“Throughout history, most cultures and societies have tried to invent, imagine, and construct their own worldviews based on subjective human observations and ideas rather than on accurate divine revelation.”
The ultimate purpose of mankind, as revealed in Scripture, is that men and women were created to flourish in a relationship with their Creator: to enjoy His blessings, to be objects of His love, and in return, to offer Him the honor, devotion, obedience, and worship that He is due.
There are two complementary dimensions needed to accomplish that purpose. First, we must know accurately who God is and who we are. This is the mental or intellectual component of life. In this issue of the Epistle, we are labeling this our “worldview.” Without a correct understanding of God, ourselves, and the purpose of life, we will inevitably stray from His will and be unfulfilled. The second component is volitional or practical: we need to not only know God but choose to live out the purposes for which He created us—to love Him, to obey Him (and in doing so, to love one another), and to worship Him by lives of devotion.
Throughout history, most cultures and societies have tried to invent, imagine, and construct their own worldviews based on subjective human observations and ideas rather than on accurate divine revelation. This has led to many wrong, inaccurate, and destructive beliefs. The only way to truly understand who we are and what life was meant to be is through the all knowing and wise God revealing it to us. Truth cannot be discovered by fallible and limited people trying to figure things out independently. Because we cannot know everything, we need revelation to come to us from outside our finite human minds.
Thankfully, the God of the Universe has chosen to reveal Himself and the truths of life to mankind, and He has done so step by step in history. This process is called “progressive revelation.” Some 4,000 years ago, God’s self-revelation to mankind began as He chose one family (and the nation it eventually became) to be the recipients of revealed truth. And then, step by step, as recorded in the Bible, the things we needed to know were unveiled and demonstrated. Today, through this gradual process, we are blessed to have the complete Bible to solidly anchor us in a Spirit-led Christian worldview.
When God first initiated a personal relationship with Abraham, He chose a man who was raised in the culture and worldview of ancient Middle Eastern paganism. Multiple gods were the object of their worship. None of those alleged deities were perfect or all-powerful, none of them were morally pure and perfect, and many of them demonstrated the flaws of human sinfulness and pettiness. Some gods represented natural forces (the sun and moon, the weather, fertility, etc.). Some totalitarian “strongman” rulers tried to claim the status of deity for themselves and demand worship from their subjects. In the concept of the ancient pagans, religion was not a matter of a personal relationship with a loving Creator. Instead, it was a set of rituals and civic duties to appease the gods and forces of nature or attempt to gain their favor.
What Abraham and his progeny began was a radically different and shockingly countercultural movement! The ancient world had never encountered such strange concepts. Only one God? A Being who loved mankind and desired a relationship? Inconceivable! Abraham and the other patriarchs made it clear that they did not invent their faith. They didn’t choose their God (Jehovah or Yahweh, from the Hebrew word for “Being”). He chose them. It was always at God’s initiative. He is the One who repeatedly came to them, who initiated and kept covenantal promises to them, and who kept revealing more and more of Himself and His plan to them.
A significant milestone in the process of progressive revelation (which would ultimately lead to a fully developed biblical worldview) was the sequence of events known as the Exodus. It culminated in the deliverance to Moses of the moral law (summarized in the Ten Commandments) and the ceremonial law (based on sacrifice and worship in the tabernacle/temple). Further steps in revelation were marked by the divine inspiration of the prophets and the writers of Psalms and other biblical literature. Each of these individuals was given a tiny peek into a portion of God’s ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind. Like individual pieces of a jigsaw puzzle scattered on a tabletop, the Old Testament prophecies and visions are scattered across the pages of Scripture.
We can picture the gradually forming worldview of the believers in Old Testament times as being like an unfinished building. The unique structure of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (built on the highest part of the city and acclaimed as one of the greatest architectural triumphs) was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren, who began the process in 1669. It took 28 years to finish. If we had visited the construction site halfway through the work, we would have witnessed a solid foundation on which massive stone walls were rising to the sky. But we would not have seen the great dome at the top (which makes the structure unique and memorable), for that could not have been built until the walls were finished. Comparably, when we read the Old Testament, we see a great cathedral of truth being made but not yet finished. Indeed, the great dome or culmination would not come until God Himself arrived as an infant in Bethlehem to complete the work.
Today we stand on the other side of the Cross and Resurrection, with the further revelations of the Gospels and the apostles. We can now see the complete plan of God brought to fulfillment. Now we observe all the puzzle pieces assembled and know that God intends to reconcile all sinners to Himself by Christ’s atoning death in our place. We also understand what He intends for humanity and His ultimate plan. Unlike the believers who lived before Christ who understood only as much as had been revealed to them, we are blessed to have access to a complete biblical worldview.
