The Word of God - A Progressive Revelation

By Chuck Coreth

The following is the expanded outline of the three part Adult Class held on October 14, 21 and November 4, 2007. The actual discussion by the participants is not included and the commentary provided may not include all of the comments or discussion occurring during the classes.

The three part class was intended to provide the participant with information and background data to affirm that God’s revelation to man is embodied in His Word. Therefore, the Adult Class sought to meet the following objectives:

1. To acknowledge that His Word is supremely expressed in Jesus Christ.
2. To provide an understanding that the Word of God is His self-revelation that has been, is being and will be revealed to us so that we may know Him and become a part of His plan.
3. To clarify that the Christian community is solely dependant upon God’s self-revelation and therefore confesses that it is not its own master, that God alone is Lord, that we are called to proclaim Jesus Christ and not ourselves.
4. To acknowledge that the living Word in the power of the Holy Spirit is constantly at work in us through His written Word and illuminated by Him through the Body of believers.
5. To acknowledge that we are called to Proclaim His Word with our heart and our lives.

Session 1. What is the Word?

1. As defined in Webster’s Dictionary the common usage defines “word” as “something said”, but Webster’s also defines “word” as the Logos, Gospel or the expressed or manifested will and mind of God. So if we look further we must now define the components as follows:

Logos = Greek for the word, i.e. Theology means Theo (God) + Logy (Logos/ word)

Gospel = good news or good words

Manifested = (verb) to make evident or certain by showing or displaying

Mind and will = the essence of what someone is or what and how we think, and all of the values, ethics and actions that follow.

Therefore, having defined the word “Word” and defined each of its parts we could reach a definition as follows: the Word is the good news that has been, is being or will be displayed that reflects the essence of God’s mind including all of His values, ethics and actions necessary to accomplish such.

2. But how do we know how the people in ancient times understood the meaning of the Word? Is that understanding different than how we understand the Word today? From the book The Relevance of the Prophets, by R.B.Y. Scott, the author has provided his research as to how people understood the meaning of the word “word” or for that matter how people may have understood any form of words that someone may have spoken. His conclusion indicates that people in those times had a much larger understanding of what words imparted when a person spoke.

In the time of the Prophets, “Words were felt to be charged with the vital force of the speaker’s person, and, once uttered, continued its effective expression even in the speaker’s absence, or after his death.”

Such an understanding is far different than the almost careless or indifferent manner with which we sling words about today.

Consequently, when a person uttered a word the people recognized that a part of that person actually conveyed to the listener. A good example of this concept is seen in the words expressed by the centurion in Matthew 8:5-8. Jesus responds by doing as the centurion asks and then utters these words “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith”.

Why would Jesus say such? Because the centurion knew and believed that a person of such authority need only say something and it was done.

In the words of the Psalmists we hear exactly the same absolute assurance that merely the word is sufficient to provide salvation.

See Psalm 119: 72, 81, 89;

Or a choice word can be a balm for a troubled spirit, as in Proverbs 12:25, 15:23, or 25:11

3. In Hebrew the word “dabhar” has been translated for us as “word”. However, its usage in both Old and New Testaments is translated as both “word” and “event”. Therefore, the implication is that when God speaks something happens. The Word when spoken both communicates and causes action.

In a similar manner the Greek logos stems from a verbal root that first meant “to gather or to arrange” and came thereafter to mean “to speak, to reckon, to think.” It is quite logical if one considers that in order to speak the speaker must gather and arrange his thoughts and then transmit such thoughts through words.

Thus, Goethe’s famous translation of John 1:1 as “In the beginning was the deed” (Am Anfang war der Tat) is, from the Hebrew biblical perspective, really not far different from our translation of “In the beginning was the Word…”

We can clearly see the meaning of the Word in Genesis chapter 1 as the beginning words of each paragraph are “And God said…” and each paragraph is completed by a listing of the events that ensued following God’s words.

Therefore, the word “word” stands for the sounds emanating from our mouths and the resulting actions or events.

However, the ancient Hebrews took the concept of “word” even deeper. There is also a Hebrew word called “memra” and is defined by Strongs as being a commandment, speech or word. The Sopherim (the post exilic scribes) used this word commonly when describing Theophanies or when God speaks to man so as to not impart human nature onto God. The Memra was therefore a personification of God, God’s communication to man and God’s presence with man. The use of Memra to describe God’s outreach to man is common in the Targums (Jewish Old Testament).

See also The Bible Church study on Memra, www.bibleword.org/memra

4. In the first few verses of John’s Gospel we are confronted with the use of the “word” in a completely new but logical extension of the imparting to others of our thoughts and resulting actions. We read in this passage that the true and complete essence of God existed in His Word and became a human. John purposely laid out the analogies between the attributes of Jesus as the Word of God and the Memra as clearly understood and promoted by the Jewish theologians of the 1^st century.

See John 1:1-3

See Tyndale’s Commentary on John, page 42:

“The prologue (of John’s Gospel) speaks not of the word of God but of the Word who was with God, and was God. It is His life which is imparted to all living creatures. But in men and women the life infused into them by the Word is more than physical. The life was the light of men.”

5. In conclusion we can now see that God’s Word – an expression of His personal and moral will- has always been understood to encompass far more than His words, but that God’s entire essence was communicated in a form understandable to man.

See John 1: 4-5

The Word was and is the light and the life of man. The divine agent or Memra of creation has come to reveal to us everything we are capable of knowing about God – our Lord Jesus Christ.

 
 

 

Session 2: How does God reveal Himself?

In Webster’s the word “Revelation” is defined as unveiling, uncovering or the act of making known through divine inspiration.

For our purposes we will focus on God’s revelation to man.

In Faith Seeking Understanding: an Introduction to Christian Theology, 2nd edition (Eerdmans, 2004), the author describes revelation as the disclosure of the character and purpose of God. Which, when received radically changes the lives of its recipients. 

This is quite similar to our discussion last week about the “Word” of God - an expression of His personal and moral will which by definition causes things to happen.

The Human Dilemma:

In Romans 1:20, Paul states clearly that God’s eternal power and deity have been clearly evident in His creation. In fact this entire section of Romans, verses 18-23, argues that there has been a de-evolution in man’s relationship with God. Man has exchanged the revelation of God for idols of man’s own design and exchanged purity for gross disobedience toward God.

So how then does God get us back on track? He does so within His divine plan and He has recruited us to participate in the plan. The whole of Scripture is His revelation to us, from Genesis to Revelation, we see the same loving creator making provision for us and by faith giving us the hope that His plan includes us.

We clearly see this hope expressed in Psalm 130.

And we also see this expressed by Paul in Romans 12:2.

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”.

In fact the revelation within scripture enables us to view the world as if through a pair of glasses (God’s glasses) in a radically new perspective. This new perspective does not permit us to continue to live as we have before. In fact, the author of Faith Seeking Understanding says: “The goal of the event of revelation is not our possession of secret doctrines but a transformed life.”

Progressive Revelation

When one sees the word “progressive” one imagines that we are being introduced to new thoughts or ideas and the new outweighs the old and replaces it. Such is not the case with God’s revelation to man. His revelation is His plan for us, established in the beginning, reaffirmed through out scripture and completed in Revelation. It is the same then- now- and in the future. The only aspect of the revelation that changes is our understanding of it. As we walk in close communion with Him our relationship grows deeper as we “see” more clearly His plan.

As God promised in Genesis to provide the reconciliation for man, He gave us assurance and hope throughout the Old Testament that He would be good to His Word. The New Testament delivers that promise and assures us that at the end of time all things will be reconciled to Him. The following excerpts focus on His Plan:

1. Genesis – God’s Plan, a friendship between God and man, a free and open discourse.

Who is He? Genesis 1:1

What was His plan? Genesis 1: 27-31

After Man exerted himself, how did God change things? Genesis 3:16-19

            But not without hope – Genesis 3:15

God seeks men of faith – Genesis 6:8-9; 12:1-3, Genesis 26:26-29 & 28:10-14, Genesis 39:1-3.

In Exodus we see that most of the chapters begin with “Then the Lord said to Moses…”

            God delivers His covenant and His Law. Exodus 20

2. The Prophets – God’s calling man back to Him, God speaks to man through chosen people.

A promise of the Savior - Isaiah 9:1-7

            Call to Repent - Ezekiel 14:6 and 18:30

            Call to Repent - Hosea 4:1-2

            Call to Repent - Amos 3:1-2  

      Reminder, what is required of man - Micah 6:6-8

3. The Gospels – The face to face visit by God to man, God speaks directly to man.

The Word made flesh - John 1:14

The Son of God - Mark 1:9-11

The angelic announcement - Luke 2:10-11

The great teaching about the Kingdom - Matthew 5

The sacrifice and assurance - Matthew 27:50 & 28:5-7

4. The Gospel and Epistles – The “breadcrumbs”, God gives us a way back.

Faith is “king”- Romans 4:13 & 16

Our reconciliation - Romans 5:1-2

Our Blessed Hope - Titus 2:11-14

5. Revelation – Re-united, God’s Plan completed.

Revelation 21:1-4

The Essence of Revelation

      According to the author of In Faith Seeking Understanding:

“In Christian theology the word revelation refers first of all not to the Bible, or to a creed, or to a set of doctrines, or to some ecclesiastical authority. It refers to the whole of the triune God’s activity in creation, redemption and consummation that has at its center in Jesus Christ.”

“The free grace of God in Jesus Christ is the core of the Christian message and the focus of the Christian doctrine of revelation.”

Session 3 Working in the Word

Before we jump off into the substance of today let’s go back and see where we have been in terms of our original objectives:

1. To acknowledge that His Word is supremely expressed in Jesus Christ.
2. To provide an understanding that the Word of God is His self-revelation that has been, is being and will be revealed to us so that we may know Him and become a part of His plan.
3. To clarify that the Christian community is solely dependant upon God’s self-revelation and therefore confesses that it is not its own master, that God alone is Lord, that we are called to proclaim Jesus Christ and not ourselves.
4. To acknowledge that the living Word in the power of the Holy Spirit is constantly at work in us through His written Word and illuminated by Him through the Body of believers.
5. To acknowledge that we are called to Proclaim His Word with our heart and our lives.

Today’s discussion deals with Objective # 5. Borrowing from Karl Barth’s Evangelical Theology we can approach this in four parts:

1. Prayer
2. Study
3. Service
4. Love

These four directives will enable us to put ourselves in communion with God so He can communicate to us and guide us into an active participation in His Plan. The deeper we go into His Plan or the more active we become in His Plan, the less we will be concerned about our worldly needs and concerns for we will see clearly the perfection of the Creator.

Prayer:

      Does God need us or do we need God?

Did God need Moses to confront Pharaoh? Or did God need the Israelites to defeat the Canaanites or the Amorites?

The answer is in Genesis 1:27-28, 31 and 2:15. God made us to be part of His Plan. The Plan will unfold as He intended and NOT as we would like it to be.

But what happens if we choose not to be part of the Plan? Gen. 3:17-19, Gen 6:5, 11-12

However, as we discussed in Session 2 God sought after the people of Faith, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. and He established His covenant with them so they would know that His Plan which would be far superior to man’s plans.

      Psalm 33:13-19, 139:1-7

God seeks a communicating relationship with us and since He knows our inward parts more so than we, through prayer we turn to Him, we focus on Him, and we submit ourselves to Him so that we leave our pride and ego behind and become part of His Plan.

      Again Karl Barth has expressed this concept well:

“For in prayer a man temporarily turns away from his own efforts….. A man prays, not in order to sacrifice his work or even to neglect it, but in order that it may not remain or become unfruitful work, so that he may do it under the illumination and, consequently, under the rule and blessing of God.”

      King David recognized this clearly in the words of Psalm 32:1-7

God does not need our prayers, but we need prayers with God to keep in step with Him.

Study:

So if prayer is the key relationship builder with God; why then does He not just talk to us directly all of the time?

Since He knows exactly what we are like and how we function, He also knows that verbal communication is not enough.

He sent us a “memo” written in stone – the Ten Commandments, which we pretty much ignored.

He had a book written for us, in just about every known language in the world - the Bible – and we still don’t “get it”.

So, even with this written Word we squabble and disagree and are constantly confused. So therefore, we must pray to place ourselves into a correct position with God and study His Word so that we remain on the correct track and do not veer off into some self created image of ourselves.

      2 Timothy 3:16-17

      Romans 3:21

“For prayer without study is empty and study without prayer is blind” (Karl Barth).

Therefore, if prayer and study is taken together and applied together we can prepare ourselves for becoming an active part of God’s Plan.

Service:

We discussed in the first Session that God’s Word is both a communication and an event. It is a Word that when spoken causes action. Keeping this concept in mind let’s go to the well known passage in:

      James 1: 22-25.

Once you look into the face of the perfect law –Jesus – and believe in Him for your salvation how can one not accept the invitation to be part of the eternal Plan? In whatever position you find yourselves you are there to be a part of the Plan, God has a mission for you there

      James 2:18-24

James’s last statement is the key because belief is not sufficient –the demons believe! So a faith that is truly a saving faith drives us to be desirous to be on His Team and to do His works for His Glory.

 
 

Love:

Selflessness without a Godly focus is either supreme egotism or blind obedience to another human. If we focus upon ourselves we are truly worthy of pity and if we focus on another human than we place ourselves in a position to be disappointed. For we know that all humans are fragile and fallible.

From Genesis to Revelation everything in God’s Plan hinges on Love and that Love is the all encompassing Agape Love described in:

      1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Such love is completely selfless because at its center is God’s perfect revelation of Himself – Jesus - who gave Himself for us so that we might have access to God.

So Paul’s message about how we are to act within God’s Plan is based upon Love and is summarized in:

      1Corinthians 16:13-14

      So in summary, we have studied that:

The Word = the mind and will of God, which has been perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ.

Revelation = the whole of the triune God’s activity in creation, redemption and consummation that has at its center in Jesus Christ.

Now looking at the title to this adult class A Progressive Revelation let’s look at the word Progressive, which according to Webster means being characterized by developing to a higher, better or more advanced state.

So, if God is immutable and His Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and since Revelation is really another word for His Plan; who then is the object of this change to a higher state?

      For it is certainly not God who changes;

      We do.