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The Heavens Declare, Part 2 … (August 2025 Update) 

How can we know about God? Theologians tell us that there are two main ways we can learn about God. The first, is through General Revelation. The other is called Special Revelation. When we talk about God’s revelation, we say that God has revealed Himself in two ways – through General Revelation and through Special Revelation. General Revelation is primarily through creation. Special revelation is primarily through God’s Word. We will focus on special revelation another time. But, for now, let’s compare and contrast these two ways God reveals Himself. 

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The Heavens Declare … (July 2025 Update) 

One of the ways we can know about God is through what is called General Revelation. The other way is through Special Revelation which is the Bible.  Through Special Revelation, God specifically reveals His will for us. General Revelation can tell us about the existence of God, but it cannot tell us what that God requires of us. General Revelation shows us that all that exists has come from the hand of a creative God. But General Revelation cannot tell us if that God condemns murder and adultery. That’s why we need Special Revelation. That’s why the Bible is so important! 

But General Revelation is also important. General Revelation is how God reveals Himself to us through creation and through our consciences. But the primary way we know about the existence of God is through creation. That’s why the psalmist puts it this way: “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hand. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world (Psalm 19:1-4). 

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God’s Secret Agents … (June 2025 Update) 

Everyone loves a great spy novel or movie. There is something exciting and mysterious about spies and secret agents. They are accomplishing their work often behind the scenes. To most people, their work is unseen. But their work is crucial to the success of the misson!  

That’s why I love the subtitle of Billy Graham’s book about angels: Angels: God’s Secret Agents. That’s a great title because the work and ministry of God’s angels are usually “secret” or behind the scenes. But the Bible tell us a few things about the purpose of these “secret agents.” The Bible does not give us a list of the reasons why God uses His angels. But here are some possible reasons. 

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“She’s Such An Angel” … (May 2025 Update) 

This past Mother’s Day, many people spoke about their mothers in angelic terms, saying things like, “What an angel my mother was!” Or “my mother is such an angel!” We even use this expression to speak about children and especially little babies. In general, we use this expression to tell how wonderful and special a person is. But, in reality, people are not angels and never will be.  

It is hard to trace the idea of people as angels. It is not found in the Bible though there are many references to people and children being “like the angels” which may have led to the idea that people become angels at death. This idea was popularized in many books and movies, the most popular being the famous Christas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In that movie, ZuZu says, “Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” The whole premise of the movie is based on a character named Clarence who died and became an angel 2nd class. Only when he did some good deed would he get his wings. 

But what does the Bible tell us about angels? Over the next two updates, we will look at a few biblical facts about angels. 

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Was It Not Necessary? … (April 2025 Update) 

When I think of the cross, many terms come to my mind: unbounded love, justice, forgiveness and satisfaction. But one term stands out to me. And it is one that we rarely think about at Easter: necessity. In Luke 24, the risen Christ says to the travelers on the Emmaus Road: “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”  “Was it not necessary?” Jesus asks.   

In English, the word “necessity” means something that is absolutely required, or indispensable. If there was any other way for man to be saved, it would not be necessary for Jesus to die. But there was not. There is no other way. 

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