4.1 Trinitarian Revelation The Lord Jesus is the centre of everything. Matthew chapter sixteen includes a narrative recording the revelation that the Father gave to Peter and others, working in their hearts so that they should know who the person of Jesus is, and it is implied that such revelation of the Son would continue and become the rock upon which the church would be built. We must emphasize the fact that the firm foundation of God’s working is the continuing revelation of Jesus, by the Father, into the hearts of men and women, and it forms that upon which the church is established and will continue to be built. A fundamental question that we should ask ourselves is “Am I seeing Jesus more clearly as I go along life’s pathways and pass through many changing circumstances; am I learning Christ?” All things consist in him. He is at the heart of all. He is the meaning of all. It is the Father alone who by his Spirit accomplishes the revelation of the Lord Jesus among his people. Jesus said, “My Father has revealed who I am to you. You did not learn it from men; men were not the origin of the revelation.” Revelation may come through men and women, but they are not the origin. The Father reveals the Son and the Son makes known the Father, and both these revelations come by the agency of the Spirit; this means that revelation is always a Trinitarian action. It is centered not on things or doctrines, but upon the person of the Lord Jesus. It comes from the Father, its origin, and it comes through the Holy Spirit, its agency. By this means the Three Persons of the Godhead makes themselves known to us, all is Person to person. Those who receive the revelation of the Lord are special and called from among the nations, not because of anything of their own that makes them particularly acceptable, rather, it is the mercy of God liberating each from their darkness and bringing them into that light in which they are to live. However, one of the major problems from which we all suffer is the intellectualizing of the truth. The tendency to turn everything into objects and ideas is ever present; instead of all being of a personal nature based in intimacy, things become institutional; a series of equations rather than a living relationship. Always remember Christianity is not a religion; it is union and friendship with God; he created us for this reason and thus we cannot be satisfied with things, ideologies and possessions alone.
4. CHRIST THE NATURE OF HIS KINGDOM
Contents
4.0 CHRIST: THE NATURE OF HIS KINGDOM
4.1 Trinitarian Revelation
4.2 A Cameo of the Kingdom
4.3 Key Things in the Transfiguration
4.4 Mistaken Identities
4.5 The Father, Son and Spirit Are There
4.6 Majesty and Intimacy
4.7 The Kingdom Now and To Come
4.1 Trinitarian Revelation
The Lord Jesus is the centre of everything. Matthew chapter sixteen includes a narrative recording
the revelation that the Father gave to Peter and others, working in their hearts so that they should
know who the person of Jesus is, and it is implied that such revelation of the Son would continue and
become the rock upon which the church would be built. We must emphasize the fact that the firm
foundation of God’s working is the continuing revelation of Jesus, by the Father, into the hearts of
men and women, and it forms that upon which the church is established and will continue to be built.
A fundamental question that we should ask ourselves is “Am I seeing Jesus more clearly as I go along
life’s pathways and pass through many changing circumstances; am I learning Christ?” All things
consist in him. He is at the heart of all. He is the meaning of all. It is the Father alone who by his
Spirit accomplishes the revelation of the Lord Jesus among his people. Jesus said, “My Father has
revealed who I am to you. You did not learn it from men; men were not the origin of the revelation.”
Revelation may come through men and women, but they are not the origin. The Father reveals the
Son and the Son makes known the Father, and both these revelations come by the agency of the
Spirit; this means that revelation is always a Trinitarian action. It is centered not on things or
doctrines, but upon the person of the Lord Jesus. It comes from the Father, its origin, and it comes
through the Holy Spirit, its agency. By this means the Three Persons of the Godhead makes
themselves known to us, all is Person to person. Those who receive the revelation of the Lord are
special and called from among the nations, not because of anything of their own that makes them
particularly acceptable, rather, it is the mercy of God liberating each from their darkness and
bringing them into that light in which they are to live. However, one of the major problems from
which we all suffer is the intellectualizing of the truth. The tendency to turn everything into objects
and ideas is ever present; instead of all being of a personal nature based in intimacy, things become
institutional; a series of equations rather than a living relationship. Always remember Christianity is
not a religion; it is union and friendship with God; he created us for this reason and thus we cannot
be satisfied with things, ideologies and possessions alone.
