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31; NHEB; emphasis mine).

As the apostle Peter testifies at another time,

“…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which you must be saved” (Acts 4:10, 11-12; NASB; emphasis mine).

A truth that Jesus spoke plainly about during His earthly ministry:

“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).

Life and death, blessing and curse are presented to all in the gospel of God, the gospel of Jesus to which the apostles testified. To believe in Christ is to submit to the command of God. To deny Him is to rebel against the grace of God presented to the fallen children of Adam. To accept the call of the gospel is to embrace the Son of God whom the Father had sent and the Spirit had led, and in so doing receive the blessing of God which is eternal life. Moreover, the opposite is also true, for in rejecting the Son of God, we reject the Father who sent Him, and the Spirit who testifies of Him, and in so doing we receive the curse of God which is damnation.

An argument from the contrary…

Now we know that Biblical revelation is progressive in the sense that God did not give to mankind all the information of His plan for human history all at once. He revealed each successive bit, little-by-little, with each new teaching building upon the other. Further revelation enriches and deepens and broadens former revelation in Scripture. What our fore-parents were told in the garden was true in terms of life and death, blessing and curse. They had been presented good news, even after the atrocity that they committed in the garden on the day of their rebellion. But as revelation progressed that good news was enriched, deepened, and broadened. The blessing and curse was unfolded or manifested in a greater way.

Now it is argued by some within the Christian camp that theonomy is a boogeyman that ought to be avoided; especially, if we are speaking about God’s Law-Word being applied in/to society at large, in the civil sector (i.e., civil sphere of governance). Rather than take the Law-Word of God at its fullness when it come to its application in the civil government, some argue that we must take a Noahic approach over and above a Mosaic approach. A Genesis 9:5 foundation rather than an Exodus 19-23 type of approach, and this in part because of the differences of pagan nations and ancient Israel, despite the warning that Jesus gives in Matthew 5:17-19. Well, in my next post I will begin to deal with this topic as I address some of the arguments presented by Russell Berger and Sean DeMar on their podcast Defend and Confirm, under the episode: “What Theonomy Gets Wrong: Biblical Justice.”

ENDNOTES:

1 I am not insinuating that God is waiting for the right things to come in place as if He didn’t already know. God does not learn, His mind is as infinite as He is, He knows all things. From our perspective it appears as if God reacts to us based upon our activity in the earth, but that is not at all what occurs. I do not believe for a moment that the Bible teaches such a thing. Rather, the intention of God has been realized long before creation ever began. He knew the end of all things before He gave them a beginning. It is in knowing all things that He has perfectly planned all things to happen within the timeline of creation that He has designed. His belief that the time was necessary for Jesus to be born, for instance, was not based on information that He gathered from creation; instead, it was in accordance with His determined end. As it is written,

“I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure…Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Isa. 46:9b, 10, 11b ; NASB).

2 This lengthy footnote was originally intended to be shared with the reader through the course of the article here presented. But, for the sake of time (the readers’, not mine) I decided to cut out what had been written and add it to a footnote. Therefore, if the reader is interested in my “hasty timeline” that I present from the Biblical record they are free to read it, but it is not necessary to get the point I desire to convey. If nothing else, this is just an example of how I think through a subject that interests me; although, I do believe that there is some value in sharing it here.

A hasty timeline…

From the beginning of creation to the corruption resulting from the Fall (rebellion in the garden), to the great deluge that washed the world in a cleansing Flood, and the breaking up of a second rebellion on the plains of Shinar (incident at Babel) dividing the languages of the people marking the creation of various ethnicities that then spread throughout the world. Out of this division, though the whole earth is the Lord God’s, He chose Abram (blessed father) to be Abraham (father of many) of a new people. A people separated by the election of God proved (identified) by a faith like Abraham’s, and this not of themselves. For it would be the blessed “Seed” of Abraham that would be a blessing to many nations. From this seed Abraham would be the father of many. This seed is later revealed to be a mighty king, a prophet, and a priest after the order of Melchizedek not in terms of physical lineage but in light of His having no beginning or end.

However, before the promised Seed would come God would first mark the distinction between those who were His people from those who were not His people. Israel, also known as Jacob (son of Isaac, son of Abraham) grew into a great nation waiting on the promise of God to come to fruition as he wandered through the land like his father’s before him (Abraham and Isaac). His children blossomed under the leadership of a son thought lost to him in the land of Egypt, Joseph. Joseph was chosen by God to preserve the people in his day, to save a remnant according to God’s plan.

Moses, a son from the tribe of Levi, would be designated for the purpose by God. He would be the leader—the deliverer—of Israel from the land of Egyptian captivity towards the land promised to his forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob). As a representative of God’s prophetic voice, Moses would stand against Pharaoh and the army of Egypt. He would lead the people from the land to the mountain of God (Horeb/Sinai), and there God would reveal the covenant He swore to keep with this people called by His name. They would be His special possession if they listened to His voice and obeyed His covenant. They were given the Law-Word of God to direct their minds/hearts towards that which was holy, acceptable, and good in His sight. This Law-Word was given to them at the foot of Mount Sinai, but not to them only, it was given in hope for the rest of the nations, when they saw this great law they would recognize in their own hearts/minds that there is no other nation on the earth where God was so close to His people as He was to Israel (cf. Deut. 4:6).

A promise was uttered by Moses, a promise repeated from the time of Abraham til now, another would come from among the people like Moses who would speak like Moses as a prophet of God, the people were directed to listen to him. Now I know that this speaks first of the true prophets who would accurately represent the Law-Word of God in truth. Men like Samuel, Nathan, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Elijah and Elisha, so on and so forth. But, all of this foreshadowed the one to whom God would send, His blessed Son.

In one sense, all of Scripture points to Christ Jesus who is the exact imprint of the image of the invisible God (the Father). Jesus is the promised Seed of Abraham. He is the Living Word (logos) made flesh. It is He who tabernacled among us, put on flesh and blood like us, and dwelt among His creation for a season pointing them to the truth of God and His plan of redemption. He willingly laid down His life at the behest of the Father for those given to Him by Him (God the Father). He walked in unison with the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) in thought, word, and deed. Jesus testified repeatedly that He did not come to do His will, but the will of Him that sent Him. It was the voice of God that directed His steps. What Jesus heard from the Father that He spoke. What Jesus saw from the Father that He did. It was to Him that the Father directed the attention of the disciples of Jesus:

“This my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him” (Matt. 17:5).

Jesus also testified that He came not to abrogate the Law-Word of God, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17-19). That is to keep it, to uphold it, to confirm it (cf. Rom. 3:31). He did this to the point in humble submission to God even to the point of becoming a sin sacrifice, though He had committed no sin.

From one point of history all events pointed towards Him as some future hope. And, from the other point of history all things point back to Him as the eternal hope. That is to say, since the Fall and the promise given to Eve—the mother of all living—all looked forward in time to the hope of God promised to mankind to deliver them from this body of death that we have inherited. And those who come after His life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (to the right hand of the Father) look back to Him in longing of the deliverance that He alone promises and guarantees.

3 Covenants established by God towards Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and to Jesus Christ to whom all covenants of God essentially point.

4 Bracketed sections are not Scripture but are given to aid the reader in seeing expression of thought being conveyed in the Biblical text. A contrast between the Gentile’s former condition/relationship towards the covenants of promise pre- and post- Christ. Once an individual has been redeemed by Christ, sanctified by His sacrificial life, and renewed by the Holy Spirit’s regenerative power, their former station or status has been done away with, and a new one has been adopted. An adoption seated in the will of God the Father as an inheritance gift to His beloved Son, Jesus the Christ. This is a very important point that Paul highlights for the Christians living in the 1^st century. And it is one that needs to be understood by God’s people today.

5 Both Adam and Eve were accountable for how they responded to the Law-Word of God revealed at that time. Adam is first told and given the greater responsibility because he is his wife’s head (she is under his headship).

6 The Hebrew term for God’s Law or instruction; the totality of His Word to His people.

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