There is a word that I came across that is interesting. I saw it in this passage first:
Galatians 1:15–16 (NIV84)
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
Then I began to study the word and found out that it is a common word for “revelation.” Simply put, it means to reveal something. But I found something in my studies that is a fascinating concept. The word apokalupto (ἀποκαλυπτο) refers to the disclosure of something by the removal of that which hitherto concealed it, and refers especially to a subjective revelation to an individual.
The passage above was talking about Christ being revealed in Paul, but as I looked up the word in many other contexts, it speaks of a revelation given by God. This got me thinking. What needs to be taken out of the way for the revelation of Christ in us? Also, what needs to be taken out of the way for us to receive a “revelation” from God.
Could it be that apokalupto is what happens in our lives as Christ gains preeminence? Christ in us is revealed when “us” gets removed. To the extent that we decrease, He increases. This is a wonderful promise of our ability to shine Jesus out of our beings as naturally as breathing.
Another principle is, revelation knowledge can only come when your current knowledge that may contend with the revelation, is taken out of the way. If you believe “A” and cling onto, you will not submit to the revelation of “B,” if they are in contention. In this case, it was the followers of the law who couldn’t accept the revelation that the law didn’t need to be kept because of the work of Christ on the cross. When we learn something, we tend to cling onto that principle like a lifeline. That is not a bad thing except when it contends with the truth of God. It takes three times the amount of energy to re-learn something than it does to learn something. There are psychological terms for this, but I call it the law of the first learned.
God loves to give you revelation. He loves to reveal things to you, and He loves to reveal Himself in you. The cost, at times, is for us to allow Him to remove what is standing in the way of the revelation.