Revelation & Common Grace

How do we hear from God? Is it just through a “still small voice” like it was for Elijah? Is it only through the Bible?

Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to man in 3 different ways:

1. Through general revelation of God’s works (i.e. creation and naturally created phenomena). Psalm 19:1 speaks of general revelation when it says,"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."

2. Through special or specific revelation in God’s written and spoken words recorded in Scripture. Psalm 147:18-19 expresses, "He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel."

3. Through “secret” or “applied” revelation in the inner voice of the Holy Spirit to us individually. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 reminds us, "Do not quench the Spirit." This was coined by Wolfgang Musculus as “applied” because it brings no new or additional content to God’s general and special revelation. It is for the private application of God’s general and special revelation (Beeke and Smalley, 185).

Whenever we see a rainbow, we are witnessing God’s general revelation through a very important covenant of grace. In essence, we are witnessing theology!

The Rainbow As Theology

The rainbow is a Theology of Grace, and Noah’s Flood teaches us about three types of grace God is continually exercising: the first is common grace, the second is preparatory grace, and the third is saving grace.

God’s common grace is His goodness that is extended to all of mankind both unconditionally and counter-conditionally (Beeke and Smalley, 80). God’s common grace allows for blessings on all mankind such as medical advances, technological advances, fair weather, bumper crops, protection from violence, etc. The rainbow reminds us that even though all of mankind deserves death, God still holds all things together (Job 26:7). Calvin spoke of God’s common or general grace in this way: “amid this corruption of nature there is some place for God’s grace; not such grace as to cleanse it, but to restrain it inwardly" (Calvin, 2.3.3).

God’s common grace also makes possible what theologians call God’s preparatory grace. Preparatory grace is the call and conviction of the Holy Spirit that we should surrender to God and be saved. Prepartory grace happens through the preaching of God’s Word to unbelievers, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and even through the public testimony of believers living for God and differently from the rest of the world. You are a part of God’s common grace in loving the world as well as God’s preparatory grace of bringing the truth of the Gospel to the world! Preparatory grace is different from saving grace in that it does not guarantee salvation and is often rejected by mankind (Beeke and Smalley, 314).This is illustrated in the story of the parable of the soils in Matthew 13.

Whereas God’s common grace is seen in the rainbow, God’s saving grace was seen in the ark! To review, there were three arks in scripture, each a picture of God’s presence and saving grace:

• Noah’s Ark bringing salvation to a remnant.

• Moses’ Ark (or basket) bringing a deliverer to save the nation of Israel.

• The Ark of the Covenant which was the mercy seat of God in the tabernacle and temple.

God's Graces On Display

In Genesis 9:1-7, we read:

"And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it."

In this passage, we see common grace in the giving of food, both meat and vegetables. We see common grace in the preservation of man. (Moral law against violence is another example of common grace! All common law can be traced back to the Ten Commandments and the law of Moses.) We see common grace in the giving of children. But we see preparatory and saving grace in the picture of blood being shed to cover sin. Saving grace is seen in the covenant of blood fulfilled in Jesus. John 1:16-17 states, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Genesis 9:8-17 continues,

"Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 'Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.' And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth'."

The rainbow is a symbol of theology:

• God’s immutability--It reminds us that God chooses to remember his Covenant

• God’s common grace--It reminds us that God has made a covenant with mankind to extend grace both unconditionally and counter-conditionally.

The Rainbow As A Symbol

The Rainbow should also symbolize our attitude towards mankind:

• God’s grace on us who have experienced God’s saving grace.

• Eyes that see theologically rather than politically.

In Luke 23:34, Jesus says over the crowd that had put Him to death, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” When we see the rainbow in any form, our hearts should immediately see the cross of Christ and Jesus’ gracious and kind response of forgiveness on us. The Gospel rehearsed sees God’s common grace resound in our hearts as preparatory grace to appreciate and worship Jesus for His saving grace.

References

Beeke, J. R., & Smalley, P. M. (2020). Reformed Systematic Theology. Wheaton: Crossway.

Calvin, J., & Beveridge, H. (1953). Institutes Of The Christian Religion. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans.