Revelation

No, I’m not speaking of the apocalypse; I am simply speaking about revelation, about truth, yay, absolute truth.

I had an interesting conversation with a young man the other day from a different faith than mine. He believes that an angelic being spoke to his prophet and gave him another testament of Jesus Christ. In fact, he went so far as to say that “the Bible is a good read, but there is more than just the Bible.” His religion, that of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) believe that the other testament of Jesus Christ is the Book of Mormon. At twenty-one years old, he is fully convinced that he has found ultimate truth in the Book of Mormon and if I would take the time to read it, I, too, could benefit from it and see its results in my life as he has in his.

It’s interesting that he didn’t tell me exactly what the results are that he has found in his life from reading the Book of Mormon. He just finished his two-year missionary journey–not on a bicycle as days of old, but by car. At any rate, I invited him into my home as he was a door-to-door salesman for pest control. I have pests (ants…they drive me insane…nutty…I hate all the ants of the whole world!). I bought his service. Then we had our conversation. I asked him a simple question that he could not really answer: “What is truth?”

He retorted, “Humph, that’s a great question. Let me tell you that I have found truth in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They coincide with each other. You know the Bible has issues, but the Book of Mormon doesn’t.” Of course I don’t believe that and I told him. There are plenty of places that contradict the Bible when you read even portions of the Book of Mormon. But how does he know what truth really is? I have yet to find contradiction in the Scriptures (don’t try to send me what you believe are contradictory remarks; we know scribal error, etc.). Interestingly enough, I asked him the same question no less than three times and he never answered it sufficiently. In reality, I don’t think that this young man knows what truth really is.

Now for those who don’t believe in absolute truth, the burden of proof against absolute truth is not on me but on those who don’t believe. Those who believe in absolute truth already know that there is something other than us that is truth and is absolute. The question though is, “What is truth?” Well, let’s consider just a few things from a logical perspective.

Simply: 2+2=4. There is no other number that the answer can be. Even if you change the addition problem, the answer will still be “4”. For instance: 1+3=4; 0+4=4; 3+1=4, etc. When you multiply 2×2=4. There are no doubt other numbers that you can multiply in fractions that will equal “4” but I’m not mathematical. My point is that there is absoluteness, even for those in California. And if there is absoluteness, then there must be absolute truth. All of us are aware that death is absolute truth. There has never been someone who has come back after being dead for a while except One who was dead for three days and then was raised again. And yet, this young man could not tell me what truth is. I’m not so sure that in his mind he really knows what truth is.

So I shared with him how God has revealed truth. He has revealed truth by giving us His name: “In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). He begins His Word by telling us that He is Almighty and that He is the Creator of all things that are seen and unseen. We see that God has revealed truth in His Word, the Bible: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). And finally, He has revealed truth through His Son, Jesus Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it….And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth….No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:1-5, 14, 18). Moreover, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in may ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Absolute truth has been revealed to all of mankind by God Himself! He has revealed Himself, He has given us His Word, and His final communique is through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ! There is no need for further revelation when Jesus Christ has revealed everything we need to know about who God is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–three Persons in one Godhead. (The Trinity is another post for another day.)

But for what reason would I say that God is absolute truth? Or better still, why would I make the claim that Jesus Christ is absolute truth? The opposite of God cannot be anything that is created. In other words, when someone asks the question, “What is the opposite of God?” the answer cannot be Satan or the devil. He is a created being, he has a beginning and he certainly has an eternity of judgment that will be brought against him. God on the other hand has no beginning and has no ending. He is eternal. Before all of Creation, God existed–three Persons in this One Godhead. Perfect harmony and fellowship existed according to the Scriptures. Therefore, He is the One who establishes absolute truth; you and I do not establish truth let alone absolute truth!

So the opposite of God would be error. Anything that is contradictory to God Himself, to His Word, or to His final communique to mankind, which is the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, then is in error. It is contradictory to what He has revealed. This is revelation. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision (or better translated, revelation), the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.” In other words, they read and believe what the Word of God says, the Bible. It is not the Bible and some other “testament” of Jesus Christ, but the canon itself that has been revealed to be the very Word of God. All else that contradicts the revelation of God to mankind is simply error. God has revealed Himself from the beginning, He has revealed Himself through His Word, the Bible, and finally, He has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ who is Absolute Truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” –John 14:6