God has made it abundantly clear that He wants and has enabled two-way communication between Himself and His creation, mankind. As a matter of fact Jesus said Himself that He knows His own and His people hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:7-21).
Then the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit... Show More
Then in verse 12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
Verse 14
But the natural man (not born-again) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
And finally, in verse 16
For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Now recently we have been talking about how God speaks to us. In Post 8 we introduced the idea of the Illumination of scripture. In Post 9 we talked about the power of “recalled” scriptures as discussed Logos and Rhema Words.
There is a third way in which Jesus reveals, through His Holy Spirit, His truths to us and it is called Personal revelation. Personal revelation is when you have a sudden insight into a truth that you could not have figured out yourself. It is not intellectual understanding, but it is an “ah-ha” moment when you see the truth and have been set free from lies or untruths that have kept you blinded or in bondage. Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31.
A classic illustration of personal revelation in the Bible is when Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ the Messiah in Matthew 16:13-19
Jesus asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So, they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked a pointed question, “But who do you say that I am?”
No one knows for sure, but I am sure there was a pause as each of the disciples tried to formulate an answer. Then Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The importance of that phrase cannot be overestimated, the word Christ is the Greek for the Jewish word Messiah, in English it would be Savior! More astounding was that Peter recognized Jesus as God in the flesh or incarnate.
Then Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven”. Peter had a personal revelation! He didn’t figure it out using logic, he simply knew the truth! The deity of Christ is a truth known only by divine revelation.
Another case of personal revelation concerns “Doubting Thomas” found in John 20:24-29.
The first time the risen Jesus appeared to the Disciples, the disciple Thomas was absent. Later the disciples said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas replies, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas demanded proof before he would believe.
After eight days the disciples were together again, and while Thomas was with them Jesus appeared in the midst, and said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing and Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
In the simple statement, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas understood through personal revelation the deity of Christ.
Now I will agree that seeing the Risen Jesus would help us with our faith in Him, but listen to what verse says, 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Personal revelation is when God through the Holy Spirit gives you the grace to believe (or have faith) in His Truth.
My prayer for you is that you would receive the personal revelation that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
