A quick summary of the message in the Paul Washer video below might be expressed as: Loving God is Knowing God. Of course it’s much, much more than that. Loving God also entails obeying Him etc. But Washer’s message focuses on the fact that we ought to seek out God and find out more about attributes through His Word. In that way, we also learn how to love God more.
There are many good books written to help Christians understand the God of Scripture, rather than the god of culture. We have reviewed George Swinnock’s The Blessed and Boundless God. We also reviewed High King of Heaven.
J. I. Packer’s “Knowing God” is a recommended classic. Packer’s much younger friend, Mark Jones, has also written the highly recommended “Knowing Christ.”
More recently Terry L. Johnson has written a 400 plus-page book called “The Identity and Attributes of God.” It doesn’t have a sub-title. If it had one I’d suggest it should be something like: “And How the Christian Ought to Live as a Consequence.”
I don’t intend this to be a review of Johnson’s book – such an attempt would be well above my pay grade. But Johnson’s book not only connects the dots on the identity and attributes of God throughout Scripture, he does so in a pastoral and devotional way. One of my favorite sections is on the holiness of God. There we learn why God cannot tolerate sin and the incredible provision He has made for sinners.
One can’t help but learn to love the God Johnson writes about. I like the fact that Johnson dedicated his book Stephen Charnock, George Swinnock and William Gurnall. Not only does he draw from these, but also from many other Puritans.
Matt Cover has written a nice little review of Johnson’s book:
We were created to know God! We have been saved in order to know God! There is nothing that could lead us to greater worship than when we meditate upon who God is! For that reason, it is very important for every Christian to spend time studying God’s Word to grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s identity and His attributes…keep reading
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