The God Who Gives: How the Trinity Shapes the Christian Story

Description

Many Christians wonder what the Christian life is all about. They hear about "grace" but struggle to rightly understand it, much less live it. They are taught about God, but their vision of him does not always reflect the full biblical portrait of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When this happens Christians struggle to know the ways of God and how to joyfully participate in his work. The God Who Gives provides a compelling vision of Christian faith and life, helping readers discover the uniqueness of the gospel - that God's kingdom comes not by taking, but by giving - God gives Himself! We are invited into the fullness of life that can only come through the gift of God's divine generosity. Taking readers through the grand biblical narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and kingdom author Kelly M. Kapic helps us see our story in and through the story of Scripture. He shows that everything belongs to God, and yet because of our turning and taking from him we experience a kind of suffocating bondage to sin. So how does God reclaim us God gives again. The God who gave in creation restores by recreating us through his Son and by his Spirit. The kingdom of God is an overflowing measure of divine generosity that we are invited to participate in. The God Who Gives calls readers to discover that the whole Christian story is founded upon the Triune God's self-giving and our belonging to God. Fully embracing this truth changes how we view God, ourselves, and the world. Living in God's gifts, we are freed to give ourselves and truly experience life.

Kelly M. Kapic is Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He is the author of Communion with God: The Divine and Human in the Theology of John Owen and editor of The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics, Overcoming Sin and Temptation, and Communion with the Triune God. Kelly is married to Tabitha, who is the U.S. National Director of Medair, an international relief and rehabilitation organization. Kelly and Tabitha have two children who keep them honest and laughing. Justin L. Borger has worked with Generous Giving as a staff writer, researcher, and theological consultant since 2005 and served as the primary writer for GG's Stewardship Bible Study Notes. He also served as a content review board editor for the NIV Stewardship Study Bible. Borger graduated from Covenant College in 2006 with a B.A. in Philosophy and is currently pursuing an M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando FL. He continues to serve as an advocate for Food for the Hungry.

The God Who Gives is a work of rare theological and spiritual perceptiveness. As it conducts its readers through the movement of God's ways with the world, it invites them to contemplate the divine works and to be formed in godliness by them. This is practical Christian divinity at its best: intellectually astute, humane, and animated by the gospel's generosity. * John Webster, professor, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland * Kelly Kapic has given us a forceful presentation of our universe ruled by a magnificently giving God. It is a scholarly and deeply thoughtful presentation that is, at the same time, vividly inspiring. It will help you to think magnificently of God and of what your life can be in his universe. Stepping into a life of giving love is the only reasonable response since that is how God is and how he has made us. * Dallas Willard, professor of philosophy, University of Southern California. * What does it take to motivate a generous life? How far back do you have to go to secure an adequate starting point for such a life? This book takes us all the way back through the history of salvation and the doctrine of creation, back into the heart of the triune God. Rich, readable, and newly revised, The God Who Gives is an example of theology as the motive power behind a life of giving. * Fred Sanders, professor of theology in the Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University, author of The Triune God * One cannot read this book without being filled with wonder. Divine generosity is far more glorious than we could ever imagine. Kelly Kapic presents the beautiful paradoxes of God's kingdom, revealing that we experience true freedom only by belonging to God, and unfolding what that means on a very practical level in our lives today. In Christ, we get to participate in the love and generosity of God. * Aimee Byrd, author of No Little Women, cohost of Mortification of Spin * Compelling and almost always ringing true, what we have here is a fresh and readable retelling of the greatest story ever told. God's overwhelming generosity becomes the key to the whole compass of the biblical narrative, generating all kinds of interconnections across the Scriptures, while teasing out the sheer giftedness of the gospel, and rendering inescapable the Trinitarian reading of the Christian canon. This is a work worth pondering as it explores "the movement of divine generosity, a movement that is meant to pulsate through God's church to the world" (250). * Rev. Frances M. Young, Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology Emeritus, University of Birmingham * The God Who Gives is a must read. Jesus himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is a great book; it is beautifully written, practical, helpful, and biblically sound. I encourage all Christians, particularly those seeking to experience the blessings that come out of generosity, to read this book. The blessings we receive from generosity are not limited to strictly financial blessings, but often are the blessings of love and encouragement that we get from sharing our lives with others. These blessings are more precious than silver and gold. * Dr. John M. Perkins, founder and president emeritus of the Christian Community Development Association of the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation * The God Who Gives is an eye-opening exploration of the boundless dimensions of God's heart for the world. Simultaneously, it raises the bar for how God's image-bearers join him in big-hearted, open-handed, selfless generosity of our resources and of ourselves to the world he loves. Kelly Kapic has gifted us with a thought-provoking, deeply needed vision of our calling to gospel living. * Carolyn Custis James, author of Half the Church * Here is a rich portrayal of redemption! In The God Who Gives we are challenged to don the familiar story of salvation as a vestment more precious than the king's crown jewels. As we robe ourselves, we take delight in the story's often surprising and baffling, but always precious, truths. Sparkling quotes enliven each chapter. * Bruce K. Waltke, author of An Old Testament Theology, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Regent College * This fine book is an elegant portrayal of a marvelously generous God, who calls his people to show forth his generosity in a world that he sent his Son to redeem. * Richard J. Mouw, president emeritus and professor of faith and public life, Fuller Seminary * Our cultural environment seems to assume a world as a given rather than a gift, as debt rather than exchange, as limited resources rather than "enough to go around." How refreshing it is to step into the world of the triune God, who not only gives it all but creates a new society that anticipates his everlasting shalom. With beauty and wisdom, Kapic leads us into the breathtaking vistas of this new creation. This book itself is a welcome gift to Christ's body. * Michael Horton, J. G. Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary, California * Like the Gospel upon which it is based, this book is life-changing. Reading it was an important step in my own spiritual journey toward freedom in Christ. Kelly reminds us that God's love is the fuel that not only ignites our faith, it keeps us going and growing each day. * Robert A. Emmons, professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis, editor-in- chief, The Journal of Positive Psychology, author of The Little Book of Gratitude * God is stingy. He condemns joy and fun. Or, this is what many believe. How far from truth! In this poignant and practical exploration of the Bible's teachings about God, Kelly Kapic shows that Father, Son, and Spirit overflow with generosity. God is always giving. Come and receive. * Matthew W. Bates, assistant professor of theology at Quincy University, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone * Kapic is a clear communicator who cherishes Christ, cares for the church, and conducts all the right conversations across the fields of theology. The result is a rare combination--- a robust, warm-hearted, accessible book that glorifies our generous triune God and instructs and inspires readers throughout the church. * Justin Taylor, managing editor, ESV Study Bible * A once-common hymn declared that those who know the old, old story best long to hear it like the rest. Kapic's book demonstrates that one who knows the gospel well can tell Jesus' story very, very well---so well that we will delight to be owned by the One who gave himself for us. * Bryan Chapell, president emeritus, Covenant Theological Seminary, senior pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Illinois *