God in the Whirlwhind:
How the Holy-Love of God Reorients our World by David F. Wells
Picking up the mantle where he left off with No Place for
Truth and God in the Wasteland, theologian David F. Wells, in his new book
entitled God in the Whirlwind, seeks to reorient our lives around biblical
truth and God’s character. Wells
believes the number one cultural challenge that we face is that our
understanding of the character of God starts on the wrong footing if we start
anywhere other than the truth of God’s Word.
Having the right starting place is key to asking the right questions and
providing a good foundation for which to believe from. It is also the holy love of God that compels
us to live our lives solidly before the face of God.
David opens our eyes in the early part of the book to see
the challenge that we face regarding God’s word, his attributes and seeing him
rightly. He states that, “The answer is
that our experience of our culture may have affected how we see things. Given
the intense exposure we have to our modernized world, we need to be alert to
the way it can shape our perspective and understanding (20).” Cultural lenses have often replaced biblical
lenses for a distorted view of reality and of God. The two major questions that we face in the
modern world, Wells contends, is that, “First, does God ever intervene in life?
Second, does God ever make moral judgments about what we do and say (22)?” In other words, it’s not enough to say that
we believe in God, that he exists over us, but rather what kind of God do you
believe in, a God who is pleased to engage the world in action or one who is
complacent, aloof, and uncaring.
Secondly, does God care enough for his creatures that he is willing to
make moral judgments about our actions for the purposes of bringing about human
flourishing. These two questions are at
the heart of helping people to come back to a biblical view of God.
David also helps his readers see that the triune God is at
every part of their lives investing in their struggles. He writes, “The triune God accompanies his
struggling people. As we walk through life, the Son intercedes for us by
pleading the merits of his work. The Spirit intercedes for us by presenting
those prayers that are in accordance with the Father’s will to the Father.
Throughout the New Testament, in fact, we see this close correlation between
Son and Spirit as together they work to bring God’s people to their appointed
end in glory (73).” If we see the
appointed glory as the end in mine, then we will not lose sight of the triune
God at work in our lives, through the Son’s intercession, the Spirit’s work in
prayer and the Father’s will throughout all our lives. This should bring joy to every believer
because not only is there no condemnation here for the believer, but there is
fullness of life and hope.
There was a strong sense of God’s joy and his purposes in
loving his children in this book by David Wells. I hope many believers pick it up and be
refreshed as I was in reading God in the Whirlwind.
Thanks to Crossway for the copy of this book in exchange for
an honest review.
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