In the introduction to his book, The Pleasures of God, John Piper writes:
“…we will not be enthralled by this good news unless we feel that he was not obliged to do this. He was not coerced or constrained by our value. He is the center of the gospel. The exaltation of his glory is the driving force of the gospel. The gospel is a gospel of grace!”
I think for most people, at first glance, this is a hard concept to swallow. Especially if you’re not already familiar with Piper’s writings. But it’s hard to deny, none the less. What kind of God would he be if he needed us. If the greatness of the gospel of God was somehow contingent on our value? In fact, that’s madness really.
And from there, while it’s uncomfortable to embrace the radical God centeredness of the gospel, we can’t hope to be really transformed by it unless we do. I mean, we’ve spent out entire lives looking at ourselves, with no luck. How is a man centered gospel going to help anything?
How could a man-centered gospel be considered “gospel” at all?
