Revealed by God

(Luke 10:21-22)

Jesus prayed to the Father and thanked him for His wisdom and the fact that these mysteries and wonders that are to be found in God are available to anyone. You do not need to have any special knowledge skills or abilities to gain the insight from God for it is revealed to us by God.

Education is Valuable

Jesus said in this verse that it was in the wisdom of God that the truth was revealed to babes rather than those with great wisdom.

Man seeks wisdom and knowledge. He spends a great deal of time gaining an education to learn how to better himself and to build a career and a life. In this world people of knowledge, well schooled through training and education are held up as models of what is good about society. Great efforts are put into third world countries to educate them for their improvement.

And there is nothing wrong with having a good education. It is a good thing to learn so that we can understand the things of this world. It is a good thing to spread education to all people where it can lift them up from poverty, despair and poor living conditions.

Revealed to babes

But in Christ you do not need to have great learning. You do not need to go to school to learn the things of God.

As Jesus said here, the truth about who God is and who Jesus is are not taught by man. It is revealed by God. Jesus said, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Verse 22)

The revelation of Jesus Christ comes from God, not men. And then when we begin our journey with Christ the ongoing revelations, teaching and growth in the Spirit is not taught by men but by the Holy Spirit. Part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to guide, teach and counsel so that we can be transformed into the image of God.

As Jesus said, these things have been revealed to babes, not as in physical children, but babes in the spirit.

Superlative Apostles

Paul further shows the folly of seeking spiritual learning from sources other than God when he derides some false teachers who he calls “superlative apostles.” He said,

“For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:4-6)

Furthermore he adds in relation to those who needed letters of recommendation to prove their worth as teachers of the word, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Those who rely on letters of recommendation also include some who have degrees in theology or are ordained by man. I am not saying all who are trained in bible schools or schools of theology have wasted their time or are included in Paul’s derision of a superlative apostle. However, it is clear that the truth of the gospel and the truth of who Jesus is come from God, not through the words of man. God can just as easily use the mouth and words of someone who is not trained in theology as he can with someone who is. Let us not forget too that God even used Balaam’s donkey to speak to that prophet and warn him of his error!

Likewise Jesus showed that knowing who Christ is was not from man but by direct revelation from God the Father. He said the following to Peter when he asked him who the disciples though Jesus was. Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17)

What can we take from this?

Do you want to know the truth about who Jesus is and the truth of the gospel? Then go to him directly. Bible teachers can give you their understanding and interpretations of the word, just as I do here, but it is God who will provide the understanding. As Paul stated, “I planted, Apol’los watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

Listen to those who plant and water, but validate it with God who gives the growth. Take your questions to him and see the truth and he will give you the answers you desire.

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Revelation to Babes in Christ