Have you ever been reading a passage of scripture that you’ve read many times before that suddenly becomes more real to you, to the extent that it really makes you take a step back to think about it or study it in more depth?
Some people call this a revelation. A verse is impactive and inspirationally alive to them when previously it had not meant as much to them as it does on this occasion.
Of course, the real revelation is in the original composition of the scripture. Everything about scripture is a living factor that can produce faith in the heart of the hearer or reader. There is literally a dynamic to the Word that is quickened to our spirit.
Realisation
What we are experiencing is a realisation of the revelation. It is coming to life in our heart, mind and will. The revelation was always present, ever since the Holy Spirit gave it to the writer. It is only now that it becomes a reality to the hearer.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Everything about scripture has that dynamic of realisation to the person of faith. Our spirit catches it. It opens our spiritual mind to what God is saying to us. When we are born again we are given the capacity through the regenerated spirit to understand the things of the kingdom of God (John 3:5-8).
God’s Word was sent with the capability of performing His will through His people as they apply it to their lives and circumstances. It is living, active and powerful (Hebrews 4:12).
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
Isaiah 55:10-11
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
None of us knows all scripture, but the Law, which is the entirety of the Word of God, is inscribed in our new heart when we are saved (Heb.10:16), and it comes alive when it is matched with hearing the report availed to us in its reading or hearing.
The Word is the revelation. The hearing is the understanding of the report.
Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:16b-17
Faith comes. Faith comes alive. How? Through hearing the report. What is the report? It is the Word of God. it is specifically recorded in Isaiah 53, which reveals the substitutionary act of God through His Son Jesus.
In Romans 10:16-17, Paul is quoting from Isaiah 53:1, and we should read the rest of that chapter to receive an understanding of the report we are to believe. It is the key to salvation.
There is a dynamic of revelation to the Word. It is from God. He sent His Word through the Prophets, and that Word has the dimension of revealed knowledge from God for all who will believe.
Spirit of revelation
Paul’s prayer was that we would receive the realisation of the revelation.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Ephesians 1:15-21
One long sentence with so much we could unpack, but for now notice that he is speaking of the ‘eyes of our understanding’ being opened, and that God will give us ‘the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.’
This word for ‘revelation’ is apokalypsis. It means ‘an appearing,’ ‘a manifestation,’ ‘a disclosure of truth or instruction.’ It is a revealing.
We have taken the word ‘apocalypse’ and made it into a completely different theme, changed the meaning of the original definition of the word from a revelation, or renewed understanding, to a major event, a momentous or catastrophic occurrence.
True revelation
This is mainly because the Book of Revelation speaks of epic events in the lead up to what will be the end of the world, the climax of time as we know it, and the beginning of the post-world era with God.
However, the word apokalypsis refers to the prophetic revelation, not what the revelation reveals. The apokalypsis is the revealing of the events. God reveals these future occurrences through the Apostle John. It is actually translated ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev.1:1).’
Remember that we are living in what the Bible calls the end times, or the last days. But the actual meaning of apokalypsis is a revealing, a seeing of something that we have not previously known, especially of divine revelation or understanding of the prophecies in the Word of God.
It is the opening of the understanding to the revealed truth given to us by God; what we are calling here a realisation of the revelation of God. The revelation is written, the realisation is received. The revelation is unchangeable, the realisation is the understanding of God’s truth.
So the actual revelation is already in place. The realisation of that revelation is yet to take place initially until we gain the understanding of it, and, as we continue to study and live according to the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to instruct us, we will receive that realisation and the revelation will become clear to us.
The more we read, study and apply the Word, which is the revelation and the testimony of Christ, the more we will understand and know of Him and His will for our lives.
