By God has not left us uninformed. In God’s kindness and wisdom, He limited the ways in which we can come to know Truth about Him. According to the Scriptures, God can be known through 1) Creation and 2) The Bible. This is commonly referred to by theologians as “General revelation” and “Special revelation” respectively.
Although both the Bible (special revelation) and all of creation (general revelation) are given by God to man, only the Bible constitutes inherent final authority.
God’s general revelation to man is continuous (Ps 19:2), wordless (Ps 19:3) and worldwide in scope (Ps 19:4) General revelation teaches the existence of God as a divine Being, His power and His Glory (Job 12:7-9; Ps 19:1 Rom 1:20).
God’s special revelation is much narrower in focus in that its revelation centers on the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). This revelation was revealed by God to only a selection of individuals who by their speech and writings spread the exact revelation that they received (1 John 1:1-3). Reading or hearing of the Scriptures then is the only way by which special revelation can be known (Rom 10:14-15).
The authority associated with these two different kinds of revelation is notably different. The authority of general revelation is restricted to judgment of those who reject it (Rom 1:28). The authority of special revelation is specific and comprehensive to enable belief and obedience (Acts 17:30; 2 Tim 3:15-17). The one can only judge, the other gives life!
What should you do with Divine revelation? The question each one of us needs to ask is how well we are submitting to God’s revelation now, for one day all will be wholly subjected to God’s revelation.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
Thankful for God’s undeniable self-revelation!