II. THE REDEMPTIVE REVELATION It CHRISTIAN Theology takes for granted the reality and the truth of the universal revelation of God. It finds a place in its system for all the doctrines of Natural Theology-such as the divine existence, God's attributes, His providence, and the like-gladly welcoming and appropriating all the light that comes to it from this source. is not, however, chiefly concerned with the general revelation. The distinctive truths of the Christian faith are derived from a higher revelation-a revelation which, though destined for all men, was at first given to only a part of the human race and is even now unknown to the majority of men. This is sometimes called the special revelation to distinguish it from the universal, or the supernatural in contradistinction from the natural. But we best express its distinctive characteristics when we call it the redemptive revelation. It is to this redemptive revelation that I wish to call your attention at the present time. I shall endeavor to show why it has been given, in what it consists, what methods God has followed in making it, through what stages it has run in reaching its culmination in Christ. The proof that it is what it claims to be will be given on another occasion. I. The purpose of this revelation, as the epithet redemptive implies, is redemption, or, as it might with equal truth be stated, the establishment of God's kingdom in a world. of sin. The necessity of such a revelation lies in the fact of sin. In a world of holy beings the natural revelation would suffice for all spiritual and temporal needs. There would be an unobscured vision of God and undisturbed communion with Him. I do not mean to say that there would be no need in such a world of higher and fuller manifestations of God, as the spiritual receptivity of its inhabitants was matured and enlarged. I do not deny the possibility that if our race had remained sinless, the divine Son would have become incarnate for the perfecting of the race-though I confess my utter inability to do more than speculate upon the subject. But there seems to me every reason to believe that in that case the higher revelations would come simply and normally in the line of the natural revelation. They would be a part of it. It would be as it is in the case of the child and the parent. From the first the child stands in full communion with its father and mother. But the parental love is revealed in ever new and higher manifestations as fast as the child's soul is opened to receive them. There is simply an enlargement and development of the original relation. But alas, we do not live in a holy world. It is a sinful world. Every man becomes a sinner so soon as he becomes a responsible actor in the world. That great law of the spiritual universe which Christ has expressed in the words, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," operates in its negative form in every sinner. Because they are impure and sinful they do not see God as He is. He reveals Himself to them, but they do not receive the revelation, or they put a false interpretation upon it. The spiritual eye, instead of being single, is evil, and the whole soul is full of darkness. And this darkness is increased by the fact that not only is the soul shut off from a true knowledge of God by its own sin, but society is permeated with sin and the effects of sin. No man can form his beliefs and opinions in entire indepen dence of his fellow-men. He is inevitably influenced by the beliefs and opinions of those about him, as well as by the prevalent modes of thought, customs, notions of the society in which he lives. Now in a sinful world the sinful social environment tends to obscure the knowledge of God. Herein lies the great power of corrupt religions over their votaries. And then, once more, even nature is no longer the pure medium of the divine revelation. The effects of sin are manifest in the natural world itself. The human body begins its career with an inherited nature that is physically depraved and that is, like the soul in its inherited tendencies to sin, the occasion of sin. The consequences of sin are manifest in various disturbances of material nature. The original nature as it came from the hands of God no longer exists. The creation has been made subject to vanity (Rom. viii. 20). For all these reasons the natural revelation is not sufficient. It furnishes sinful men with neither the knowledge nor the help which they so sadly lack. The view it gives of God is imperfect and distorted. It discloses no relief from the guilt and power of sin. The need of the world lost in sin is for redemption. It is the object of the redemptive revelation to supply this need. God makes Himself known in new aspects and new ways, that thus IIe may deliver the sinful race from all the evils into which it has fallen. Redemption. is a term of very wide import, both negatively and positively. It means not only the salvation of men from the guilt of sin, but the carrying of them forward to that perfect and sinless manhood for which they were created. It means not only the rescue of individuals from an evil world, but the deliverance of the race itself and its attainment of the divine ideal-so that whatever may be the case with individuals, the race as a whole shall be saved. It implies the renovation of all the institutions of society and all the activities of mankind. It will not be com pleted until the natural world is redeemed, "the creation itself also delivered from the bondage of corruption (Rom. viii. 21), including the redemption of the body in the resurrection and the restoration of material nature to its true condition-or more than that, its participation in "the glorious liberty of the children of God." The same great purpose is expressed by the conception of the kingdom of God. In the sinful world God's rightful dominion has been subverted. He rules by His power but not by the free consent of His subjects. Redemption is the reestablishment of His sway. As fast as it advances God's kingdom comes and His will is done in this world of sin. The redemptive revelation is a means to redemption or the establishment of God's kingdom as an end. This is its purpose, its final cause. In all its manifestations it is subordinate to this object. This determines its form and manner, as well as its contents. This explains the fact that it is chiefly concerned with the moral and religious attributes of God, and only incidentally with the metaphysical, physical, and intellectual attributes so fully brought to light by the natural revelation. One point deserves a moment's notice before we leave this branch of our subject. The view just taken of the redemptive revelation may seem to imply that this revelation is an afterthought of God, consequent upon human sin, while the natural revelation expresses the original divine intention. There is indeed an element of. truth here, in so far as sin comes in conflict with the divine ideal, which we must regard as at least logically first in the eternal thought of God. This conception of the redemptive revelation, however, does not give us the whole truth. In God's eternal plan, sin was foreseen and provided for. God knew that the world He created was to be a sinful world. And so while undisturbed holiness might be the ideal, sin and redemption were the determining elements in the divine purpose. The redemptive revelation was no more an afterthought than the natural revelation. God meant that the two should work side by side, both performing their parts in carrying out His great work of salvation. II. We pass now to consider the contents of the redemptive revelation. And here, as in dealing with the natural revelation, we must be on our guard against the notion that revelation consists only or chiefly in doctrinal instruction. This notion, which has been widespread and inveterate, has wrought great confusion in Christian thought, and it has been one of the most meritorious services of modern theology that it has succeeded to so great an extent in supplanting it by a larger and truer conception of the redemptive revelation. That revelation, like all revelation, is a self-manifestation of God, an unveiling of Himself, a disclosure of His being and Hist ways. It gives us not merely a knowledge about God but a knowledge of God. The doctrinal instruction which it contains, and I would not deny that this constitutes one of its important elements, has for its object to bring men directly to God Himself, that they may see Him as He is. There is another misconception, closely related to that just mentioned, which we shall also do well to avoid. This is the identification of the redemptive revelation and the Holy Scriptures. Undoubtedly the Bible is a constituent element of the revelation. It is one of the most important, in some respects the most important, channels through which the revelation of grace comes to us. We may even in a true sense call it itself a revelation of God. But, strictly speaking, the Bible is not the revelation but the record of that revelation. There was a revelation before there was any Bible. It might now exist even if there were no Bible. The Bible is a means and not an end. The end of revelation is the manifestation of God Himself. The Bible is a blessed book to those who find God in it and through it. But, so far as we are concerned, |