Click here for the Galatians 1:11-12 Podcast
11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)
The heart in our text today is our adventure with God every day. Paul wrote, “the gospel I preached is not of human origin ... I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
God revealed Himself to mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is nothing new for God. In the Old Testament, He revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. They didn’t always understand everything He said, nonetheless they had been found by God, and given a story with Him to declare to those who would listen.
This is what our life of faith in the God of the Bible is about: receiving a story from Him and telling others. The truth that Paul references in our text today came from God by revelation. It did not come from any human source. Our gospel is a story of hope whereby God is calling all peoples from all walks of life into a personal relationship with Himself. This relationship comes by revelation, by that process of God explaining Himself to us.
In this process, the corner piece that God uses to reveal Himself to us is His word which is the truth. The Bible is His revelation to us and it is pure and trustworthy, and we can count on it.
In Galatians 1:11-12 we see what the gospel is not a message that is “from any man.” It is not the best attempts by the smartest of humans to organize all the thinking that is possible about God in such a way that it is persuasive. We could never have thought of it.
In v. 12 Paul writes, "I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Paul is saying, “I didn’t have a human teacher, a Rabbi at whose feet I sat. It was miraculous, frightening, unbelievable. It was the opening of the curtain that hid God from us, in a revelation of Jesus Christ. That is the source and the heart of my message."
This is why Paul can be so certain of it, why he can judge false gospels. The truth he was given came from God. And our confidence is in the same thing: the Lord has revealed Himself, thus we have a pure and certain message.
Finally, let's take a look at that word "revelation" before we conclude our analysis of our text for today. The Greek word that Paul uses here is
apokalypseÅs which means revelation, what is revealed, disclosure, to make information known with an implication that the information can be understood.
At the heart of a personal relationship with God is this word revelation or apokalypseÅs. This very word is used of Paul in Ephesians 1:17 which reads, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."
John Calvin wrote, “Till the Lord opens them, the eyes of our heart are blind. Till the Spirit has become our instructor, all that we know is folly and ignorance. Till the Spirit of God has made it known to us by a secret revelation, the knowledge of our divine calling exceeds the capacity of our own minds.”
Are you experiencing the revelation of God to you? If not, ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Don't be surprised when He does it. The adventure awaits us every day.
