The Doctrine of Christ

LESSON TWO The Revelation of God in Nature, in Providence, and in the Written Word

1. The visible creation is a channel for the revelation of the invisible. Romans 1:20. TDOC 6.1

2. The heavens testify of God. Psalm 19:1. TDOC 6.2

3. The earth and every living thing teach concerning God. Job 12:7-10. TDOC 6.3

4. The operations of nature are the acts of a personal God. Job 36:26-33; Jeremiah 10:12, 13; Acts 14:17; Job 26:7-14. TDOC 6.4

5. God reveals himself in his control of the affairs of men. Daniel 4:17, 25, 32; 2:21; Deuteronomy 4:34, 35; Acts 13:17-22; 17:26; Isaiah 45:1-7. TDOC 6.5

6. The revelation through the written word is the basis of certainty. Luke 1:1-4. TDOC 6.6

7. The written word is the interpreter both of nature and of providence. John 15:1; Luke 21:29-31; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Galatians 4:22-26. TDOC 6.7

NOTES: The testimony of nature

“While the works of nature may arouse us to devotional feelings, they cannot guide our devotions. They but give evidence of the existence of an almighty Designer, but they cannot reveal him to us.” TDOC 6.8

The failure of reason apart from a written revelation

“Confined in our views to the present state, and to observation alone, or merely to reason without a written revelation, it is impossible to vindicate the justice of the controlling power, whether that power be called God or nature.” TDOC 6.9

Nature under the curse provides only an inadequate revelation,

“All created things, in their original perfection, were an expression of the thought of God.”-Education, 16, 17. TDOC 6.10

“Nature still speaks of her Creator. Yet these revelations are partial and imperfect. And in our fallen state, with weakened powers and restricted vision, we are incapable of interpreting aright. We need the fuller revelation of himself that God has given in his written word.”-Education, 17. TDOC 6.11

“God saw that a clearer revelation than nature was needed to portray both his personality and his character. He sent his Son into the world to reveal, so far as could be endured by human sight, the nature and the attributes of the invisible God.”-Testimonies for the Church 8:265. TDOC 6.12

“Apart from Christ we are still incapable of interpreting rightly the language of nature. The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his efforts to read nature correctly. Of himself he cannot interpret nature without placing it above God.” Testimonies for the Church 8:257. TDOC 7.1

The value of the written revelation

“The written word of God is the grand medium of revealing to us his will and ways. It penetrates the ages of a put eternity, and unveils the glories of that which is to come. It opens out to our adoring view the mysteries of the divine name. It lays bare the most secret workings of the human heart. It reveals the Father; it testifies of the Son; it bears witness of the Spirit. It unfolds the glorious chart of our redemption and salvation. It is history, and law, and poetry, and oratory, and parable, and promise, and prophecy.” TDOC 7.2

“Only the written word of God, confidingly followed in the progressive stops of its advance, can lead the weakest or the wisest into the deep blessedness of the life that is in Christy and into the final glory of the city of God.” TDOC 7.3