God Comes to Meet Man (CCC 50-73)
SECTION I: “I BELIEVE” – “WE BELIEVE”
CHAPTER 2: GOD COMES TO MEET MAN
ARTICLE 1: THE REVELATION OF GOD
IN BRIEF
68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.
69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words.
70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.
71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.
72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.
73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever. The Son is his Father’s definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.
Commentary:
In this section, God’s revelation of Himself is discussed. This chapter is very aptly entitled “God Comes to Meet Man.” God must come to man because man cannot reach God’s “unapproachable light.” So God reveals Himself “to make them capable of responding to Him, and of knowing Him, and of loving Him far beyond their own natural capacity” (paragraph 52). These words sound very Pelagian when taken at face value. However, there is a very orthodox understanding to these words. Man cannot understand God by his natural reason and strength (1 Corinthians 2:14; cf. SC, Third Article). God must come down and reveal Himself to man. Despite what man thinks and all the pagan religions, man cannot prepare himself for God. Every religion outside Christianity promotes self-preparation in order to meet with the divine.
God’s revelation began in the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve’s sin broke His direct revelation. From then on, God’s revelation to man was disjointed because of sin. However, when God did reveal Himself, it was always to bring the good news of the Gospel to man. Immediately after the Fall, God brought the first promise of salvation to our first parents (Genesis 3:15).
St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), a Carmelite friar, speaks of God’s revelation through the Incarnation in his The Ascent of Mount Carmel: “In giving us His Son, His only Word (for He possesses no other), He spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and He has no more to say… because what He spoke before to the prophets in parts, He has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son.” Jesus is the complete revelation of God’s Word. Especially as we think about it this week, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ Incarnation at Christmas. Everything that needs to be known about God comes to us through His Son.