Listening to God

When we became Christians, we entered a new relationship. One of the crucial elements of any relationship is communication, both speaking and listening.

Revelation: God making himself known to us

Revelation is God speaking, so that we can listen to Him. When God speaks to us we hear Him in 2 basic ways...

1. General Revelation

2. Specific Revelation

1. General Revelation

It's information about God available to all people, all of the time. This is God speaking to all people who are able to hear what God has to say.

Romans 1:19-20

19.) "Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

20.) For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (NIV)

In Romans 1:19-20, Paul is saying that in creation, God is clearly and plainly speaking and that everyone who has ever lived, regardless of time and place, has been able to hear this particular voice of God just by looking at and thinking about creation. We are able to see in this verse 3 things that God has been telling everyone. First, He's been telling everyone about His power. Second, He's been telling everyone about His divinity (Divinity means separate from creation, God is not a part of creation, creation does not hold the key to it's own existence, but that the creator of creation lies outside of creation.) Third, everyone knows God exists, otherwise they couldn't know His power and His divine nature.

Paul is saying that in creation, God has been speaking, proclaiming to all people that He exists, that He is powerful, and that He is separate from creation, and all people have able to hear this message. We're able to see the same theme in Psalm 19. This Psalm is a celebration of God's revelation. In verse 1 we're able to see that through creation, God is speaking. He's proclaiming not only His existence, but His power and divinity - His invisible attributes (v.1- v.4).

We need to learn to listen and respond to what God is saying generally through His creation. To listen to God we need to pay attention to His voice in creation. An example of not paying attention to His voice in creation would be, "The ocean is beautiful." in this example we're just paying attention to the creation, but not the creator. Instead we should pay attention to His voice in creation like this, "The ocean is beautiful because a beautiful God created it." This is both appreciating the creation and the creator. We're listening to God by paying attention to the beautiful ocean He created.

However, we need to keep in mind that General Revelation doesn't have the capability of teaching us that salvation is by grace through faith. This type of information is given through specific revelation.

2. Specific Revelation

This is information about God available only to some people some of the time. This is only what God wants specific people to hear. It's the technical name for the Bible. Through the Bible we hear God speak to us, even if other people in different times and places aren't able to hear the same thing.

The Bible is divided into 2 parts, the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament consists of 39 books. It tells us the story of creation up to 400 B.C. The New Testament consists of 27 books. It picks up the story with Jesus' birth and life.

We as Christians believe in the "inspiration of the Bible meaning the Bible cromes from the very mouth of God. Inspiration is a doctrine primarily concerned with a source (2 Timothy 3:16)

2 Peter 1:20-21

20.) "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.

21.) For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (NIV)

We believe that different men sat down and wrote the Bible, but they were inspired by the Holy Spirit; in other words, the Holy Spirit controlled what they were writing in such a way that they wrote the very words of God.

2 Timothy 3:16

16.) "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," (NIV)

As Christians we also be in the authority of scripture. If the scripture comes from the very mouth of God, it comes with God's authority. Therefore when we go teach, rebuke, correct someone, we don't use human words to do it nor human wisdom. We use the very words of God. The doctrines of inspiration and authority are closely tied together. We need to understand that the Bible does not compete with anyone for authority because God doesn't compete with anyone at all. Scripture alone is our source of authority, our source of truth, and our source of guidance. We go to this book because we believe it comes from the very mouth of God.

We believe the Bible is trustworthy. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would cause them to remember everything He taught them; we believe this. The Bible is a faithful witness to what Jesus taught; a faithful witness to the growth of the early church and a faithful witness to what the Apostles taught. In the Old Testament prophets say, "Thus saith the Lord," we believe that the words that came out and the words written down truly came from the mouth of God. We believe the Bible is trustworthy and that means it doesn't contradict itself.

So... What do we do with the Bible?

1. Read it!

Healthy relationships require healthy communication therefore to have a healthy relationship with out God we need to communicate. This is partially done by listening to Him by reading what He said. We're the bride of Christ so we must establish an intimate relationship with Him. We must set aside time for Him. If we don't read the Bible, how will we know what is truly best for us? We won't know what God is asking of us if we don't read the Bible. In order to understand the Bible we must ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom.

2. Meditate On It!

Meditate on the Bible. We must mull over the scripture even if it doesn't make sense at first. Christian meditation is filling your mind with things of God.

Psalms 1:2-3

2.) "but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

3.) That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers." (NIV)

Scripture promises that you'll be blessed if you meditate on God's word (v.2). A blessed person looks like verse 3 of Psalms 1.

3. Memorize It!

It's worth it to have God's truth on the tip of our tongues. When we memorize scripture, our minds begin to be so saturated with the words of God.

Psalms 119:11

11.) "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (NIV)

How will we know what sin is unless we have stored up scripture in our minds. So that when we face temptation, we can recall how Jesus responded when He faced temptation.

4. Obey It!

When we know scripture, but don't obey it, there's a biblical word for that, "a fool"

In Matthew 5, the sermon on the mount, Jesus had said, "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." It doesn't do us any good to know scripture if we don't obey it because then we don't put it into practice.

5. Trust It!

If we read the Bible, learn it, and obey it, we're going to begin to trust it. Obeying means growing in our trust; it means we begin to transform. Transformation is the ultimate goal; we want to be more and more like Jesus. We want to be transformed in His image with ever-increasing glory.

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