page 1 6 God

godhow he reveals himself

Communicate that God has revealed Himself in a general way to all through

creation, but has more fully revealed Himself and His ways through Scripture

and Jesus.

Though creation offers us clues about God, the only way we can truly know

Him is through His revelation of Himself in Scripture and, ultimately,

through Christ.

Participants be inspired to know God better through studying His inspired

Word and being in intimate relationship with Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Background

Passage:

P S A L M 1 9

Focal

Passage:

P S A L M 1 9 : 1 - 1 4

• God has revealed Himself in a general

way through creation and declared

His glory to everyone (vv. 1-6).

• God has revealed Himself in a special

way through His Word (vv. 7-11).

• God’s Word reveals our hearts and

instructs us on the way of redemption

(vv. 12-14).

Memory

Verses:

P S A L M 1 9 : 7 - 8

The instruction of the Lord

is perfect, renewing one’s life;

the testimony of the Lord is

trustworthy, making the

inexperienced wise. The

precepts of the Lord are

right, making the heart glad;

the command of the Lord is

radiant, making the eyes

light up.

LLLLLEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOONNNNNN 2222

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PREPARING TO TEACH

God is a relational God. Because He wants us to know Him, He

has revealed Himself through creation, Scripture, and most fully

through Jesus. Ponder the astounding truth God wants to know and

be known by you. How does that make you feel about God? About

yourself?

Read Psalm 19 slowly in several different translations, recording

your response to this question: What does God want me to know

about Him and why? Carefully study Lesson 2 in your Venture In:

Transforming Truths Travelogue, responding to all bolded activities and

recording observations in the margins. Consider reading the Bible.

org article “Psalm 19: God’s Revelation: Our Response” (https://bible.

org/seriespage/psalm-19-god’s-revelation-our-response).

Beautiful poetry, including Psalm 19, can proclaim profound

biblical theology. God included diverse writing styles in His Word

because people, including your LIFE Group participants, learn and

express themselves in diverse ways. Be willing and prepared to step

outside your comfort zone with teaching methods that appeal to

different senses and learning styles.

Be prepared to play a nature slideshow such as All Things

Bright and Beautiful by SevenInspirations (https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=UdLjQa3as58), or display photographs of beautiful nature

scenes (such as in coffee table books).

Create a two-column chart on a large writing surface. Head

Column 1 God’s Word, and Column 2 Benefits.

Pray this lesson will inspire adults to know God better through

Bible study and a progressively more intimate relationship with

Jesus.

TEACHING SUGGESTIONS

SEEING THE GLORY OF GOD

As adults arrive, invite them to enjoy the nature slideshow or

display. (If those are unavailable, ask from page 20 of the Travelogue:

What event in nature do you find to be the most eloquent evidence of

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God’s handiwork?) Ask: What does looking at photographs of

beautiful nature scenes make you want to do?

State beautiful nature scenes can make us want to visit those

places and experience them for ourselves. We may be motivated to

learn scientific or geographic information about that scene. Mostly,

those scenes should prompt us to want to know more about the

One who created such beauty. Declare nature can teach us about our

Creator because that is one way God has chosen to reveal Himself

to us.

________________________________________________________________________

Teaching Option

Ask adults to indicate if they are, or are not, on social media sites and

why. State often people’s reason for participating or not participating

in social media is the same—we want to be known, understood, and

experience positive relationships. Ask: What determines what

people can know about you? (What you choose to reveal about

yourself.) Declare the only reason we can know anything about God

is that He chooses to reveal Himself to us. ________________________________________________________________________

Ask: Why is it astounding that God reveals Himself to us?

Declare God loves us. He wants us to have a right understanding

of Him so we can have a positive relationship with Him. From the

Travelogue (p. 20) state: As finite creatures seeking to know

an infinite God, we are dependent on what He reveals to us.

Explain general and special revelation (sometimes called specific

revelation; see Travelogue, p. 141).

In this session the group will examine ways God reveals

Himself and consider how to respond to those divine revelations.

WE LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH HIS CREATION

Invite a volunteer to read Psalm 19:1-6. Explain the use of

parallelism in Hebrew poetry (Travelogue, p. 21).

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________________________________________________________________________

Teacher Helps

Psalms may not seem like poetry to Western readers because they

do not rhyme. Hebrew poetry used literary devices such as acrostics,

alliteration, similes, metaphors, and personification. A main literary

device was parallelism—restating a truth using synonyms or

antonyms. Psalmists carefully used these devices to compel readers

to search for truth in the poem’s symmetry, imagery, and structure. ________________________________________________________________________

Ask: What truths about God pour out of His created world?

(Sample responses: He’s glorious, radiant, creative, consistent,

faithful, beautiful, powerful, joyful, sovereign.) When does

creation reveal God? Point out creation speaks about God day

after day and night after night. God did not give humanity

a one-time glimpse of Himself. He continually reveals Himself

because He wants all people to know Him.

Request a volunteer read Romans 1:20 (Travelogue, p. 21).

Evaluate from Psalm 19:1-6 why no one has an excuse to not believe

in God. State the sun, moon, stars, and planets don’t speak actual

words but clearly communicate the reality of God. The message of

God’s glory is as obvious as the sun in the sky that is seen all over the

world. The psalmist’s point was that God’s revelation is not restricted

to language or geography. No one is excluded from being able to

learn about God from creation.

Discuss: Why do some people see the same natural

evidences of God’s work that we see but don’t connect that

to God (Travelogue, p. 20)? How does the natural world give

evidence of an “intelligent designer”(see Travelogue, p. 140)

who stands behind it all (Travelogue, p. 22)?

Ask: How should we respond to God’s general revelation

of Himself in nature? Urge adults to not just marvel at and learn

about nature, but marvel at and learn about God from nature. Ask

rhetorically: If the heavens declare the glory of God, then

shouldn’t we, His highest creation, do so as well? Discuss how

believers can declare the glory of God and proclaim the work of

His hands.

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WE LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH HIS WORD

Request adults state the difference between a blog and private

journal. Ask: Would we get to know someone better by reading

their blog or journal? Why? God’s general revelation of Himself in

creation is somewhat like a blog—it’s out there for everyone to see

and learn about Him. But there’s only so much we can learn about

God from creation, so God chose to reveal Himself more specifically

through His written Word. Read the paragraph on pages 22-23 of the

Travelogue beginning with When Adam and Eve…

Invite someone to read Psalm 19:7-11. Guide the group to

identify how the psalmist described God’s Word and what it does

in people’s lives. Write responses on the prepared chart. (Examples:

Column 1- perfect instruction; Column 2 - renews life. C1 -

trustworthy testimony; C2 - makes inexperienced wise.

C1 – right precepts; C2 – makes heart glad. C1 – radiant

command; C2 – makes eyes light up. C1 – reliable, righ-

teous ordinances; C2 – warns and rewards.)

Point out the many terms for God’s Word indicate the

comprehensive nature of Scripture’s revelation. All God has said in

the Bible is beneficial. Draw attention to the “Benefits” column and

invite volunteers to share how they have experienced those benefits

from God’s Word.

Ask: What does God’s revelation of Himself through

Scripture do for us that creation cannot? Declare human

conscience alone can’t guide people to live in ways that please

God. He has revealed His ways in Scripture because those ways

are perfect and best for us. Scripture makes the eyes light

up, meaning we don’t just see glimpses of His truth as we do in

nature, but can actually know and understand it. Most importantly,

Scripture point[s] to the salvation that is possible only through Christ

(Travelogue, p. 24). Invite a volunteer to read 2 Timothy 3:15-17

(Travelogue, pp. 23-24).

Note the psalmist used two valuable commodities in the ancient

world, gold and honey, to proclaim the worth of God’s Word. Ask:

According to 2 Timothy 3:15-17, why is Scripture so valuable?

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Use the Travelogue remarks on pages 24-25 to add to the discussion.

Discuss the Travelogue questions (p. 25): What role does

the Bible play in helping us mature in our relationship with

Christ? What particular passage of Scripture has meant a great

deal to you in strengthening your walk with the Lord?

Ask: How should we respond to God’s special revelation

of Himself in Scripture? Declare we must fear … the LORD,

responding to His revelation in Scripture with obedient humility

and reverence. We value God’s Word by engaging in the spiritual

practices of reading, studying, memorizing, meditating on, and

living it. Note that Psalm 19:7-8 are this lesson’s memory verses.

Lead the group to read them aloud in unison.

WE LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH HIS SON

Ask: What’s the best way to learn what a person is really like—

read their blog, read their private journal, spend time with

their children, or spend time with that person? Explain your

reasoning. Declare God went beyond general revelation of Himself

in nature and special revelation in Scripture, and revealed Himself

most fully in His Son. Read John 1:1,14 (Travelogue, p. 26). Examine

why we know God when we know His Son.

Ask: What does Jesus reveal about God that we couldn’t

know simply from general revelation (Travelogue, p. 27)? Invite

a volunteer to read the paragraph on page 26 beginning with: When

Christ entered history, He gave us remarkable insights about God….

If the group participated in the JourneyOn study, God’s Unfolding

Story, remind them they discovered Jesus is seen throughout the

Old Testament. Guide the group to read Psalm 19:12-14 and look

for ways it whispers Jesus’ name. Point out Jesus is our Redeemer

who covers all our sins and keeps them from ruling over us. He has

cleansed believers and made us acceptable to God.

Ask: How should we respond to God’s revelation of

Himself through His Son, Jesus? Read from the Travelogue (p.

27): [I]t is in surrendering our lives to Him that we discover

the greatest revelation of all: what it means to be in fellowship

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with our Heavenly Father. Urge participants who would like to

know more about having a personal relationship with Jesus to speak

with you after the session. There is a helpful guide on the inside

back cover of your Travelogue.

CONCLUSION

Ask: If a loved one gives you something beautiful he or she has

made, what do you do with it? If a loved one writes you a letter,

what do you do with it? If loved ones come to visit you, what

do you do with them? So what are we to do with God’s gracious

gift of revelation through creation, Scripture, and His Son?

Guide the class to discuss specific things they can do each day

to know God better through creation, Scripture, and Jesus. Close

in prayer, thanking God for giving people the opportunity to know

about Him and have a positive relationship with Him through Jesus.

FOLLOW THROUGH

• Based on the physical abilities of LIFE Group participants,

plan an outing to enjoy God’s creation—a hike, bike ride,

camping trip, visit to a botanical garden, a drive through

beautiful scenery. Enjoy a meal together and invite participants

to share insights they gained about God from His creation.

• Meet with participants who indicated they would like to learn

more about experiencing a saving relationship with Jesus. The

inside back cover of the Travelogue can help you explain the

plan of salvation.