Chapter 1
We Are Not Alone: The Miracle of Revelation
The central desire of the human race, it seems, is the need to hear.
Long before we popped in our first pair of cool, white earbuds and turned up our playlist, a common question has echoed in our minds: Does God speak to us? And if so—can he hear us? All around us, people look up at the sky and wonder, Is anyone out there? Receiving a scary diagnosis, navigating the ordinary business of life, entering into the wonder of marriage—in these and many other experiences, we cannot help but look beyond ourselves, and hope for someone bigger than us who can help us make sense of it all.
Humanity has sought communication from God in many forms. In ancient Rome, mystics would carve up the bodies of animals to find the will of God in the guts of goats. Others in the Greco–Roman world consulted oracles to learn what deities would have them do. The ancient Incas practiced human sacrifices in order to appease the gods and be treated well by them. In tribal Africa, witch doctors are believed to share special communion with spirits and powers, functioning as a bridge to the mystical realm.
But it isn’t only these communities who have sought to hear from the otherworld. Our modern society, ordered around ever-improving technology, is equally haunted by the possibility that a divine figure exists. It isn’t surprising that numerous films over the last fifty years—from 2001: A Space Odyssey to E. T. to Interstellar—explore the question of ultimate reality. Is there a divine figure out there, we wonder as we watch, and how may we contact it?
The beauty of Christianity is first this: it gives us an answer to this age–old question. Beginning with the story of creation, the Bible announces that God is real. This God, however, does not merely exist. He has revealed himself. He has created the universe, and he has given us the Bible, a collection of sixty–six books that introduces us to his mind, his will, and preeminently, his Son, Jesus Christ, the God–man, the very Word of God (John 1:1–18).
Unsure where to go and who to trust for answers, our modern world encourages us to turn to ourselves as our own authority. “Believe in yourself!” shout the infomercials. “You can do anything!” say the celebrities. The voice we need to hear, according to our secular world, is our own.
But here is the truth: we need help. We need wisdom beyond us. We struggle to interpret our phone bills and do our taxes, let alone figure out the direction in life God would have us to go. At some point, we all hit a wall. We come to the limits of our own finite understanding, our well– intentioned efforts, and realize in a spasm of insight: we need something more than us.
We need God.
We will see in the pages that follow that the Bible addresses this deep–seated need. God’s Word is not like a fortress, impressive but impenetrable, where none may enter unless they know the secret password. God’s Word offers us testimony about God. In a cold world where true connection is fleeting, the Bible shows us where true love is found. We come to the Scripture with many questions, with objections, and with considerable tumult in our own lives. The great news for the human race is this: God has spoken. Revelation—the gift of God making himself known to confused creatures like us—has come.
The question today for us is this: will we listen?
