God Revealed

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me (John 5:39).

Have you ever read a biography? I’m sure that most of you have. If there were a biography written about your life, what would it look like? Who would write it? Would it be exciting? Of course, if you’re less than 30 years old, the biography would probably be quite short!

In one sense, the Bible is a biography of Jesus. He declared that the Scriptures all testify of Himself. Every word, every line, every verse testifies of His character and majesty. That is one reason it is so important for us to read God’s Word; it is through His Word that His character and ways are made known to us. Every believer should have a burning desire to know God, and the way we know Him is through His Word.

Today we will look at three things that God’s Word reveals about Christ. God’s Word…

1) Reveals His life
2) Reveals His truth
3) Reveals His experience

1) God’s Word reveals Christ’s life.
The Pharisees were trusting in the Scriptures to give them eternal life. They were right to study the Scriptures, but they were wrong to ignore the one to which the Scriptures were pointing them. Jesus declared that the Scriptures all testify of Him. He is the Life-Giver. And through the Scriptures we learn how to draw near unto Him and inherit eternal life. The life comes not through the book, but through the One the book is all about-Christ. Let God’s Word point you to Christ and the eternal life with Him that is to come.

2) God’s Word reveals Christ’s truth.
The Bible is completely true. Every word, every phrase comes from God, written through inspired men. The Bible is the objective truth of God. So often, our experiences are subjective. We feel God speaking to us or sense His direction. Perhaps we see a vision. These are wonderful experiences from God, but how can we know that they are really from Him and not ourselves or the enemy? The answer is by testing the revelation against the Word of God. Our subjective experiences must be submitted to the absolute Word of God. That’s another reason why it is so important to know God’s Word, so we can test all spiritual experiences to verify that they are from Him.

3) God’s Word reveals His experience.
We serve a Living God, and He wants us to know Him in a living way. We should know God through experience, but what is the basis that the experience should come from? The Word of God. There are two opposite errors that can be made when it comes to experiencing God, and many Christians fall for one or the other. The first mistake is to assume that knowing the Scriptures, in and of themselves, is enough. In other words, these people deny God’s active involvement in their life and believe He no longer speaks through prophecy, dreams, or visions. This group makes the same mistake as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day; they study God’s Word but never allow it to lead them into relationship with the living Christ. The second trap, however, is equally dangerous. This trap causes many to put so much emphasis on experience that they ignore the Word of God. These people will run after every prophecy, vision, or wind of doctrine that comes by, but have little time to study the Word of God. What they forget is that experience of God comes from knowing His Word. Allow God to fill your head and heart with His Word, and then He will be able to give you experiences with Himself that reinforce what His Word has taught you. Let’s ask God to give us a love for truth and His Word so that we can truly know Him.