Articles
Intimacy & Union

Revelation: It’s Always An Encounter

Truth can be read about and discussed but to own revelation requires some form of experience. “God loves you,” is simply a statement of fact. But the statement doesn’t hold any power until His love is engaged.

Jason Clark
December 4, 2008
2 min read

When we encounter Gods love, it is impossible not to be changed.

These encounters are where revelation begins. Revelation is Gods disclosure of Himself. Revelation is a truth about the nature of God revealed, where once it had been hidden. It means, “to remove the veil,”

The truth has been there all along but now we can see it in greater measure…

Karen and I have pet names for each other. You know, terms of endearment we would only use when speaking with each other while washing the dishes, or eating popcorn… “hey baby,” “hey beautiful,” “hey gorgeous,” that last one is generally directed at me. We could be driving down the road or sitting on the couch watching “The Office” when suddenly I am gripped with a realization of how amazing she is. I will turn to her and say this simple universal phrase, “I love you baby,” to which she responds, “I love you too gorgeous.”

But sometimes I’ll say “No, what I’m trying to say is that at this exact moment, I am feeling love for you! I’m feeling it right now!”

“Right this instant she asks?” with a smile. Yes, this exact moment. “Wow,” She says, “now I’m feeling it too!”

And that’s the best way I can describe revelation.

We have been married thirteen years, we know that we love each other, we say it all the time; we decide to all the time but these moments of revelation are priceless. These moments are birthed of a pure surrender, where everything in the universe aligns and our hearts, minds, and souls experience the encounter. In these moments, nothing else matters! In these moments, the truth of our love is purely revealed.

I think that’s what revelation is, in fact, I would go so far as to say I don’t think revelation can be experienced outside of relationship.

Truth can be read about and discussed, but to own revelation requires some form of experience. “God loves you,” is simply a statement of fact. But the statement doesn’t hold any power until His love is engaged.

You can tell someone everything you know about driving a car but until they actually get behind the wheel, its just theory and they don’t truly know how to drive.

To own Gods love in its depths we must have shared experience. It’s through this relationship that we get to own revelation. And it is those encounters that change us, aligning our heart with His and changing our perspective until we begin to see from His.

This article is taken from Jason’s book, Untamed.

Jason Clark
Written by

Jason Clark is a relational theologian, storyteller, husband, and dad who believes the gospel is better than the last time we checked. He's the author of several books, the host of Rethinking God with Tacos, and lives in Cornelius, NC, with his wife, Karen, and their four kids.

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