This book is a plea that God himself, as revealed most clearly and fully in Jesus’s death and resurrection, be seen and enjoyed as the final and greatest gift of the gospel.
The gospel of Jesus and his many precious blessings are not ultimately what makes the good news good, but means of seeing and savoring the Savior himself. Forgiveness is good because it opens the way to enjoying God himself. Justification is good because it wins access to the presence and pleasure of God himself. Eternal life is good because it becomes the everlasting enjoyment of Jesus.
All God’s good gifts are loving to the degree that they lead us to God himself. This is the love of God: doing everything necessary, most painfully in the death of his Son, to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying—namely, himself.
“The supreme demonstration of God’s love was the sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever.”
This book is an overview of the entire Bible, explaining how both Old and New Testaments are all about Christ. This book shows clearly how all man-made attempts to justify and get right with God fail and why Christ is the only Way. This book is for new believers or people who may not yet be believers.
Who is Jesus Christ?
You've never met him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ-the divine Person revealed in the Bible-has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet.
The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross.
Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." Ask God for the grace to do his will, and you will see the truth of his Son.
John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.
“Seeing and savoring Jesus Christ is the most important seeing and savoring you will ever do. Eternity hangs on it. So my aim is that you see him as solid truth and savor him with great joy.”
In Future Grace, John Piper helps readers discover the key to overcoming sin and living a life that honors God. Many men and women attempt to walk upright out of gratitude for what Christ did in the past, but Piper encourages believers to look ahead to the grace God provides for us on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis — putting faith into action by laying hold of God’s promises for the challenges we face.
No one sins out of duty. We sin because we want to. Sin promises happiness, and we buy the lie. So how can the root of sin be severed in our lives? The penalty of sin must be paid by the righteous blood of Christ. And the power of sin must be broken by banking on the promises of Christ.
John Piper’s meditations are rooted in rock-solid biblical reflection. Chapter by chapter — one for each day of the month — he reveals how, by cherishing the promises of God, you can break the power of anxiety, despondency, covetousness, lust, bitterness, impatience, pride, misplaced shame, and more.
“By ‘future’ I do not merely mean the grace of heaven and the age to come. I mean the grace that begins now, this very second, and sustains your life to the end of this paragraph. By ‘grace’ I do not merely mean the pardon of God in passing over your sins, but also the power and beauty of God to keep you from sinning.”