The Doctrine of Revelation: What is the Bible?

What is the Bible? While we could answer this question in any number of ways, let's simply get to the heart of the matter and say that it is a revelation of the being, glory, and purposes of God for the exaltation of his name and the instruction of peoples and persons. 

The word "revelation" means to unveil or uncover something, and again, God himself is primarily what's unveiled in the pages of the Bible. This unveiling is necessary because, on the one hand, God is very great and beyond our natural and exceedingly limited capacity to understand, and on the other hand, we are sinful and therefore woefully incapable of seeing what we would otherwise be able to see of God (for example, see Isaiah 40:6-31). 

Accordingly, God has made himself known to human beings in two distinct and interrelated ways which we call general revelation and specific revelation. By general revelation we mean the unveiling of God in creation, the natural order, and the ebb and flow of history. By specific revelation we mean the Bible in sixty-six books and two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. 

Over the next two weeks (on Saturdays), I'll say more about the nature and implications of general and specific revelation, but for now let me encourage you to take some time and contemplate the following three things

• The greatness of the being and glory of God 
• The sinfulness of the human heart and human societies 
• The desperate need we have for the general and specific revelation of God if we're to understand the nature of life, self, society, and God himself.