Desiring God - Part 3
I am currently reading Desiring God by John Piper.
The first chapter of the book concerns the happiness of God. Piper jumps right in to discussing some really deep theological concepts. You have to give him credit for being willing to tackle some tough issues. He tackles God’s sovereignty and the problem of evil all within the first 50 pages!
Piper is smart to begin with a foundational doctrine in the sovereignty of God. This is the basis for his book. Piper states that the foundation of Christian Hedonism is the happiness of God, but the foundation of God’s happiness is God’s sovereignty.
I love his description of God’s sovereignty. He does a great job explaining the historic, orthodox position on this. Piper presents a very high view of God. He speaks a lot concerns God’s chief end is to glorify Himself. Once again, he anticipates and responds to objections throughout the text.
Piper explains God’s sovereignty with the best of them. He says, “If God is sovereign and can do anything He pleases, then none of His purposes can be frustrated.” This really reminds me of a quote by R.C. Sproul in Chosen By God (If there is any part of creation outside of God’s sovereignty, then God is simply not sovereign. If God is not sovereign, then God is not God.). Piper then tackles the problem of evil head-on. He uses many biblical illustrations to make his point.
Piper is tackling a pretty tough topic. He has to tackle even tougher topics to make his point. Piper is truly a good communicator because he writes not just to be understood but writes so that he is not misunderstood.
The first chapter is definitely one I will refer to again as reference material.