Six-year-old Grayson Ludlow went to his brother, ten-year-old Andrew, with a deep theological question.
“Andy, what is progressive revelation?”
Andrew Ludlow thought about this for a moment, prayed for a moment, and then came up with the right answer.
“God makes progress in revealing, or showing us, what He wants us to know.”
Andrew went and got his grandfather's Bible, not noticing that his grandfather, deeply curious, followed him.
“So, it's like this, Grayson. When you start reading the Bible, you know the stuff that the people at the beginning know. We keep reading and we learn, and the characters in the Bible kept living and they learned – and so God shows us as we make progress.”
Grayson thought about this.
“Does that mean the better I read, the more God wil show me, and the longer I live, the more God will show me.”
“Yep. You completely understand it. Like, there's stuff in here about how God made examples to show people what the Lord Jesus was going to do later on. There's a lot of that. I don't understand it all yet, but, I will when I'm bigger – meanwhile, I still have to learn how to read more, and get more understanding, so basically all of us are all still reading, living, and learning.”
“Yeah,” Grayson said. “I mean, our heads and our brains aren't even grown yet.”
“Right, so, God shows us what our heads will hold now, and makes progress – and that's basically what He did for the people in the Bible. At the beginning, they could only know so much … but then Moses wrote down what God showed Abraham, and then David could read back to find out what God showed Moses, and then Elijah could read back to see what God showed David and Moses and Abraham, and then everybody in Jesus' time could read back to see what God showed everybody in the Old Testament, and then by now, we get to look back on everything in the Bible as we get old enough and close enough God to understand more and more.”
Grayson thought about this.
“It's going to take until we are Grandpa and Grandma's age to even get caught up.”
Andrew smiled.
“Grandpa is not caught up. He reads every day. Grandma is not caught up. She reads every day. But that's okay, because God is still doing sutff and we get to be catching up and enjoying for all eternity.”
“Exactly right,” Capt. R.E. Ludlow purred, stepping into his grandsons' discussion and opening his arms for them to run into them. “It is said in Ephesians that God will be revealing Himself for the ages to come to us. An old catechism says, because of this, 'The chief end of man' – in other words, the goal – 'is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.' ”
“You mean we get to have fun in Heaven?” Grayson said.
“Of course, Grayson,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Life here and there with God is to be enjoyed.”
“Yaaaaaay!”
“And this is another example of progressive revelation,” Andrew said. “I didn't know that!”
“I just found out this year,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Never noticed it in Ephesians before, so yes, we are all making progress!”