Psalm 19 describes God’s communication as taking two quite different forms: (1) ‘the heavens … the skies’ (v.1), and (2) ‘the law … testimony … precepts … commandment … fear … [and] rules of the LORD’ (vv.7-9).

Different Kinds of Knowledge

In the first, messages from God are continually carried through nature, the natural world, by the created order. The created order by its harmony and sustenance of human existence points beyond itself towards its Creator. In that way, it witnesses to and declares ‘the glory of God’ (Psa 19:1-6). God’s ‘invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made’ (Rom 1:20). But we need to note that the Bible speaks of this knowledge of God revealed in the created order in terms of our willful, sinful blindness to it (Rom 2:18-23). We suppress the truth, and have become fools, who have ‘exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things’ (Rom 2:23). Psalm 19, with its positive affirmation of how creation speaks of the Creator, was not written by a pagan philosopher, but a believer whose eyes have been opened by the second form of God’s communication. It is common to call this first, everyday Divine communication ‘general’ or ‘natural’ revelation.¹Thanks are due to Robert Doyle for much help developing the material in these paragraphs.

In the second, God discloses himself through means of language, in speech, words, and writing — by the prophets, the authors of the books of the Old and New Testaments, the apostles, and above all, by God’s Word himself, incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this revelation, and this alone which overcomes our foolish, self-willed, sinful blindness. It is this revelation which opens our minds and eyes to see God as he really is. The second form is usually called ‘special’ or ‘supernatural’ revelation. So Calvin:

‘First in order came that kind of knowledge by which one is permitted to grasp who that God is who founded and governs the universe. Then that other inner knowledge was added, which alone quickens dead souls, whereby God is known not only as the Founder of the universe and the sole Author and Ruler of all that is made, but also in the person of the Mediator as the Redeemer.’²Calvin, Institutes, 1.6.2; 70-71.

Two foundational aspects of this revelation need to be noted. First, it is Christ-focussed. God’s redemptive self-revelation witnessed to in the Old and New Testaments is centred on Christ (Luke 24:25-27; John 5:39, 46; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15), who is the Word of God himself, become flesh. Although revelation is a triune event, from the Father and in and through the Spirit, we have to say that Jesus Christ is the revelation of God. If we ask, ‘what or who is supremely revealed?’, the answer comes back: the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 17:28-30; 1 Cor 1:7; 2 Thess 1:6-7; 1 Peter 1:13). He is both the revealer of God and the revelation of God — he who has seen him has seen the Father (John 14:6; Matt 11:27; cf. Titus 2:11-14). He is both instrument and content. He is indeed the Logos.

Second, it is ultimate. As well as a present objectivity, revelation also has a final –eschatological – objectivity. Revelation is dynamic and effective. It means not only that we have a written deposit (2 Tim 1:13-14) but that the biblical presentation of revelation expects God’s speech to produce a result, the hardening or softening of hearts (Heb 4:12; 2 Cor 2:14-17; Isa 55:11). On the Last Day all the earth will acknowledge that God is God, and Jesus is Lord. As Paul puts it, ‘now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known’ (1 Cor 13:12). Since the Christ-focussed, ultimate, and effective nature of this form of revelation alone brings redemption, it stands in sharp contrast to ‘general revelation’.

All True Knowledge of God Has the Same Source

However it is gathered, and whatever terminology we use, all true knowledge of God has the same source, God’s self-revelation. According to Psalm 19, God’s ‘glory’ — the combined manifestation of his greatness — is declared, proclaimed, spoken, voiced, in two complementary yet distinct ways. Article 2 of The Belgic Confession offers this summary:

‘first, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God, namely, his eternal power and Godhead, as the Apostle Paul saith (Rom 1:20). All which things are sufficient to convince men, and leave them without excuse. Secondly, he makes himself more clearly and fully known to us by his holy and divine Word; that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his glory and our salvation.’³The Belgic Confession, Article 2. The Creeds of Christendom. Volume 3. The Evangelical Protestant Creeds, ed. Philip Schaff (repr. Baker Book House, 1985), 384.

So there is, first, God’s general, everyday, universal communication of his existence and his attributes, particularly of goodness, power, and wisdom. Its goal is the knowledge of God as first and final cause, i.e., as Creator. Here God is understood to speak indirectly, through secondary or ‘natural’ processes. This is Augustine: ‘even leaving aside the voice of the prophets, the world itself, by the perfect order of its changes and motions, and by the great beauty of all things visible, proclaims by a kind of silent testimony of its own both that it has been created, and also that it could not have been made other than by a God ineffable and invisible in greatness, and ineffable and invisible in beauty.’⁴Augustine, The City of God, 11.4; trans. Dyson, 453. And here is Jonathan Edwards: ‘the things of the world are ordered [and] designed to shadow forth spiritual things … The silkworm is a remarkable type of Christ, which, when it dies, yields us that of which we make such glorious clothing.’⁵‘Beauty of the World’ (1725) and ‘Images of Divine Things’ (1728), in A Jonathan Edwards Reader, ed. Harry Stout et al (Yale University Press, 1995), 14-17. Then there is, second, God’s exclusive, particular, special communication through historical speech, acts, events, people, prophets, and writings, plus the accurate reception and understanding of them. Here, God speaks directly, articulately, extensively, using language, set out in a limited collection of written texts, providing clear information — authorized commentary — explained in very fine detail. ‘Special revelation’ has an essentially redemptive purpose. It is knowledge of God as Saviour and Lord that special revelation brings. This culminates with the incarnation of the eternal Word and Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is God speaking and acting in Person. God’s ultimate special revelation is to unite his very being — Deity — with our very being — humanity — in one Person, revealing himself, as it were, from the inside. In that way, we come to give him the glory that is his due, as we address him as ‘Our Father’ (Matt 6:9-13).

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• 1
  Thanks are due to Robert Doyle for much help developing the material in these paragraphs.
• 2
  Calvin, Institutes, 1.6.2; 70-71.
• 3
  The Belgic Confession, Article 2. The Creeds of Christendom. Volume 3. The Evangelical Protestant Creeds, ed. Philip Schaff (repr. Baker Book House, 1985), 384.
• 4
  Augustine, The City of God, 11.4; trans. Dyson, 453.
• 5
  ‘Beauty of the World’ (1725) and ‘Images of Divine Things’ (1728), in A Jonathan Edwards Reader, ed. Harry Stout et al (Yale University Press, 1995), 14-17.