MOST CHRISTIANS GO through two conversions. The first is to
Christianity. They believe the gospel, repent
of sins, get baptized, and join a
local church. The second is equally important. It is a conversion to a biblical
understanding of who and what God is. This often happens gradually. The street
view of God is that he is love, and that is all that God is. The street view of
God also has him needing man, and centering his existence on the happiness of
man.
But that is not the biblical view of God.
God has no needs. He is infinitely happy, (which is as happy as
one can possibly be), without us. He doesn’t need us for any reason. In
addition, from God’s perspective, holiness, not love is his most important
attribute. Everything about God is holy, including his love. It is the holiness
of his love that makes it so wonderful. Last, although God’s justice is seldom
important to us, it is as important to God as his love. God never loves at the
expense of justice. But he is free to exercise justice at the expense of love.
All God owes his creatures is justice. Were he to be exclusively just, we would
all be damned.
Many Christians never pass through this second conversion.
As a result, they never mature spiritually. They don’t advance far in
sanctification. They remain perpetual spiritual infants.
All of this brings me to an important book. It is Dr. Bruce
Ware’s, God’s Greater Glory, the exalted God of Scripture and the Christian
Faith. It is a fascinating study of the providence of God---his control of
everything that happens on planet earth. This includes both pleasant and
painful circumstances. If a good God is in control, why would he allow the
holocaust, or the death of an infant from cancer? To answer these questions Dr.
Ware dives into the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and the holiness of
God. Reading this book will help you pass through this second conversion. Just
under 200 pages, God’s Greater Glory is highly readable. I strongly
recommend. Buy
it here, and read it. You won’t be disappointed.
Labels: book review, theology