MOST CHRISTIANS GO through two conversions. The first is to Christianity. They believe the gospel, repent
of sins, get baptized, and join a local church. The second is equally important. It is a conversion to a biblical understanding of who and what God is. This often happens gradually. The street view of God is that he is love, and that is all that God is. The street view of God also has him needing man, and centering his existence on the happiness of man.
But that is not the biblical view of God.
God has no needs. He is infinitely happy, (which is as happy as one can possibly be), without us. He doesn’t need us for any reason. In addition, from God’s perspective, holiness, not love is his most important attribute. Everything about God is holy, including his love. It is the holiness of his love that makes it so wonderful. Last, although God’s justice is seldom important to us, it is as important to God as his love. God never loves at the expense of justice. But he is free to exercise justice at the expense of love. All God owes his creatures is justice. Were he to be exclusively just, we would all be damned.
Many Christians never pass through this second conversion. As a result, they never mature spiritually. They don’t advance far in sanctification. They remain perpetual spiritual infants.
All of this brings me to an important book. It is Dr. Bruce Ware’s, God’s Greater Glory, the exalted God of Scripture and the Christian Faith. It is a fascinating study of the providence of God—his control of everything that happens on planet earth. This includes both pleasant and painful circumstances. If a good God is in control, why would he allow the holocaust, or the death of an infant from cancer? To answer these questions Dr. Ware dives into the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and the holiness of God. Reading this book will help you pass through this second conversion. Just under 200 pages, God’s Greater Glory is highly readable. I strongly recommend. Buy it here, and read it. You won’t be disappointed.
