Providence. John Piper. 2021. 752 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: God has revealed the goal and nature and extent of his providence. He has not been silent. He has shown us these things in the Bible. This is one of the reasons that the apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is . . . profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16). The profit lies not mainly in the validation of a theological viewpoint but in the revelation of a great God, the exaltation of his invincible grace, and the liberation of his undeserving people. God has revealed his purposeful sovereignty over good and evil in order to humble human pride, intensify human worship, shatter human hopelessness, and put ballast in the battered boat of human faith, steel in the spine of human courage, gladness in the groans of affliction, and love in the heart that sees no way forward.
It is finished! It took me over a month--perhaps closer to two--to finish this one. Was it worth it? Yes. Do I see this as a book worthy of a reread? Yes. I think it is a substantive, weighty book where a reader would benefit from a second read. Or perhaps as an alternative as a resource to go back to again and again.
I will not try to provide an in-depth review of each part, each section, each chapter.
Part 1: A Definition and a Difficulty
1. What is Divine Providence
2. Is Divine Self-Exaltation Good News?
Part 2: The Ultimate Goal of Providence
Section 1: The Ultimate Goal of Providence before Creation and in Creation
3. Before Creation
4. The Act of Creation
Section 2: The Ultimate Goal of Providence in the History of Israel
5. Overview from Abraham to the Age to Come
6. The Exodus Unfolds
7. Remembering the Exodus
8. The Law, the Wilderness, and the Conquest of Canaan
9. The Time of the Judges and the Days of the Monarchy
10. The Protection, Destruction, and Restoration of Jerusalem
Section 3: The Ultimate Goal of Providence in the Design and Enactment of the New Covenant
11. The Designs of the New Covenant
12. Christ's Foundational Act in Establishing the New Covenant
13. The Entrance of Sin into Creation and the Glory of the Gospel
14. The Glory o fChrist in the Glorification of His People
Part 3: The Nature and Extent of Providence
Section 1: Setting the Stage
15. Knowing the Providence of the God Who Is
Section 2: Providence Over Nature
16. The Loss and Recovery of a Theater of Wonders
17. Earth, Water, Wind, Plants, and Animals
Section 3: Providence over Satan and Demons
18. Satan and Demons
19. The Ongoing Existence of Satan
Section 4: Providence over Kings and Nations
20. Israel's Divine King is King of the Nations
21. Human Kingship and the King of Kings
22. To Know and Rejoice That the Most High Rules
Section 5: Providence Over Life and Death
23. A Bath of Truth and the Gift of Birth
24. The Lord Has Taken Away; Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
25. We Are Immortal till Our Work is Done
Section 6: Providence Over Sin
26. Natural Human Willing and Acting
27. Things We Know and Things We Do Not Need to Know
28. Joseph: God's Good Meaning in a Sinful Act
29. Israel Hated, Pharaoh Hardened, God Exalted, Helpless Saved
30. Broken Families
31. Deception and Dullness of Heart
32. Though He Cause Grief, He Will Have Compassion
33. A Wickedness God Especially Abhorred
Section 7: Providence Over Conversion
34. Our Condition Before Conversion
35. Three Biblical Pictures of How God Brings People to Faith
36. Saving Faith as the Gift of Providence
37. Driven Back to the Precious Roots of Election
Section 8: Providence Over Christian Living
38. Forgiveness, Justification, and Obedience
39. God's Command-and-Warning Strategy
40. Those Whom He Called, He Also Glorified
41. Blood-Bought Zeal for Good Works
42. Working In Us That Which Is Pleasing In His Sight
43. Killing Sin and Creating Love--By Faith
Section 9: The Final Achievement of Providence
44. The Triumph of Missions and the Coming of Christ
45. New Bodies, New World, Never-Ending Gladness in God
If you take the time to thoughtfully read the table of contents you see that Piper's book covers just about anything and everything.
Is it accessible or reader friendly? This will vary reader by reader, of course, but I think if taken one to three chapters at a time, it IS more accessible than not. I do want to point out that it isn't equally accessible cover to cover. There are chapters--or paragraphs within chapters--that are quite complex and where Piper's approach is more technical/scholarly. The good news is that if you keep reading, keep on keeping on, that you will get back to parts you are able to understand/comprehend/appreciate. And sometimes he even provides summary of the harder bits by the end of the chapter or section. Don't give up.
The book covers just about everything--it's very broad in its subject. I think it's only natural that some readers will "love" some chapters and sections more than others. While all chapters are relevant when seen in the grand scheme of seeing God's Providence, not all chapters are equally relevant in showing how God's providence relates back to the reader. The last third of the book is, in my opinion, the best.
Quotes:
- I am going to use the word providence to refer to a biblical reality. The reality is not found in any single Bible word. It emerges from the way God has revealed himself through many texts and many stories in the Bible. They are like threads woven together into a beautiful tapestry greater than any one thread. We are using a word that is not in the Bible for the sake of this larger truth of the Bible.
- The focus of this book is on God’s sovereignty considered not simply as powerful but as purposeful. Historically, the term providence has been used as shorthand for this more specific focus.
- God does not simply see as a passive bystander. As God, he is never merely an observer. He is not a passive observer of the world—and not a passive predictor of the future. Wherever God is looking, God is acting. In other words, there is a profound theological reason why God’s providence does not merely mean his seeing, but rather his seeing to. When God sees something, he sees to it.
- Providence says, Whatever God ordains must be; but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some one great end.
- It is cheap grace, not genuine grace, that thinks life in Christ is without remorse for past sin and for remaining corruption.
- The fear of the Lord is not the opposite of joy in the Lord; it is the depth and seriousness of it.
- Jesus is both the ground of our salvation, and the glory we were saved to see and savor and share. He was the price that was paid for our deliverance, and the prize we were destined to enjoy. He redeemed us from hell, and he rewarded us with himself.
- Though death is real, (1) Christ has defeated it by his death and resurrection, so that (2) those who treasure him need not fear what kills the body, because (3) in that moment we will be with Christ, seeing his glory, savoring his love, feeling at home, until the day of his appearing, when (4) he will raise our bodies from the dead, and (5) give us a body like his glorious body, and (6) renew all creation as our eternal habitation, and (7) bring us to fullness of joy and pleasures forever in the radiance of his glorious presence. That is bracing reality.
- What if I look you in the eye and ask, “Are you a Christian? Do you have saving faith in Jesus?” And what if you say, “Yes, I do,” and I then ask, “How did that happen? How did you cease to be a person who preferred other things to God and become a person who treasures Christ?” Will you be able to give me a true, biblical answer? This is not theoretical. This is urgent. For most people, the answer presses for an answer with more urgency than the question of election. It feels like something great hangs in the balance. And it does.
- I am not asking about what you can remember about the circumstances—young or old, recent or distant. Those facts may be precious in memory or long forgotten. The genuineness of our conversion does not depend on its being remembered. If it did, people with dementia would be in a desperate spiritual plight. Salvation is not by works—including the work of memory.
- Far more important than the human circumstances God used to bring you to faith is how God himself was involved at the moment when you passed from death to life (Eph. 2:5). And we learn that from Scripture, not from memory. In fact, many people must unlearn aspects of what they think happened, when they finally see in Scripture what truly happened in their conversion.
- Experience does not teach us the depth of our difficulty. Only God can do that. And he does it by his word and Spirit.
- The point is that any sin—because it is sin (a preference for something over God)—will destroy us if we cordon it off from opposition, give it amnesty, and keep it as our beloved rebellion against God.
- I often ask people, How do you know you will wake up a Christian tomorrow morning? The bottom-line answer is that God will cause you to wake up a Christian, or you won’t. God will be faithful. God will keep you. Everything hangs on the faithfulness of God to his promise: “Those whom he called . . . he also glorified.”
- Holiness is the opposite of sin. Therefore, treasuring God above all things is the essence of holiness.
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