Christians clearly need a lot of persuading about grace. ‘Jesus is -’ is another book that tells you about a God whose primary concern is to save his people, not to condemn them. A God whose delight it is to give second chance after second chance for as long as it takes for us to get it right. I say, ‘another book about grace’, and not ‘yet another book about grace’, because you can't have too many books on the subject; especially when each new book manages to uncover a new aspect of grace and a new route toward understanding and accepting the best free gift the world has ever known and (almost) accepted.
If every new book about the grace of God brings just one person just one step nearer knowing what that means, then let's have as many books about grace as there are people, and then some more. Subtitled ‘A New Way to be Human’ Judah Smith’s ‘Jesus Is -’ takes the line that being fully human is what God intended, and that's the same as being in the centre of the grace of God, which is the same as having the grace of God in the centre of your being. “Grace is a free gift,” argues Judah Smith, “and grace is a person.” In the final pages of the book, Judah Smith writes:
“My goal in this book has been to help you see Jesus for who he really is and to understand what that means for you life. It is a reflection of a personal journey I have been on o for several years now, a journey that has transformed me from the inside out. I am more in love with Jesus that ever before. I am more excited about preaching the gospel that ever before. My prayer is that the love of Jesus will consume you, that to will permeate your life and bring colour to your existence. There is nothing like it.”
Judah explores a wide range of possible descriptions that might complete the sentence ‘Jesus Is -’; all of them perfectly good, satisfactory answers. Some are answers which seasoned Christians will recognise. Some are answers you’ll have been taught, and some are answers you’ll have experienced for yourself. But none of them, insists Smith, ‘complete’ the sentence. There is only phrase that will properly do that. And only when we properly give the complete answer, can we properly discover and enjoy that new way of being human.
Smith gives you a summary of the old way of being human – often wrongly cited as the only way to be human. He puts it like this:
Religion says: “Behave, believe and then you will belong.” That’s the order many of us have known our whole lives. “First I have to act right, think right, talk right, then I’ll fit in. Then I’ll belong.” But the gospel says the opposite: “Belong, then believe, then behave.” Another way of saying this is: “Amazing grace, great faith and good works.”
Judah Smith’s entire book in devoted to showing that the gospel order is the divine order and the divine way to be human. His book is a reassuring read for Christians familiar with the grace of God who appreciate a refreshing look and a reminder of who Jesus is. Put together in a style similar to the books of John Ortberg or Max Lucado, chapters are short, chatty and sprinkled with lively stories and anecdotes. For new Christians and those unsure of whom Jesus is, this is a gentle, encouraging analysis of what the Bible has to say on the subject. – Les Ellison
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