CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
REVELATION OF SCRIPTURE
Know: To gain knowledge of the ways in which God reveals Himself to us, especially in the
Scriptures
Be: Become more appreciate and attentive to the scriptures
Do: To study the scriptures with greater awareness of the story of God and the world, and His
self-revelation
Opening exercise: What caused you to believe in the existence of
God? What is the cost of not knowing the true God?
The danger of not knowing God: Lost purpose
● The meaning of purpose is “the reason for which something is created”
● To know for what reason something is created, one needs to seek it’s creator.
● Therefore, a human's purpose is not found within yourself but from identifying with our
creator.
The danger of not knowing the true God: Idolatry
● Many people create their own god to suit their whims and fancies
● We are not given that luxury in Scriptures. We don’t have the freedom to create a god
we like. God determines if you will know him, how you will know him and what means
you will know him.
Words of Jesus: And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
Westminster confession: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
J I Packer, in his very helpful book gives four effects of knowing God? (Not knowing about God,
but knowing God)
1. Those who know God have great energy for God (Daniel 11:32)
2. Those who know God have great thoughts of God (Daniel 2:20-22)
3. Those who know God show great boldness for God (Acts 5:29/Daniel in the den)
4. Those who know God have great contentment in God (Rom. 5:1/Daniel 3:15-18)
How does God reveal himself?
CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
We know God through Revealing himself was a primary reason why it says that when he
created man, he created man in His image. This means God created man with the capability
and capacity to commune with Him. To know him. But how does God reveal himself?
The Christian faith is founded on the truth that the God, the creator has revealed himself. To
reveal means to “uncover” or to “unveil”. This means that God has taken the initiative in
revealing or uncovering himself.
General Revelation
God reveals himself to everyone everywhere through general revelation. General revelation
includes creation, common grace and conscience. (Driscoll, 38)
Creation
● “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In
them he has set a tent for the sun,” (Psalm 19:1, 4)
● “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole
earth is full of his glory!”” (Isaiah 6:3)
● “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his 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. So they are without excuse.”(Romans 1:19-20)
● Further reading: Psalm 104, Psalm 8:1; Romans 1:20; Romans 2:14-15; Acts 14:17
● This is why even those who are in the deep jungles are drawn to something in worship.
The intelligent design of this world is a witness to an intelligent and grand creator.
Common grace (Augustine AD 354-430)
Not only this world has come to being amazingly, but this world is being sustained
God's common grace is the good he distributes to all human kind regardless of their goodness
(water, food, sun rain). In his goodness he allows, even those who do not honor him to to learn
and make gains in areas of study and vocation, live seemingly moral lives and the joys that
come with it.
● “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you
provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.” (Psalm 65:9)
● “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on
the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)
● “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from
heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”” (Acts
14:17)
Conscience
Internally God has set the conscience as a mother means through which he reveals himself. It’s
an inner moral compass.
CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
● “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they
are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work
of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their
conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Romans 2:14-15)
● The Holy Spirit's conviction: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning
sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:8-11)
● Conscience as moral compass: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to
those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11)
This is general revelation and through this means God reveals the truth about himself, however
men suppress this truth which results in the well deserved damnation. General revelation which
expresses his goodness is to lead people to repentance (“Or do you presume on the riches of
his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead
you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
Those who honor general revelation receiving God’s special revelation of the Gospel (EG
Muslims who get dreams and visions)
Let’s get to sharing: what is the way we get to know about his
character?
Special Revelation
Though special revelation is good and true it is not sufficient for a sinner to be saved from His
sin and enjoy God fully. The scriptures are God’s revelation of God and His plan for us.
What the scriptures are not:
● It’s not a bunch of random stories collected over the centuries - the careful reader of the
scriptures sees that the scriptures are a revelation of one story - His story
CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
● It’s not an apologetic book (defending the faith), it’s not a book that primarily focuses on
setting arguments against scientific or atheistic claims.
● It’s not a book of rules or instructions with which one could attain a better standard of
living.
The Bible is God’s story - It’s purpose: Salvation (2 Tim
3:16)
From Genesis to Revelation, the careful reader finds a single story - God’s grace in reconciling
sinners to Himself through Jesus Christ for His glory. It is here that God’s character is revealed.
Reading through this story it becomes evident the Lord’s attributes.
This grand story is divided into epochs (era), these are not marked by the rise and fall of
empires, dynasties or civilizations, but four major events: the creation, fall, the redemption, the
consummation (Completion).
● But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they
believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him
unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?
That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring
good news!”Romans 10:14-15 NLThttps://bible.com/bible/116/rom.10.14-15.NLT
Creation
● The scriptures are plain about God being the creator of the universe, and this He created
out of nothing (Genesis 1:1). This creation is good in God’s eyes.
● As the climax or crown of His creation He creates humankind in His own image (Genesis
1:26-27)
● To be created in the image or likeness of God mean (JS, Issues 62):
○ God created us rational and moral - with the capacity to understand and
respond to God’s commands
○ God created us responsible - with the capacity to exercise dominion over nature
○ God created us social - with the capacity to love and be loved
○ God created us spiritual - finding the highest fulfillment in knowing and
worshipping their creator
● Fall
○ Genesis 3 shows the fall of man from this state.
○ The scriptures reveal a wicked creature who deceives man. Man listens to the
lies of Satan over the truth of God. Man chooses to listen to the lie of Satan than
man can live without God or independently of God and desires it.
○ This is what we call Sin - Man rebellion for independence. This is still at work in
man. Sin has continued to cause the above tragedies in every generation.
CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
○ Man who was created by Gods to live like God for God is now driven out of the
garden (representing a place of fellowship with God) and lives without God. This
fall results in several tragedies:
■ Alienation from God
■ Skewed Human relationships
■ Pain enters the world
■ Ground is cursed because of man
○ Man rebellion for independence. This is still at work in man. Sin has
continued to cause the above tragedies in every generation. Man is need of
rescue and redemption from this state of depravity.
● Redemption
○ Though Man rebels against God, God in His mercy sets out His grand plan to
redeem them. God could have abandoned Man to be forever lost or destroyed
Man altogether. But God chooses to redeem Man.
○ God promises this redemption in the same chapter Man sins against Him.
○ Genesis 3:15 - God promises someone who will comes to crush the head of the
serpent
○ This plan took clear shape as God made covenants with Man:
■ First covenant: Noah’s (Not to wipe out Man because of his sin)
■ Second covenant: Abrahams (to bless him and through him to bless all
the nations)
■ Third Covenant: Israel (God would bless them and make them a light to
the nations)
■ Forth Covenant: David (God promised an everlasting king to sit on the
throne to rule in righteousness)
○ All these covenants find its fulfillment in Jesus, Son of God who took on flesh and
gave His life as a ransom for the sinner. And now makes a new covenant through
His blood.
● Consummation/completion
○ The last era is God completing all that He has promised. All the prophecies from
the old and new testaments.
○ Completion In the Bible is not an end to all things but a new beginning or new
creation where the effects of Sin and sun itself will be done away. It’s presence
no more.
○ Some of it include: Everlasting life with God, freedom from the penalty, power
and presence of Sin, deliverance from the effects of sin such as sickness and
sorrow.
○ Read Revelation 21
Jesus as the full Revelation of God
CCS_LECTURE NOTES BY VASANTH YATHAVARAJ
1. “Anyone who has seen me,” Jesus said, “has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
2. Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of the Father. “No one has ever seen God, but the
one and only Son [Jesus]…has made him known” (John 1:18).
3. Hebrews 1:1-3 - God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by
the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high,
Sources:
Issues facing Christians today, John Stott.
Doctrine, Mark Driscoll.
