Revelation Through Presence

I am really excited that you are able to join us today for week 2 of our series Undeniable Revelation. In this series we are focusing on the good news that our God has revealed himself to us in powerful and undeniable ways. Each week we will be looking at a different way we can know God and what it means for us to engage in the work of making him known to those who don’t know Him.

Recap

Last week, our lesson was God’s Apocalypse. If you were here with us you might remember that we spent time focusing on looking at Genesis 1 and Romans 1, seeing how in God’s Creation he is able to be known. For example in reeding about when God created the Waters and the skies we saw that God brought peace to the chaos waters, showing us that God is a God of peace and order. And because of this general revelation, all will be held accountable for how God has made himself known through creation around us, and the fact that God has created us in his image

Revelation Through Presence

This week our lesson is “Revelation Through Presence”

Yet again we will be going from Genesis to Revelation in one lesson!

But as we focus on how the God who created the universe wants to be present with us we will see that God doesn’t just step away at creation to let us figure it out by ourselves, rather he works and is active in revealing himself to us today.

There are many different people out there who believe in a supreme being that created the world, but then steps back to let the world run on itself. It is actually pretty common for people to believe in a God who creates, but Our God, the one and only God reveled to us in the Bible is a God who creates and continues to be active in our lives today.

This is one of the key themes of the whole book of Genesis, that God is a God who Longs to be present with his image bearers, and this isn’t something that he has to do, as soon as Adam and Eve sinned he had all the right to walk away, to restart. But what is God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin?

He calls out to them Where are you? God is wanting to be present with his image bearers, and it even says earlier in this passage that

Genesis 3:8 CSB

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

This shows us that God walked in the garden he was present with his image bearers from the beginning, and was his ultimate plan,

but it’s here that we also se the first result of broken relationship between God and humans. The most immediate scar that was left from sin was Man’s turning away (or hiding) from the presence of the Lord.

This theme would then continue throughout Genesis as God talks with Cain, Then in

Genesis 5:21–24 CSB

21 Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. 22 And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

Here Enoch breaks the mold of what is normal in this long list of genealogies which shows us that it is becoming less and less common for God to walk or talk with his image bearers, so these quick obscure verses show us that as mankind has developed this pattern of presence has become something less common as people continue to choose to no longer seek God’s presence. However, this mold reminds the reader of what God longs for, as this clearly breaks the mold of the progression of God’s special creation.

Then, Skipping all the way to Exodus we finally see God furthering and establishing his presence in a real way as God Tabernacles (or dwells) amongst his people.

Exodus 25:8–9 CSB

8 “They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them. 9 You must make it according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings.

God was coming to live with his people. As they wandered through the wilderness, they were not alone. God was with them on their way to the Promised Land… this fulfilled the promise of the covenant, in which God declared that he would be with his people to be their God.”

This would then eventually translate to the establishment of the temple, which were not the ideal means of God being present with his people, but it was a start, and a foretaste of what was to come.

God Reveals Special Revelation through his presence

Now, before we get to the good stuff. We have established the idea and thought of God’s presence, but why is it important? Well, while Creation reveals a lot about who God is, God is able to Reveal to his image bearers special revelation that teaches us about who God is in ways that are beyond looking at nature and knowing that we reflect God’s image. Reflections can be a good way to look at something, but looking at the real deal will always be better.

And God wants us to know him better, more fully, and deeper. So this is a key reason why God becomes present and walks with his people in unique ways. There are three example in Genesis that we will look at in our small groups, but keep in mind that God always has a purpose when he is present with his people.

God has and will accomplish a fullness of presence

Now, as we pick back up at the temple, we see the exile and the temple being destroyed. and while it was rebuilt it was never quite the same. But as we turn to the new Testament we see the greatest example of God Dwelling with his people.

John 1:14 CSB

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus, who is both fully God and fully Man dwelt with mankind.

The temple then was just a visual aid on how God wants to dwell with his people

Jesus is God actually coming in the flesh to dwell with his people.

-Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 6:16 CSB

16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Humans then who have declared Jesus as Lord will recieve the Holy Spirit making us a mini temple, where we get to dwell with the Lord, but also be used as a tool to help him be known to others.

This Leads to the fullness of time as recorded in John’s revelation

Revelation 21:1–4 CSB

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

This is Good News, the God who created the universe Longs to be with his image bearers. And he has accomplished it in Jesus, and is accomplishing it through us if we are obediant. It goes to show us that God is always in all situation bad or good longing to be present with us and if we would lean into that, then we would be able to know God deeply and fully.

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