As another has said, it is a solemn but blessed thought that God has now been fully revealed. Surely man cannot have any relationship at all with God unless God chooses to reveal Himself. In consequence, the greater the revelation of God, the nearer and more blessed the relationship with Him, but also the greater the condemnation if this revelation is rejected. In the Old Testament God “at sundry times and in divers manners spake . . . unto the fathers by the prophets” (Heb. 1:11God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (Hebrews 1:1)), but it was always and only a partial revelation of God. God has now “spoken to us in Son” (Heb. 1:22Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2) JND) and has chosen to reveal Himself fully through Him, for the good pleasure of the Godhead was that all its fullness should dwell and display itself in Christ.
Man in Relationship
This marvelous fact is at once a wonderful privilege, but also brings man into serious responsibility. To think that God, who is infinite and thus unable to be known by His finite creatures, should choose to reveal Himself in Son, by that Son’s becoming a man and coming into the world! More than this, that revelation had as its object the ultimate blessing of man and the bringing him into a relationship with God that no human mind could ever have thought possible. For those who accept Christ as the revelation of God, the blessing is such that all eternity will not be enough for the display and enjoyment of it.
On the other hand, the full revelation of God only served to bring out more fully the total depravity of the human race and man’s opposition to God as revealed in Christ. Having fully revealed Himself, and in love and grace, too, God (we speak reverently) can do no more. If man rejects love and grace as well as truth (and all this was revealed and fully displayed in Christ), God must then act in judgment, although it is “His strange work” (Isa. 28:2121For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:21)).
For the believer, there are wonderful blessings associated with the full knowledge of God — blessings which are peculiar to Christianity in this time of God’s grace. We would like to mention a few of these, although it is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail concerning these blessings.
God As Our Father
First of all, we are brought into the knowledge of God as our Father. In the Old Testament, God was revealed as God Almighty and as Jehovah — as God Almighty to the patriarchs and as Jehovah to Israel. Neither of these fully represented God’s character to man, but now He has been revealed to the church as Father. It is in connection with God’s revelation as Father that we have eternal life, for while those in the Old Testament surely had new life, the expression “eternal life” was never applied to it. Christ came to reveal the Father, and as the Son, He was the only One able to do so. More than this, since His (Christ’s) work on the cross, He has brought us into that same blessed relationship with the Father. He could say to Mary Magdalene, “I ascend unto My Father, and your Father” (John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)). Prior to this, the Lord Jesus had spoken of “My Father,” “the Father,” and even “your Father,” but in this latter expression there was always the thought of “your heavenly Father.” Now we are free to call God our Father and to enjoy that relationship in all the nearness that Christ has brought us into. There cannot be anything more intimate than this.
But this revelation of God as Father was made by the Son, who became man in order to do this. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)). While the Person of the Son is a divine mystery and will remain so, yet He has fully revealed the Father. As man He walked through this world in company with men, experiencing all the sorrow that sin had brought upon them. He then died for us as a man and, having risen from the dead, will remain a man for all eternity, in order to enjoy our company. Well might the hymn writer say:
What raised the wondrous thought,
Or who did it suggest?
That we, the church, to glory brought,
Should with the Son be blest?
The Divine Revelation
The revelation of God in trinity has occasioned much controversy, not only among unbelievers, but even among Christians. All this ultimately stems from the age-old determination of man to grasp, in divine things, what is beyond his understanding. When he cannot do so, he reduces it to something he can understand. In so doing, he invariably corrupts the truth of God and falls into error. When God is revealed as the Father and the Son, man makes the mistake of reasoning from human relationships to try and understand divine ones, and in doing so always dishonors God and spoils his own enjoyment of what God has given. In human relationships, a father must exist before his son, and the son must be procreated by the father. But in divine relationships, Father and Son coexisted from all eternity — something the natural mind cannot understand. Rather than questioning or trying to understand, it is for us to bow in wonder and adoration! If we start with divine relationships and then go to what is human, God is glorified and man is far more blessed.
In addition to this is the revelation of relationship, for man was formed in the image and likeness of God. In knowing divine relationships, we can better understand human relationships, although they are of necessity inferior, because of the difference between finite and infinite. But the enjoyment of God as Father and Christ as the Son makes us realize that human relationships are patterned on, although not equal to, divine ones. It brings a dimension into our spiritual lives that was not there before and brings a pleasure that could not be known when God was not fully revealed.
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Finally, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He is present here on earth, dwelling in each believer individually and among believers collectively as the house of God. His coming is referred to as “the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:44And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. (Acts 1:4)), and the Lord Jesus could speak of “the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name” (John 14:2626But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)). The entire Trinity is involved in the blessing of the believer. It is by the Spirit of God that we are in direct association with Christ — a risen Christ in glory. The Spirit of God was known in the Old Testament, for it is recorded that He came upon individuals from time to time, enabling them to give out the mind of God and write the Holy Scriptures. However, consequent upon the glorification of Christ at God’s right hand, the Spirit has come down to take His place in this world until the church is called home.
To live during this time when the Spirit of God is here on earth is a tremendous privilege. He is here as the paraclete — one who takes charge of and looks after all of our affairs. He leads us into all truth, reveals the things of Christ to us, and gives us the enjoyment of Christ in our hearts. His ultimate goal is to make us more and more like Christ, for “in beholding . . . the glory of the Lord,” we are “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). He leads and guides both individually and collectively in our lives, for God’s glory and our blessing, whether in worship or service. This is a privilege that was not known before the day of Pentecost, nor will it be known on earth again after the church is called home.
Well may we say, along with another hymn writer:
Blest our portion thus to be
Glorying in the Trinity;
For the gospel from above,
For the word that “God is love.”
W. J. Prost