Beruflich Dokumente
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Contents
Introduction 11
1. Jesus 29
2. Loves 45
3. Me (Part 1) 65
4. Me (Part 2) 81
5. Me (Part 3) 97
6. This I Know 117
7. The Bible Tells Me So 145
Conclusion 167
Acknowledgments 179
Notes 181
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Alex Early, The Reckless Love of God
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015. Used by permission.
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belong with God that upon experiencing his reckless love for
you as a person, it wont be long before you start thinking,
We were always meant to be together.
Over the last decade or so, I have been thrilled to seeand
be deeply changed and challenged bythe emphasis placed
on the gospel by so many incredible Christian leaders. I grew
up in a great church, a church that boldly preached the gospel
of Jesus. Yet I dont remember hearing the word gospel buzz
like it does today, and for that progress, I am very grateful.
We are certainly living in a special time.
Hundreds of books and articles have been published by
gifted pastors and authors, including The Explicit Gospel
by Matt Chandler, What Is the Gospel? by Don Carson, and
Gospel by J. D. Greear and Tim Keller. A Gospel Transformation Bible is even now available. Gospel-centered conferences, websites, and resources serve the church in tremendous ways. Beyond that, seeing brilliant minds unpack and
expound on the gospel, and hearing how they go about articulating the good news, is fascinating. Trevin Wax has been
compiling a document that is now up to thirty-one pages
of denitions of the gospel provided by over fty different
theologians, historians, and pastors, each of which nuance
different aspects of the good news.3 Indeed, knowledge of
what the gospel actually is these days is of utmost importance. Paul himself tells us that it is of rst importance
(1 Corinthians 15:13).
But Calvin admonishes us all not just to talk about the
Gospel, when it ought to reach and affect the inner longings
of the heart. It should take possession of the soul and inuence the whole personality a hundred times more than the
sterile discussions of philosophers!4
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Alex Early, The Reckless Love of God
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015. Used by permission.
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in our world demand real emotions. God is not a cold, impersonal, disengaged, passive robot in the sky pretending to
have emotions. Detaching oneself emotionally does not speak
of love or even maturity. Unhealthy detachment smacks of
self-preservation, refusal to be vulnerable, even narcissism.
Though in debt to no man, God is a warm, loving Father
who actually has emotions, though perfect in his expression
of them at all times.
Let me show you three passages of Scripture from the Old
Testament that capture exactly how God feels about his rebellious, selsh, wayward children. I have purposely turned to
the Old Testament, because many are under the impression
that the God of the Old Testament was mean, ruthless, and
bloodthirsty. And the New Testament, as the consensus goes,
records how God had a change of heart somewhere in
that quirky intertestamental period and started to hand out
kindness, grace, and love. Nothing could be further from the
truth. As theologian Krish Kandiah points out, the idea that
God started as a tyrant is longstanding, notably advanced in
the second century by a bishops son named Marcion:
The Creator God of the Old Testament was obsessed with
the law and was mostly angry and judgmental. Then there
is a Second God, the good, gracious Father of Jesus, unknown to us before the New Testament. . . . Marcion was
denounced as a heretic . . . but many Christians live as if
Marcion was right.8
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This is not the language of an employer-employee contract. Ephraim does not sound like a hired hand. No, this is
Gods covenantal love as an adoptive Father. Gods heart is
a yearning heart. Gods heart is a feeling heart. Gods heart
is an active heart. Gods heart is an attentive heart. Gods
heart is an intentional heart. The Hebrew word for yearns
is hama, pronounced hay-ma. According to scholars, It
is a strong word, emphasizing unrest, commotion, strong
feeling, or noise.9 God has no children that he is not deeply
fond of! He refers to each one of us as his dear son, his
darling child.
God, through the timeless pages of the Bible, isnt mumbling in his irrevocable declaration of love for people like
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Alex Early, The Reckless Love of God
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015. Used by permission.
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you and me. For sixty-six books, God has a consistent theme
and he lifts his voice with a bravado that has shaken the
earth to its corea booming pronouncement that he, the
very origin and denition of love, has his eyes xed on you.
And he goes beyond lifting his voice. God has given you a
demonstrationa demonstration of just how much he loves
you. God is not content to only feel and say that he loves
us. He must show us his love specically in his Sons death
while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). While meditating
on the cross of Jesus, Recognize the transcendent goodness
of God . . . and his overowing, superabundant love for man.
Before such goodness and love nature trembles, sages stammer like fools, and the saints and angels
are blinded with glory. So overwhelming
is this revelation of Gods nature that if
God not only
his power did not sustain them I dare not
tolerates
think what might happen.10
you and me,
Yes, God not only tolerates you and
he actually
me, he actually likes us. What makes
likes us.
God love us like this? Is it because he
sees something great, bold, heroic, or
charming that he cant resist? Was it that
charitable donation you made to a nonprot last December?
What made him look my way? you ask. The Bible uses a
word for this kind of unearned affection: grace.
Our good works didnt get Gods attention. Rather, our
good works apart from God repulse him. God did not peer
through the corridors of time and nd you on your best day
and think, That one. Shes for me! I can really use her for
my glory! She and I will make a great team! Martin Luther
said, It is a horrible blasphemy to imagine that there is any
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Alex Early, The Reckless Love of God
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015. Used by permission.
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Alex Early, The Reckless Love of God
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015. Used by permission.
7/8/15 1:19 PM