For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; Galatians 1:11-16
The revelation from God …on who He is, and what kind of real relationship He wants with us is an ongoing process throughout our lives. Reading the scriptures is a good thing, but one can know all of the scriptures by memory and still not have a real and correct relationship with God. The mind can only take us so far in our understanding. We often negate our soul and spirit creation sides of us. The soul and mind are also different things in my understanding, although very connected in many ways. Real spiritual knowledge comes via spiritual revelation FROM God. (It is called the Rhema / Word in the scriptures) And it takes us in pursuit of that relationship to even receive any revelation from Him. I suggest we be so bold as to even ask Him for revelation.
This life with the Holy Spirit if lived by following His instructions will be a continual unveiling of who Jesus and the Father really are, and we will never reach the point of the end in that ‘unveiling’. Some are able to say that in this last year they have learned more about Jesus than in all the previous years. Are you able to say that?
As we grow in Him we recognize the extreme blessing of the growing revelation of Jesus Christ within us, and you eventually see more and more from His standpoint in all things. With that growth of revelation and unveiling comes an ever deepening of the fruit of the Spirit. We begin to know and understand the fruit in a whole different way, and the fruit of love, joy, peace, and all the other fruit take on whole new levels within us. You become aware of your heart coming more and more under His constraint of His love and all other things become subordinate to Him. His joy automatically increases with this unveiling process becoming our joy. This is His practical way with us, to reveal Himself to us. Just like in the scripture above Paul says that God was … “pleased to reveal His Son in me”. This unveiling and revealing process is for His purposes within us. For Paul it was so he could bring the gospel to the Gentiles. God is pleased to reveal Himself to each of us. Are we desiring that as well? What does His unveiling do within you? Has He revealed any of His purposes for you? Although His purposes for us may be the same from His mind, He may have us work in many different ways to accomplish His goals throughout our lives.
Again, this is a lifelong process, this side of heaven. There should be a continual, living, unveiling of Christ within our hearts if we are to reach the fullness of His plan for each of us.
Jesus please show us more of Yourself! Holy Spirit teach us more of who Jesus is! Father, thank you for revealing Yourself to us!