Desiring God by John Piper (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Appendix 1 (Goal of God in redemptive history) and Appendix 2 (Is the Bible a reliable guide to lasting joy).
Today we begin the appendices.
Appendix One gives us a whirlwind tour of the Bible's evidence that the goal of God in redemptive history is his own glory. In the Old Testament Piper highlights:
(i) creation;
(ii) tower of babel;
(iii) call of Abram;
(iv) exodus;
(v) giving of the law;
(vi) wilderness wandering;
(vii) conquest of Canaan;
(viii) beginnings of monarchy;
(ix) temple of God;
(x) deliverance in the time of the kings;
(xi) exile and promised restoration;
(xii) post-exilic prophets.
Then in the New Testament Piper highlights:
(i) Jesus' life and ministry;
(ii) Jesus' death;
(iii) the Christian life;
(iv) the second coming and consummation.
Appendix Two is basically a defence of Christianity as the path to eternal happiness. Piper looks at:
(i) the existence of God;
(ii) the witnesses of Christ;
(iii) the incomparable Christ;
(iv) the evidence of Jesus' resurrection;
(v) Jesus as the true revelation of God;
(vi) Jesus' view of the Old Testament;
(vii) the authority of the New Testament.
I liked Piper's quick defense for the existence of an eternal God: 'Suppose I try to go back a million billion trillion years to imagine the nature of original reality. What was it like? What I see is the stunning fact that there is a fifty-fifty possibility that original reality was a Person rather than a gas. Just think of it. Since whatever originally was has always existed, there are absolutely no causes which could have disposed that original reality to be a gas rather than a person. Every reasonable person must admit that it is a toss-up. Maybe some undefined stuff existed from eternity-or maybe it was a Person!'
I agree. Person over gas makes much better sense!
Next week's reading
Read Appendix 3 (What Does It Mean to Love Your Neighbor as You Love Yourself?) and Appendix 4 (Why Call It Christian Hedonism?).
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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