Tag: God

“God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth” by G.K. Beale and Mitchell Kim

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

God Dwells Among UsChristians who love the Bible, should love biblical theology. More than any other discipline, biblical theology has the power to take the student on an exciting journey into the overall meaning of the biblical text. Early on in my study of biblical theology, I was told about the transformative power of one particular book and one particular biblical theme. That book was The Temple and the Church’s Mission by G.K. Beale (IVP). Eventually I read through that book and now agree with all the praise that was heaped upon it.

Beale’s work on the temple, showing how that theme is developed from Eden all the way to the New Jerusalem, can be truly transformative. Beale is not the only scholar to uncover this biblical theme, but his book perhaps more than any other, has advanced our understanding of all that is meant by God’s pledge to dwell with man in a visible temple.

The one drawback to Beale’s earlier title was that it was quite difficult to work through. Beale is exhaustive in his treatment of primary and secondary literature. He builds cases for each of the NT allusions he finds to OT passages. He interacts with the second temple Judaistic writings in his effort to understand what the people of the Bible’s day would have thought when they heard various images and themes about the temple. All of that reads more like a theological tome than a helpful and practical book for church use.

Finally, Beale has updated his original book and simplified it. Many thanks are due Mitchell Kim, a pastor who has used Beale’s material and also developed his own on the same theological topic. Together (and with the help of IVP) they have created a readable, shorter version of Beale’s original title, and even advanced beyond that book with more fully developed application of this theme for practical church ministry.

This new work, God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth by G.K. Beale and Mitchell Kim (IVP), is going to be my go-to book to give people interested in biblical theology. It applies biblical theology for the church and will be useful for lay teachers, pastors and Bible students everywhere.

God Dwells Among Us is well written, clear and concise. It provides numerous applications, and takes the time to show how the interpreters arrive at their conclusions. The book does not directly take on dispensationalism, but does explain certain assumptions which may provide a reason as to why many modern Christians have not seen the full nature of the temple theme as applicable to Church today. This volume also doesn’t tackle all the questions posed in the bigger work. It doesn’t directly deal with Ezekiel’s temple all that much, and it doesn’t major on ancient cosmology as a way of understanding the Eden = Temple image. You will have to get the larger work for those questions.

The book includes a helpful discussion on typology and is much more fully developed, pastorally, than the older work. I appreciate too, that the punchline and the take-home application, are not saved for the end, but over and over throughout the book applications are made to the NT understanding of the OT teaching on the Temple and how this applies to us today.

I highly recommend this book. This is a must read theology book for everyone!

Book Trailer:

To learn more about the book, view this brief video of Greg Beale talking about this book.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from IVP.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by InterVarsity Press. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

Book Briefs: “Here Is Our God: God’s Revelation of Himself in Scripture”

~ Bob Hayton

Here is Our God edited by D.A. Carson and Kathleen Nielson

Ours is an age of conferences. Dozens of conferences vie for our attention, from a variety of ministries. For those who cannot attend, livestreaming is a way to experience the thrill from afar. Another common way to expand the reach of a conference is to turn the series of messages into a book. The success of such books is usually limited, but in this book we have an exception.

Here is Our God: God’s Revelation of Himself in Scripture (Crossway, 2014), is the latest book from The Gospel Coalition. This book is actually a compilation of the messages from the women’s 2012 TGC conference. Reading the book, however, I am not transported to the scene of thousands of women meeting together in a conference. Instead the message of each plenary session is powerfully communicated in this book, and the entire theme of the conference—suitable for men and women—comes together in this one short volume.

Three men (Tim Keller, D.A. Carson, and John Piper) join five women (Paige Brown, Carrie Sandom, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Jenny Salt, and Kathleen Nielson) in expositing the Word of God. Each author tackles a text which offers us a revelation of God. Exodus 19, 1 Kings 8, Isaiah 6, Matthew 17, Revelation 21 and other passages are mined for what they tell us of our God. The chapters flow together well, and reinforce the argument of the work as a whole. Each author in their unique way contributes to a dazzling picture of our God and His glory.

D.A. Carson (one of the editors of this book) is known for his advocacy of biblical theology, and this is on full display in the contributions from each author in this title. The grand themes of the Bible are followed as we truly encounter God through the book. The application is poignant, and the messages are powerful. I’m glad that by means of this book I was able to be blessed by this women’s conference!

I listened to the Christianaudio.com version (link is external) of the book. A male voice read the chapters written by men, and a female voice the other chapters. The editing in the book being as excellent as it was, allowed the audio version to flow well. Connections between chapters were made, and the reading speed aided in reflection.

The book itself is extremely well written. You would be hard pressed to find a more God-centered example of biblical theology. I appreciated that the Old Testament received due attention. In fact both testaments are treated, and so many foundational texts are treated that this could be considered a miniature whole-Bible biblical theology in its own right.

The conference aimed to make much of God and this book does that. If you are hungry for an encounter with the God of the Bible, this book will reveal Him in fresh and helpful ways. The call to holy living and a deeper faith permeates the book, and the Gospel of God’s grace underlies it as well. The book would serve well as a small group resource, with questions at the end of each chapter that could be used for discussion. I encourage both men and women to avail themselves of this helpful resource. May God bless you with a greater revelation of Himself in the reading of this short book.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: ChristianAudio.com, Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com, ChristianBook.com, or direct from Crossway.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Christianaudio.com. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

Quotes to Note 37: A.W. Pink on God’s Patience

~ Bob Hayton

I am helping to teach an adult Sunday School series on God’s attributes. Each week we are gathering excerpts from systematic theologies or other books, as a reading for those who wish to study the next week’s topic out further in advance. One of the recent excerpts I found was from A.W. Pink on God’s patience. The section quoted below, is from his short book The Attributes of God (available online). I found this concept helpful in understanding and appreciating God’s incredible patience in a new light.

Stephen Charnock, the Puritan, defines God’s patience, in part, thus:

It is part of the divine goodness and mercy, yet differs from both. God being the greatest goodness, hath the greatest mildness; mildness is always the companion of true goodness, and the greater the goodness, the greater the mildness. Who so holy as Christ, and who so meek? God’s slowness to anger is a branch…from His mercy: “The Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger” (Psa 145:8). It differs from mercy in the formal consideration of the object: mercy respects the creature as miserable, patience respects the creature as criminal; mercy pities him in his misery, and patience bears with the sin which engendered the misery, and is giving birth to more.

Personally, we would define the divine patience as that power of control which God exercises over Himself, causing Him to bear with the wicked and forbear so long in punishing them. In Nahum 1:3 we read, “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,” upon which Mr. Charnock said:

Men that are great in the world are quick in passion, and are not so ready to forgive an injury, or bear with an offender, as one of a meaner rank. It is a want of power over that man’s self that makes him do unbecoming things upon a provocation. A prince that can bridle his passions is a king over himself as well as over his subjects. God is slow to anger because great in power. He has no less power over Himself than over His creatures.

It is at the above point, we think, that God’s patience is most clearly distinguished from His mercy. Though the creature is benefited thereby, the patience of God chiefly respects Himself, a restraint placed upon His acts by His will; whereas His mercy terminates wholly upon the creature. The patience of God is that excellency which causes Him to sustain great injuries without immediately avenging Himself. He has a power of patience as well as a power of justice. Thus the Hebrew word for the divine longsuffering is rendered “slow to anger” in Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 103:8, etc. Not that there are any passions in the divine nature, but that God’s wisdom and will is pleased to act with that stateliness and sobriety which is becoming to His exalted majesty.

In support of our definition above let us point out that it was to this excellency in the divine character that Moses appealed, when Israel sinned so grievously at Kadesh-Barnea, and there provoked Jehovah so sorely. Unto His servant the Lord said, “I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them.” Then it was that the mediator Moses, as a type of the Christ to come, pleaded, “I beseech Thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken saying, The LORD is longsuffering” (Num 14:17). Thus, His “longsuffering” is His “power” of self-restraint.

Again, in Romans 9:22 we read, “What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” Were God to immediately break these reprobate vessels into pieces, His power of self-control would not so eminently appear; by bearing with their wickedness and forbearing punishment so long, the power of His patience is gloriously demonstrated. True, the wicked interpret His longsuffering quite differently—”Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl 8:11)—but the anointed eye adores what they abuse.

“The God of patience” (Rom 15:5) is one of the divine titles. Deity is thus denominated, first, because God is both the Author and Object of the grace of patience in the saint. Secondly, because this is what He is in Himself: patience is one of His perfections. Thirdly, as a pattern for us: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Col 3:12). And again, “Be ye therefore followers [emulators] of God, as dear children” (Eph 5:1). When tempted to be disgusted at the dullness of another, or to be revenged on one who has wronged you, call to remembrance God’s infinite patience and longsuffering with yourself.

Book Briefs: “God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God” by Ken Shigematsu

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

God in My Everything by Ken ShigematsuWho in 2013 does not feel busy? At times I feel like I’m spinning even when sitting still! And I am not alone. The frantic pace of life threatens to choke the life out of Christian faith.

Ken Shigematsu, pastor of the Tenth Church in Vancouver, gives us a guidebook on how we can slow down and set up a “rule of life” that will direct our hearts to God in the midst of life’s craziness. Shigematsu draws from ancient monastic practices as well as the writings of a variety of Christian leaders from years gone by. He doesn’t set up an impossible hoop that today’s Christians must jump through, instead he advocates a wise approach that takes the best lessons from ancient devotional practices and adapts them in a realistic and hopeful manner for today’s church.

When you mention monastic practices, a wide variety of reactions are sure to arise. Some will see Martin Luther whipping himself to rid his soul of the devil, and others will see Simon Stylite sitting atop his pole for thirty years. There is a danger in going after monastic rituals, don’t get me wrong. Monastic devotion apart from a clear understanding of the grace of God in the gospel of Christ, can be soul-damning. I would have wanted more caution in this book about this fact. That being said, however, there is something to be learned by the devotion of the monks and the practices they set up to direct a community of faith to God.

God in My Everything, is more than just a monastic manual. It is really anything but that. Shigematsu envisions the Christian life as a growing plant that needs support by a trellis consisting of life practices that we establish. The roots are prayer, sacred reading, and an experience of Sabbath — rest and communion with God. The activities of life then support our trellis: friendship; covenant sexuality or it’s twin, celibacy; and family. Our bodies are made to relate, and also they need to be restored through attention to the physical body’s needs, time enjoying life and nature (play), and a careful use of our resources (money). Ultimately, we reach out through a Christian approach to work, justice and living out a witness to the watching world.

I appreciated the book’s emphasis that all of life is to be lived for God’s glory, and that the joys of life are not divorced from Christian devotion. There was an emphasis on social justice and good deeds, but not at the expense of Christian witness and gospel declaration. Shigematsu strikes a good balance in this book, and people from a variety of Christian denominations can appreciate his contribution. We go wrong when we lose that balance and stress one area of life to the expense of others. The beauty of this approach is that it can be adjusted to a variety of life situations and is a healthy encouaragement to take stock of your current lifestyle and how you can better arrange your life to pursuit a joyful relationship with our Heavenly Father. To that end, Shigematsu includes several examples of individual “rules of life” written by a variety of people as plans for how they will live out a God-centered life in their own everything.

This book will challenge you to examine your devotional life and not just that aspect of your life either. It will call you to experience God in all areas of your life. For that reason I encourage you to read the book in a spirit of openness and prayer, not looking for the few things you can nitpick. I don’t agree with all of Shigematsu’s advice, but in the whole he is spot on. May more of us determine to live out all of our lives to God’s glory and honor.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from Zondervan.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.