The Meaning of Revelation
The
Word APOKALUPSIS means an uncovering, an unveiling. It is sometimes used
in a subjective sense, as in the case of God revealing His mind to the believer
(Philippians 3:15). It is also used in
an objective sense, as when Christ is revealed to the world at His second
coming (Luke 17:30).
When used in speaking of the content of the Bible, the word means primarily the
making known of truth to man which he could never learn through sense
experience alone. It is only in a secondary sense that the word means
enlightenment received from reading the primary revelation contained in the
Bible. For example, it was by direct revelation of Jesus Christ that Paul
received the truth of the mystery (Ephesians
3:3; Galatians 1:12). In a secondary way the
other apostles received this revelation through the instrumentality of Paul’s
preaching and the illumination of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:2; Ephesians 3:5).
It is a general belief that revelation in its primary sense ceased with the
completion of the New Testament canon, and that since that time any divine
truth that comes to man comes from the Bible through the illumination of the
Holy Spirit. It should be pointed out that there is much truth in the Bible for
which there was no need for special revelation, such as historical events which
the writers already knew. Other truths, such as the eternal purpose of God,
could never have been known apart from special revelation.
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