God Revealed

Text: Revelation 15:1-6

 

I.         In the beginning, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God

            A.        God directly interacted with His creation - Genesis 2:15-22

            B.        He walked in the garden - Genesis 3:8

            C.        But they had sinned and that sin - separated them from God - Genesis 3:22-24

            D.        That has remained true - Isaiah 59:1-2

            E.        Yet, God has continued to reveal Himself to mankind

II.        Through the creation

            A.        God is known through what He has made - Romans 1:18-23

                        1.         Notice that results of what God has done show His power and character though we do not observe His direct actions

                        2.         Thus, God is just in His anger at mankind’s purposeful blindness

            B.        The heavens declare the glory of God but not through words - Psalms 19:1-3

            C.        God’s creation reveals purposeful design - Psalms 139:13-16

            D.        The universe contains all physical substance, and yet, we don’t know its size

                        1.         And God’s thoughts are more than the sand in universe - Psalms 139:17-18

III.       Through God’s foresight

            A.        “Providence” comes from a Latin word meaning to foresee and attend to, prepare, and supply. It defined as “a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his creatures” (Princeton’s WordNet).

            B.        All things hold together in Christ - Colossians 1:17

            C.        He upholds all things - Hebrews 1:3

            D.        In other words, the universe continues because God is acting on it

            E.        God governs what happens - Daniel 2:21

            F.        Things happen so that we might know who rules - Daniel 4:17

            G.        God makes use of nations without their knowledge to accomplish His will; yet, God doesn’t remove men’s will to make their own choices - Isaiah 10:5-8, 12-16

            H.        God’s advanced plans for Babylon - Jeremiah 25:8-14

                        1.         A written record was left so we might know that what happened was not an accident

            I.         He even names who will accomplish His desires before they are born and uses them when they don’t even know God - Isaiah 44:28-45:7

            J.         Because it is advanced planning and not directly seen ...

                        1.         We may not be able to pinpoint what God has done - Esther 4:14

                        2.         Or why things happened - Philemon 15-16

                        3.         But we can be confident that God’s hand was in it - Genesis 45:5-7; I Samuel 17:37,46

IV.      Through Christ

            A.        God’s might was revealed but not believed - Isaiah 53:1-3

                        1.         The signs were ignored - John 12:37-38

            B.        Jesus declared God to the world - John 1:18

                        1.         He represented who God is - John 14:9

                        2.         He is the image of God - Colossians 1:15

                        3.         An exact representation - Hebrews 1:3

                        4.         And Christ reveals Him - Matthew 11:27

            C.        He wasn’t formed by God but was God - John 1:1,14

                        1.         He exists eternally - John 8:58

            D.        And by raising him from the dead, God declared to the world who Jesus was - Acts 2:32-36

V.        Though the Bible

            A.        He told the prophets what He planned - Isaiah 22:14

                        1.         He gives people a chance to change - Amos 3:6-8

                        2.         But those prophets also recorded what God said so we stand in awe when it happens

                        3.         All the prophets bear witness - Acts 10:39-43

            B.        God has revealed His salvation - Psalms 98:1-2

            C.        Will you accept the evidence or ignore it?