Message One—Three Layers in the Divine Revelation of the Bible
1 Tim 2:4 Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.
2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Three Layers in the Divine Revelation of the Bible
There are three layers in the divine revelation of the Bible. We all know that anything that is noble and valuable is not simple but has more than one layer. …There are three layers in the divine revelation of the Bible, and the kind of person we are determines what we receive when we read the Bible. The level at which we are determines the level of revelation we will find in the Bible.
The First Layer—the Gospel and Salvation of God
In the Bible the first layer of the divine revelation is the gospel and salvation of God. When Adam fell, God came to preach the gospel to him, saying, “Her [the woman’s] seed…will bruise you [Satan] on the head” (Gen. 3:15). After Adam fell, he both hated and feared the serpent. God promised Adam that the seed of the woman, Christ, who would be born of a virgin, would bruise the head of the serpent, Satan. At the fullness of time Christ Himself took on a body of flesh and blood to destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14).
Later, God preached the gospel to Abraham, saying, “In you [in your seed] all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b; Gal. 3:8). The promise God gave to Abraham was the gospel He preached to him. God preached the gospel not only to the patriarchs but to the Old Testament saints as well, saying, “Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation” (Isa. 12:3).
In the New Testament we see the same thing. The redemption that Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection is not only for man, the chief object among all of God’s creation, but also for the entire creation. This is the reason that the Lord charged the disciples to “go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation” (Mark 16:15) because our Savior God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4).
The Second Layer—the Blessing and Prosperity of God
The second layer of the divine revelation in the Bible is the blessing and prosperity of God. God is a God of blessing. He continually blesses His people. In the Old Testament, God’s blessing to the people of Israel was threefold. Numbers 6:24-26 says, “Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” Here we have the threefold blessing of the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The first is the blessing of the Father: the Father blesses us and keeps us. The second is the blessing of the Son: the Lord Jesus makes His face shine upon us and is gracious to us; He is light and grace to us. The third is the blessing of the Spirit: the Spirit lifts up His countenance upon us and gives us peace; the Spirit is the presence of God with us, bringing with Him peace. This blessing of the Divine Trinity is not related mainly to material things; it is related mainly to the Triune God being gracious to us, appearing to us, and being seen by us.
In the Old Testament, God promised blessing to those who honor their parents, saying, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be extended upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.” (Exo. 20:12). In Deuteronomy 28:3-6 we see the blessing promised by God to the children of Israel: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your animals, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”
When we come to the New Testament, we see another threefold blessing of the Divine Trinity given by God to the believers. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit speak of the Triune God being with us as our blessing. The grace of the Lord is the Lord Himself as our life for our enjoyment. The love of God is God Himself as the source of the Lord’s grace, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit Himself as the transmission of the Lord’s grace with the love of God to be our portion. When we partake of, experience, enjoy, and receive this processed Triune God, we have the blessing.
In the New Testament also, God promises blessing and longevity to those who honor their parents: “Honor your father and mother…that it may be well with you [that you may receive the blessing] and that you may live long on the earth” (Eph. 6:2-3). In 1 Corinthians 3:21-22 God promises blessing to the believers, saying, “All things are yours, whether…the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all are yours.” Third John 2 says, “Concerning all things I wish that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.”
The Third Layer—the Economy and Dispensing of God
The third layer of the divine revelation in the Bible is the economy and dispensing of God. Most Christians can readily understand and accept the first layer, God’s gospel and salvation, and the second layer, God’s blessing and prosperity. In preaching the gospel, most people tell others that if they believe in Jesus, their sins will be forgiven, and they will enjoy blessing and peace in this life and eternal bliss in the life to come. Most believers remain in the second layer, but God does not want us to remain there.
After we believe in the Lord, we may experience blessing and peace initially. But gradually, the situation will change. All those who have believed in the Lord can testify that the Lord is indeed with us and is keeping us. But at the same time we also experience many trials, sicknesses, and sufferings. With every blessing there is also some amount of vexation. Without the blessing there would be no vexation. Having children is a blessing; however, it is also a vexation. Does anyone continually enjoy blessing, prosperity, and peace? If a man desires only blessing without desiring God, in the end all the blessings will become bitter. We must turn from God’s blessing and prosperity to God Himself. We are not here for blessing and prosperity but for God Himself and for His economy and dispensing. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” All things here refers to all men, all events, and all matters. It includes the good things as well as the adverse things. It includes the good children as well as the bad children. All things work together for good to those who love God. Good here, according to the context, does not refer to physical people, events, or things. Rather, it refers to the increase of Christ within us, with the result that we experience a metabolic change and are conformed, ultimately, to the image of the firstborn Son of God, which is the entrance into the full sonship. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Economy and Dispensing of God,” msg. 1)
