'THE Passion of Jesus Christ' is a new book by John Piper.
This book deals with the suffering and passion of Jesus Christ
and is written by a well known Christian author John Piper.
Here the book is reviewed by Pastor Robert Murdock of
Emmanual
Baptist Church.
"In fight of Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ'
some people who view it may be troubled with all that they see and
perhaps wonder what really took place two thousand years ago on a
hill outside Jerusalem.
"Piper gives fifty reasons why Jesus Christ suffered and died.
In each chapter (which incidentally are just two pages long), he
directs us to consider what the Bible has to say. For example in
chapter 1 He states that it was 'To Absorb the wrath of God':
"'Since God is just, he does not sweep our sins under the rug
of the universe. He feels a Holy wrath against them. They deserve
to be punished, and he has made this clear: For the wages of sin
is death' (Romans 6:23). 'The soul who sins shall die' (Ezekial
18:4).
"There is a Holy curse hanging over all sin. Not to punish
would be unjust. The demeaning of God would be endorsed. A lie
would reign at the core of reality. Therefore, God says 'Cursed be
everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of
the law, and do them' (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).
"But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs
over all sinful humanity. He is not content to show wrath, no
matter how holy it is. Therefore God sends his own Son to absorb
His wrath and bear the curse of all who trust Him. 'Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us'
(Galatians 3:13)
"This is the meaning of the word 'Propitiation' in the text
quoted above (Romans 3:25). It refers to the removal of God's
wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God
himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the
wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God's
wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.
"I can recommend this book to both Christians and those who are
seriously seeking answers to why Christ Suffered and died."
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