Without the revelation of God not even following the Lord Jesus is of any use. Men may follow Him to Caesarea but they still may know Him not. People may stay with Him day after day, yet fail to really recognize Him. To recognize who He is requires revelation, because He cannot be known through outward familiarity. Revelation, not familiarity, is the way to know Him. You need God’s revelation, His speaking to you, His making you see, before you are able to know this Man to be Christ, the Son of God. External acquaintance does not give you a true knowledge of Him.
The same is true of the Bible, for the word of God is not only a person but is also a book. God’s word is the Bible as well as Jesus of Nazareth. If our eyes need to be opened by God to see Jesus of Nazareth as God’s word, the Son of God, so they must be opened to know the Bible as the word of God, as that which reveals God’s Son. Even as one who has had a long acquaintance with the Lord Jesus may not know Him, so he who has been familiar with the Bible through many years of study and research may not necessarily know this book. God’s revelation is a must; only what is opened up by God is living.