Friday, January 20, 2012

Children of the Living God by Sinclair Ferguson

"Children of the Living God" is not a long book, in fact it is fairly short.  The books brevity disguises its profundity.  In 125 pages Dr. Ferguson takes us through the doctrine of adoption in a way that will leave few Christians unaffected.  Those who read this brief and thorough work will come away with a new appreciation of how the believer relates to God the Father.

The book begins with this thesis: "[God's relationship to us as our Father] is the way -- not the only way, but the fundamental way -- for the Christian to think about himself or herself" (Italics his).  A lofty claim, to be sure, but over nine chapters, he makes his case well.

Being a child of God was not something that I thought of very much as I grew up.  I prayed to God as Father, but never contemplated the ramifications of that truth for my life.  Dr. Ferguson explains the nature of relationship through a close look at what the Bible says about our New Birth and Adoption.  He expounds on what our  life in God's family is like, and what traits his children posses.  He talks about the freedom we experience as his children.  He then writes a profound chapter concerning Fatherly Discipline that, in itself, is worth the price of the book.

While this book is short, it is quite dense.  Dr. Ferguson, to his credit, uses a lot of Scripture.  He does not spend a lot of time on illustrations or stories.  This means that each paragraph is exposition or application with little time to catch ones breath.  The feeling that I had in reading this was an overwhelming sense of the truth that Dr. Ferguson was explaining coupled with the conviction that our relationship to God as children must impact us on a daily basis.

I have heard from a student at another seminary that she had to read this book during her first semester as well.  I am thankful that Dr. Douglas assigned it here at Covenant.  After I read this book I realized that I need to talk about this more.  Our standing with God as children is a marvelous, gracious truth that is too often acknowledged and passed over or even ignored completely.  I pray that I don't fall victim to that temptation, and Dr. Ferguson's book has done much to prevent that outcome.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!... Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

-1 John 3:1-2




"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

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