Get a Revelation
Galatians 1:11-12 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
The fact is that the freedom that only Jesus Christ can bring, is a fantastic thing. But whilst the facts are incredibly important, you don’t find freedom in facts.
The Apostle Paul was an interesting character. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious body in Jerusalem. And there’s a reason he made it to the top of the pile:
Phil 3:4-6: If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
So Paul’s heritage, his breeding, his upbringing … ticked all the right boxes.
He studied the Old Testament law. He knew it from back to front. He worked hard at it. You know the sort. He had all the head knowledge that you could ask for. All the discipline that you could ever expect of anybody.
On top of that a Pharisee – this sect took the idea of following the law to incredible lengths. The very word “Pharisee” means to be a religious separatist. He was absolutely full on!
And yet the one thing he didn’t have, was freedom. Until one day, on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him. And that encounter with Jesus was the turning point of his life.
This is what he writes years later, looking back on it:
Galatians 1:11-12: For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So it wasn’t something that he’d learned through years of study. It was a revelation. The original Greek word used here for “revelation” is the word apokalypsis. In other words, it was an apocalyptic revelation. Dramatic, powerful, completely life-changing.
And it wasn’t a revelation about Jesus. It wasn’t words from a book – Paul new all those words in the Old Testament. He’d studied them for years. He’d made it to the top of the religious pile that way.
But that’s not what changed his life. It wasn’t a revelation about Jesus. It was a revelation of Jesus through a personal encounter with Him.
Have you had an apocalyptic revelation of the person of Jesus Christ? Have you had a dramatic, powerful, life-changing encounter with Jesus?
No? Then get a revelation.
Jesus is waiting for you – now. He wants to turn your life upside down – now. All the head knowledge in the world won’t do that for you. Only Jesus.
And that … that’s God’s Word.
Fresh … for you … today.
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