We’re almost half way through July. Only one more week of Book Club after this. Summer marches on, making way for fall—the created order cyclically following the pattern determined for her, with us at her mercy.

How’s your summer been?

We’ve been planting trees, gardening, ripping plaster walls out of our house to make way for insulation and new drywall—preparing a place for the boy coming into our world at the end of August.

This is the human appointment—cultivate and subdue the earth, multiply and make a home.

This extraordinary ordinary-life is sacred.

“Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:4-5

This passage is the focus of chapter 6, and has the potential to transform a person’s whole life.

I was at dinner last night with a group of friends. The place was beautiful—colors chosen with intention, mirrors placed to give the impression of an expanded space, the table made of what seemed to be a big piece of solid oak, and the giant rounded booth was so comfortable you forgot you were sitting on something. The food was delicious. I ordered the filet mignon, one of the most expensive items on the menu, I confess. But it sounded so good.

The question was raised, “Why is it so important for us (humans) to eat together? Is it something God gave us because He knew we would enjoy it? Or did He make us to enjoy it for some reason?”

Good question. We began to discuss our theories.

One of them aligns with our passage in 1 Timothy.

“Everything created by God is good” and “it is made holy by the word of God.”

Ray connects both of these to Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

God made all of creation good and holy.

Holy means set apart or appointed for a divine purpose.

Creation is set apart for some purpose, and also good.

But what’s it mean that creation is good?

God alone is Good. He is the source and fullness of all that is Good.

Goodness in something is expressed when it fulfills the purpose given to it by the Good One, and when it reflects the Good One in the way it was made to.

Back to dinner.

The beauty of the restaurant is meant to point us to the Source and Fullness of all beauty.

The goodness of the food is given that we would not stop at savoring the salt and fat and sugar, but that we would taste and see that the Lord is good.1

Our eating together while we share conversation and deepen our relationship is an image of the eternal, loving relationship between the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.

The beauty, goodness, and togetherness of that meal was holy—a shadow of the Truly Beautiful, Good, and Together One.

We prayed to God—thanking Him for the delicious food, the friends, and for making us human.

In that moment, we stepped into what Ray calls “the sacred enjoyment” (p.103).

“Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

When we begin to understand and believe what this passage is teaching us, our enjoyment of God’s good creation can reach it’s fullest potential—to be “lifted into our worship of the Creator” (p.101).

Taste and see that the Lord is good by eating rich food, by sharing meaningful conversations, by beholding beautiful things.

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.2

What was God teaching you through this chapter? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!!

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See you next Saturday (7/18) for Chapter Seven!

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Ray defines the pain and vexation we are to eradicate, in this way:

“Vexation means bitter discontent—our brooding self-pity, envious grievance, fearful worry. And pain means gnawing misery—our reckless self-indulgence, evil choices, anguished regrets.” (p. 72)

We are probably more familiar with pain and vexation than we’d like to admit.

If we honestly evaluated our hearts, we’d likely find we experience at least one of those descriptors of pain and vexation on a daily basis.

And why shouldn’t we? This world is fallen and corrupt—which means we toil by the sweat of our brow, adversaries are scheming against us, we are misunderstood and unloved, our confusing appetites pull us in different directions, we make poor choices and live with the consequences.

Shouldn’t circumstances like this warrant a little vexation of heart? A little wallowing in the pain?

We’re tempted to romanticize the suffering—to cry, “woe is me,” garnering the applause of a misguided audience.

But Ecclesiastes says no, “remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body.”

Why?

You are not your own. You were bought with a price. 1

This means we don’t get to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. We have a Master, and we must submit.

Does that sound like slavery to you? Oppressive? Freedom stealing?

It’s not.

Remember with me, the story of the exodus.

Israel was under the tyranny of Egypt and all its power. They were forced into hard labor by one who hated them—their bodies crushed under the weight of an unbearable burden. They were vexed of heart—groaning in the bitterness of their souls.

It is from this that God delivered them. He set them free. He broke the bonds of Egypt’s power from their blistering wrists.

Freedom.

Freedom from Egypt—but freedom to what?

“Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.”2

Freedom from Egypt was not simply opening the gates to a world of anarchic, unordered possibility—that was the world before God made light and land and us.3

It was making a way into real freedom—freedom to voluntarily do what is Good.

Freedom is having the capacity and the choice to live well—to do what is right, to love mercy and do justice, to walk humbly with our God.

Slavery is knowing what is Good, but rejecting it at the command of a corrupt, tyrannical master—which is usually our own sinful self, the pharaoh of our hearts.

Ecclesiastes is offering us freedom: “remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body.”

“Ecclesiastes if freeing, but it’s also demanding. Good!” (p. 71)

We want to hold ourselves in bondage to our corrupt desire—wallowing in our slavery of self-pity and worry.

God wants to set us free—to serve Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

We have a Good Master—One who is for us, and our good.

Remove vexation from your heart.

Put away pain from your body.

This is Freedom.

Receive it joyfully from the Hand of generosity.

What were your thoughts on this chapter? Share in the comments!

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See you next Saturday (7/11) for Chapter Six!

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How has this summer’s book club been for you? Encouraging? Inspiring? I hope so.

It’s been a joy for me to talk with many of you about how the book has impacted you so far, and the conversations you’ve been having with those you’re reading with.

The Lord is kind. I pray He continues to show us with evermore clarity the goodness of his call to eat, drink, and be merry.

This chapter is brimming with themes of identity, purpose, and calling—some of the most fervent desires of the human soul.

A person is born and immediately begins to orient themselves toward what calls to them, who they are in relation to others, and what they are to do in a world of endless possibilities.

These pursuits are at the core of what it is to exist in the universe as a human being.

The journey, however, can be perilous.

Sometimes the one calling is not Good, but a snake.

There are competing answers to the questions, “who is Man?” and “what is he made for?”

“this world wants to squeeze us into its soul-crushing mold” (p. 57)

The world’s mold has undergone minor updates and alterations, but it has been fundamentally the same since the beginning: anti-human, anti-God deception offering the attributes of God reserved for Him alone, while shaming every proper reflection of God we were made to share in—the fall in the Garden on repeat in the heart of every human being from the beginning until now.

There are voices outside of us—calling to us—which cannot be trusted.

Does that mean we simply need to close ourselves off to those outside voices, and look within ourselves to find our answers to these important questions?

Maybe if we can discern what our “truest desires” are, we could gratify those religiously to find fulfilment. Maybe that’s where we find our identity. Maybe that is our purpose.

But this comes up short again. This approach is self-love, the elevation of self-esteem above all else. We have a not-so-endearing word for people like that: selfish—a quality which is everywhere and always condemned when the proverbial rubber meets the road.

I agree with Ray, “self-esteem at the center of our identity becomes self-distortion.” (p. 55)

Our identity is not something found within, it is something assigned from without.

Our purpose is not something we create for ourselves, it is given to us in accordance with our design.

Our calling is not only what captures our attention, it is a Person inviting us into the plans He has for us.

It is only once we surrender to the Word of God that we will find the answers to these burning questions.

The Word of God tells us who we are, what we are made for, and how to walk the path we are being called down with wisdom.

The Word of God reveals to us our great & high purpose of bearing the image of the Perfect, while also shedding light on the darkest parts of us we never thought would be exposed.

It is the Word of God that gives us true clarity—not the voices in the world and not the voices within ourselves.

You’re a sinner saved by grace, made in the image and being conformed to the Image.

You have the Holy Helper living within you. Ask for help—help to discern between good and evil, help to discern your calling, help to pursue your interests by faith.

This brings me back to this surreal image:

This place is called Meteora, which means “suspended in the air” or “high in the heavens.” We took a long bus ride from Athens through the rural Greek countryside to get there, and found these towering sandstone pillars sprinkled into the edge of the valley.

The Greek Orthodox monastery pictured above is not the only one in Meteora. There are six active monasteries floating atop these rock structures, and as many as twenty-four in the last eight hundred years.

About a thousand years ago, Christian hermits began to climb the rock formations and live in the caves alone, devoting themselves to prayer and private devotion, only coming down to worship communally on Sundays.

Over time, more began to participate and eventually the monastic communities endeavored to build permanent residential structures upon the rocks to live and worship God in the monastic tradition together.

In the middle of the 14th century, the first monastery was constructed: the Great Meteoron. They build wooden scaffolds jammed into the cracks of the rock hundreds of feet in the air. They gathered building materials for years and slowly hoisted them to the top and began construction. Sometimes it took decades to complete.

I’m sharing this with you because at some point, a guy looked up at those stone towers and said, “We are going to build a place of worship, community, and prayer up there.”

I can’t imagine what people must have thought at the prospect of someone building a structure on these rocks, over a thousand vertical feet in the air without modern tools and supplies.

But that man, and many after him, were inspired to begin the work in faith. They had a vision for something beautiful to glorify God and edify Man—they followed their calling however unrealistic the feat appeared.

The monasteries were build. God is worshiped. Man is transformed there by the Spirit through prayer, devotion, and life in Christ.

All this because a man, and many other people, faithfully answered the call from God to build these places for Good. They were “lifted by God” (p. 60) into their destiny—led by the Lord into His good and wild plan for their lives.

What is God’s good and wild plan for your life? Maybe not building a monastery in the clouds, but what?

What calls to you? What moves you? What are you noticing that it seems no one else is?

I am fascinated by the idea that we cannot choose our interests. We are simply drawn to what draws us. We don’t have control over that aspect of ourselves, for better or for worse.

You know this. I’m sure you’ve experienced times you tried to be interested in something, but it didn’t work. You just find your attention being captured by the same ideas, problems, tasks, objects, and potential adventures again and again.

It could be that the Lord has made you with certain proclivities and passions, placed in your path certain ideas and circumstances, and is inviting you to heed His call into the adventure of your life with Him.

Who are we to deny Him? “To fold our arms, hold back, and hold out” (p. 59)?

Humbly consider whether your “crazy idea” is not your idea at all, but a call directly from God—and boldly trust in Him to guide you or redirect you when you’ve misunderstood.

It’s hard to know what to do with this life we have been given. But we are friends with One who knows the beginning from the end, who works all things together for Good, and cares for us.

Be humble. Be bold. Answer the call. Fulfill your purpose. Be who God made you to be.

Do you have anything better to do?

I’d like to go on, but I’ll call it there. I’d love to hear from you guys!

• What was your impression of this chapter?

• Did it stir up anything within you? excitement? fear? confusion? introspection?

• How do we discern the call of God to us, from the voices in the world and our own sinful desires?

• Do you have an idea of how God may be calling you? Have you stepped into that yet or is something stopping you?

• How does knowing that “for all these things God will bring you into judgement” affect the way you move through life and follow your interests?

  Share your thoughts in the comments!

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See you next Saturday (7/4) for Chapter Five!

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Life is short.

Life is Good.

But we only get one run at life in this world—one opportunity to live it with wisdom and happiness in God.

We, and our life here, have immense potential for Beauty and Goodness beyond our wildest dreams, with God.

But, “we can blow our chance” (p. 35).

Rather than moving through life with intention—expanding the Garden, enjoying gifts, multiplying Image bearers, joyfully enduring suffering—we can be moved through life in apathy.

Failure is a very real possibility. A terrifying possibility. A possibility that has haunted humanity forever. We have always been searching for the good life—a life well lived, a life full of meaning, a life where our purpose is known and fulfilled.

Turns out, this isn’t a very easy life to find. World religions, philosophy, science, you, and me have been developing theories for millennia. Some of the greeks came close, but you can only get so far through mere observation.

We need the answer revealed.

We need someone higher and outside of us—Someone who knows our purpose and how we can meaningfully fulfill it in the most soul-satisfying way. This is the longing of the human heart.

But without this Someone to reveal the Truth about ourselves and the good life, we may “come to our latter years burned-out and fed up.” (p. 39)

To prevent that terrifying tragedy, Someone has taken the initiative—opened our eyes and offered to us an answer, the answer. Because:

“We don’t intuitively track with him. We have to learn new ways of thinking. So God gave us Ecclesiastes to convince us that we really can walk each day in his ‘newness of life’ (Romans 6:4).” (p. 37)

The good life is possible, your destiny even if you are a Christian. But it isn’t something we have to wait for perfection to start living. We can begin now to embrace the good life God has revealed to us in His word.

Part of that good life, God says, is to “let your heart cheer you.”

Allow your inner self to believe the Word of God, to trust what He has said is true. When life manipulates you into apathy and cynicism, let your heart cheer you with the Truth that life is Good and worth enjoying even in suffering and want.

One of the ways you are to let your heart cheer you is in this:

“He has a purpose for you, a calling for you to fulfill. It means your foundational, God-created you—your personality, your body, your abilities, your individuality—the you God created is not a problem but a strategy.” (p. 43)

God created you and me with an intention in mind. He made us in His image and likeness. This means we are to reflect His character and nature, displaying His attributes in the world and bringing Him glory as His likeness is made manifest to all.

This is the broad, general purpose for Humanity. I could go on forever about it—if you’d like to, reach out and we can talk more about it.

But that’s not what Ray’s talking about here. He is talking about the narrow, specific purpose given to each human being—which is their unique manner of fulfilling the broader human purpose of imaging God.

How exciting to know that God created you, created me, with particular gifts to accomplish particular good works in His manifold, glory-emanating plan for the cosmos.

We have the privilege of embarking on the adventure of discovering that particular purpose, and joyfully embracing it in faith. But discover it, we must. The path isn’t always as visible as we’d like it to be, but it is straight and narrow and leads to life—and we have this unbelievably comforting promise from God in James: “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting”

Believe that God created you with intention, and a purpose in mind.

Believe that to fulfill that purpose is to embrace the good life your heart longs for.

Believe that when you aren’t sure of what that particular purpose is, God is only waiting for you to ask Him to show you.

“Let your heart cheer you with that ennobling realization.” (p.44)

Lets hear from you!

• Did Ray’s interpretation of this part of Ecclesiastes 11:9 align with what you thought it meant?

• How might letting your heart cheer you change the way you’re living right now?

• What is your relationship the possibility of coming to the end of your life “burned-out and fed up”? Do you feel confident in God to lead you in the path of joyful wisdom?

Share in the comments, and engage with the thoughts of others!

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See you next Saturday (6/27) for Chapter Four!

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From the online discussion on last week’s post and conversations with some of you in person, it seems Ray’s refreshing message is resonating.

I was talking with a friend yesterday about the book and he was sharing his perspective on Ray. He said that if Ray’s life were a piece of music, it would be a very light, happy song—but that the music of his own life (my friend’s) would be a much more heavy, solemn song.

He wants his song to sound more like Rays.

That reminds me of this passage on page 25:

“We have grown numb to lofty grandeur, and suspicious of happiness, and skeptical toward even simple joys, innocent laughter, playful fun. Plus, everyone is angry—and scared.”

When I first read that, I asked myself, “Is that true? Does that really describe our time?” I suppose my friend unwittingly answered my question.

And as I consider it, I start to see it too.

Ray calls rejoicing a “countercultural independence of mind.” (p. 27) This tracks—our society having no shortage of cynicism and lamentation as the state of the world moves us to ask questions of Good and Evil and Meaning in the chaos.

The Christian is called to rejoice in suffering and trials. But not only that—we are to enjoy the good gifts of God which are given in the midst of the turmoil: “prophetic whispers of our eternal future in Christ” from the lips of God as our respite and reminder of His Goodness, even as we’re surrounded by the fiery trial.

But our reason for rejoicing expands. We don’t only rejoice when we receive blessings in the midst of suffering, we rejoice because, “Jesus is risen from the dead. His endless triumph means the only lasting reality in this exhausted world is endless happiness.” (p. 28)

This Christian reality is transformative.

Because of the resurrection, though our outer selves are wasting away, we are moving towards life, not death. Suffering and tears are not what last for the Christian, joy and pleasures run on forevermore.1

Augustine says that God is “fullness and the inexhaustible treasure of incorruptible pleasure.”

Take a moment to read that phrase from Augustine again. That is who God is. He is the inexhaustible treasure of incorruptible pleasure—and because of the resurrection and our newfound unity with Him, that is our eternal future: inexhaustible, incorruptible pleasure as we live in fellowship with our God and bear His image.

If you ever had a reason to rejoice, this takes the cake. This is the gospel—the good news that death has no claim on us, only Eternal Life and everlasting joy in Christ.

And there is more that Christ has done through His resurrection:

“now, in Christ our King, all his followers are royalty” (p. 22)

Humanity was made to be kings and queens over Creation, ruling and exercising dominion side by side with God. However, we forfeited our high position in Creation by attempting to usurp the throne of the High King.

But our King had mercy on us. He left His throne to step into the world we had corrupted. He secured our forgiveness, restored us to our royal position, and is making all things new.

The wisdom books of the bible are addressed to those in the royal family who will rule over the kingdom. But now, in Christ, we are a royal priesthood.2 The wisdom books are written for you and me—kings and queens of the cosmos, made to rule with Jesus, the Great King who saved us from our sins and raised us to newness of life.

Live and rejoice in the bright light of the glory of Jesus’s resurrection—and what it has accomplished for you, me, and all things being made new.3

Lets hear from you!

• Did you agree with Ray’s assessment of the current state of our world and culture?

• How do you think we practically fight against this cynicism and sadness using enjoyment?

• What from the chapter spoke to you most?

• Is enjoyment and rejoicing a natural response in you?

Share in the comments, and engage with the thoughts of others!

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See you next Saturday (6/20) for Chapter Three!

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Here’s the view from my kitchen table, where I read our chapter this week.

It was lovely—hot americano in a pretty cup I thrifted a couple weeks ago, fresh flowers from some friends on the table, morning light streaming through the hundred year old windows, a beautiful painting from a local artist on the wall.

Delightful.

But soon after this photo was taken, the warm light through the window faded as the sun continued to run his course, my americano grew cold before I finished it, and the picturesque moment had escaped me.

Reflecting on this moment is the reason Ray says Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes:

“Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes to help us do two things on our journey through this life: accept the shortness of it and enjoy the goodness of it.” (p. 2)

Picturesque moments are quickly fading, but are still delightful.

Our lives follow the same glorious pattern—in Ray’s words, “both spikes of happiness and stretches of ordinariness.” (p. 4)

Life is full of mountains and mundane.1 Easter is followed by a Monday. The Fourth of July celebration is followed by the fifth of July.

Reflecting on this reality—good things gone—can really be a drag sometimes. But Ecclesiastes helps us to look this reality in the face, and instead of growing bitter, “we can grow wise and even saintly—cheerfully saintly” (p. 3)

I actually think that phrase could sum up my whole aim in life—cheerfully saintly.

That’s what I want to be. That’s what I want to become. That’s what I think we’re made for. And I think part of how we get there is what Ray says Ecclesiastes gives us: “the wisdom that accepts the blahs and savors the joys” (p. 4).

But I don’t think that’s where the story ends. I think there is another way we can grow cheerfully saintly in light of the mountains and mundane.

The way is this: see the mountains in the mundane.

Take the mundane—holding your child while they cry for what feels like hours, completing tasks in your not-so-flashy job, holding hands with your spouse as you drive to the grocery store, attending your small local church void of a celebrity pastor and a grammy-winning worship band.

Now consider these in light of the Truth—the created order set forth in Genesis of Man and Woman made in the Image of God to cultivate the garden, have dominion over the earth, and dwell with the Creator together in love.

Holding your needy child transforms into reflecting the gentle care of our heavenly Father, who hears our cries and holds us close.

The monotony of work transforms into subduing the earth, taking part in the call of God to cultivate the ground He has made.

The simple act of holding hands transforms into the very embodiment of love—taking the invisible and making it visible, physical even.

Sitting in your row at the church you’ve gone to for years, listening to the pastor who’s not quite as eloquent as the guy in that podcast you listen to transforms into a room full of saints saved by the grace of a dying and rising Savior, listening as the shepherd who visited your sick mother in the hospital last year proclaims God’s razor-sharp, living word for the edification of the Church—the Body of Jesus Christ on Earth.

Those are mountains, hidden in the mundane.

I think learning to spot these hidden mountains correlates directly to our measure of cheerful saintliness.

It’s not the whole of becoming a Saint, but it is a part.

We should receive earthly joys, which are “prophetic whispers of your eternal future in Christ” (p. 4). But we should also embrace the simple joy of being—created by God with a purpose which finds fulfillment even in the quiet, unassuming times and places.

There’s lots more goodness in this chapter I could go on about—and spring off of—but I want to hear from you!

• What stood out to you?

• Do you agree with his interpretation of Ecclesiastes?

• Did this change your perspective at all?

• How do you think this might affect the way you live?

Share in the comments, and engage with the thoughts of others!

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See you next Saturday (6/13) for Chapter Two!

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We are one week out from beginning Book Club 3!

Starting June 6th, we’ll read a chapter a week of Ray Ortlund’s rally cry to boldly enjoy the life and world God has graced us with in his new book: Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

We ordered sixty copies of Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

We only have 3 copies left (reach out if you or a friend still need one)—which means this should be the most participants we’ve had for a Book Club yet!

If you’re new, here is a little description of how this will go:

• We will read one chapter each week (read it at your convenience throughout the week and take notes if that’s your style)

• Every Saturday a discussion post and personal reflection will be put up here on the Gospel Coffee Club substack (starting with chapter 1 on June 6th)

• If you’d like to participate in the online discussion, that post is where you can share your insights, questions, and engage with the thoughts of other book clubbers.

• If you’re not into online discussion, no worries! We would be stoked to have you simply follow along with the reading, and even more stoked if you invited someone into Book Club to participate together and have your own discussion!

• That form of participation is actually what we see as the ideal: embodied, in-person meetings between friends, spouses, or family. Online community is great and all, but we are human—we are made to Really be together. So if its possible for you, find someone to meet up with weekly to talk through the chapter with. God will use that in ways online discussion posts just can’t.

That’s really it—read the chapter each week, meet with someone to discuss it or interact in the online discussion, and prayerfully receive the insights God graces you with through this book.

We like simple. And we love to see how God uses the simple.

I read through the book’s preface again, and figured I’d throw some reflections on that into this post as a primer for next week’s kickoff. On the first page, he says:

“Here’s why I’ve written it. You and I are being assaulted every day—pressured, even overwhelmed—by our modern culture of soul-numbing distraction.” (p. ix)

soul-numbing

This is a matter of the soul—the soul more valuable than gaining the whole world.

The soul-rest Jesus offers to the weary who come to him, is being stolen by the world.

Not only stolen, but given away as well. We willingly sacrifice our soul-rest on the altar of constant distraction, pseudo-omnipresence, and sensationalism—reaping exhaustion, anxiety, and depression.

This is not unique to the secular, unbelieving world. Much of the Church unknowingly suffers under this soul-numbing tyranny. The first step is to wake up and see the reality—become aware of the soul-toll all these things are having on us.

But then what? How are we to respond? What is the way forward? What medicine will heal this soul-sickness?

Ray’s prescription: enjoyment.

Enjoyment is “a smart strategy both for prevailing over these disastrous times and for building a better future.” (p. x)

He calls this book his “happy protest,” and uses Scripture to build his case for enjoyment being the proper antidote to the afflictions of the soul we are enduring.

God is inviting us to joyfully receive the good gifts He has granted—delicious food shared with friends, beholding the beauty of a painting, meaningful work—all of which are given that we might be drawn to the Source and Fulfillment of all Good gifts.

His assertion is that life is Good, despite being filled with suffering—which is a paradox that the Bible uniquely (and Truly) reconciles.

Taking hold of this Goodness is God’s way to liberty from the soul-numbing ploys of the world.

Quite the claim. Poetic and exciting for sure, but true?

Let’s hear Ray out.

Excited to get into this together, friends.

Read chapter one before Saturday the 6th, and be ready to share your thoughts with us in the comments section of the discussion post if you’d like!

The substack app is a convenient way to keep up with posts and engage as well, and is honestly a much better alternative to instagram and facebook and all those soul-numbing distraction traps. Lots of great writing on there too. Here’s a link to download it if you want to try it out:

Get more from Gospel Coffee Club in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

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Happy reading, and see you next week!

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Though the Gospel Coffee brick and mortar era is coming to a close, the Gospel Coffee Club project will live on!

We will continue to run book clubs, organize events, and offer creative opportunities—all to the end that you would be conformed to the Image.1

According to that purpose, we are pleased to announce Book Club 3 : Eat, Drink & Be Merry by Ray Ortlund

A friend recommended I listen to this conversation between Gavin Ortlund and his father, Ray.

I did listen; and as a father-to-be with a son on the way, I found the father-son dynamic both touching and inspiring. But my mushy emotions aren’t what you’re here to read about, so I’ll get to the point.

I realized the discussion was primarily about Ray’s new book, which released last month—Eat, Drink & Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment.

They discussed how the doctrine of Creation informs how we are to experience this world—that we are to boldly enjoy this Good and Beautiful world that God created for man to have dominion.

I was intrigued; so I acquired a copy of the book using my trusty Audible credit and listened through it over a few days.

The word that has come to mind over and again as I’ve reflected on the book is:

refreshing.

Ray’s message is meant to be an alternative to the constant distractions, anxiety, exhaustion, and relentless grind of our times—a biblical and gospel-rooted call from God to the enjoyment of life and creation.

He presents from Scripture God’s encouragement, even command, that we enjoy the Good gifts He has given—to take risks, embark on adventures, delight in what is Beautiful, savor what is delicious, listen to and follow the interests that call to us.

Even in the church, this message of liberating enjoyment is uncommon. We emphasize the command to deny ourselves and take up our cross—neglecting the call from Ecclesiastes to rejoice and to let your heart cheer you and to walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.2

Both of these aspects of Life with God are crucial, and a part of following Jesus. The trick is to find the proper balance between them: to learn how to enjoy every Good gift from above and reject the deceitful ploys from below. We want to be rightly guarded against the gratification of sinful desires, but not so on guard that we refuse the gracious gifts of God.

It’s a hard line to walk (a narrow gate you might say). We are not made to be hedonists, consumed by the pleasures of the world. But we are also not made to be ascetics, denying every Good thing.

So if you want to develop the wisdom to fully embrace the enjoyment of life God has called His people to participate in, join us in reading this short, and very sweet, book: Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

How it will work:

This will function identically to our last Book Club! But if you’re new here, let me explain:

• If you’re local, you can come pick up a FREE copy of the book at the shop BEFORE MAY 25TH. If you’re joining us from somewhere far away, you’ll have to order your own copy :( but you should have time to order it now and have it before the start date!

• Starting June 6th, there will be a post every Saturday following the reading schedule below. The post will have some personal reflections, but also serve as an online meeting place for discussion and dialogue in the comments. You’ll get to share your thoughts and questions, as well as interact with the insights of others!

• The only requirement of you is to get that week’s reading done sometime before each Saturday, and be ready to share your insights on the discussion post! (participation in the online discussion is not required—we’d love if you simply followed along with the reading on your own if online discussion isn’t your cup of tea)

• Also, we HIGHLY encourage you to invite someone else to join the Book Club with you and meet IN PERSON, if possible! We’d love to hear your thoughts in the online discussion, but nothing can replace real, embodied, face-to-face fellowship, so prioritize that if it’s an option for you.

Here’s the schedule:

• 6/6 - Chapter 1

• 6/13 - Chapter 2

• 6/20 - Chapter 3

• 6/27 - Chapter 4

• 7/4 - Chapter 5

• 7/11 - Chapter 6

• 7/18 - Chapter 7

If you have any questions: leave a comment here, send us a message on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, or just come to the shop and ask!

Otherwise, come grab a copy of the book or get your own, and join us in this third iteration of Book Club!

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we would like to thank every participant who submitted their writing for consideration. The works were sincere, worshipful, thoughtful, and beautiful—too much so to keep them all to ourselves.

So, we are holding a public reading of each submission at our shop in Brownville, NE at 5pm on Friday, March 27th!

The writers who can make it will be recognized and read their writing before all who attend. For any of the writers who cannot make it, their piece will be read for them. This will be free and open to the public, so join us if you’re interested in coming to hang and hear!

Thanks to all who supported this endeavor. It was a joy.

Let me introduce you to your Prize Writer:

Broc Plattner is an ordinary man from a small town in Kansas. He has an ordinary job and goes to an ordinary church. But Broc is made in the image of God. In writing this piece, he reflects the creativity of the uncreated Creator. That is extraordinary. And that is something that is true of us all—each of us uniquely gifted to bear and reflect the image of God.

Broc is also a father, which I think you will find shines through his writing. The illustration paired with this piece is the work of his son, Cal—his own image bearer.

Please enjoy Broc’s submission.

The Mud Man

by Broc Plattner

Lifeless, formless, purposeless, is the mud. Its slimy state simulates lowly stench and stagnation. Flown over by flying creatures, and trampled by the beasts of the garden, its only companion is vegetation.

But the uncreated Creator has a purposeful plan for a small patch of mud found in paradise. His gentle fatherly hands and unfathomable creativity carefully curates the Mud Man. The first heavenly breath from the uncreated Creator into the Mud Man ignites the spark of life within. Mud Man awakens. Mud Man does not resemble any of the beasts and flying creations. No, he is a resemblance of the uncreated Creator. He is an image bearer.

Mud Man delights the uncreated Creator. Mud Man is made to worship the uncreated Creator and walk side-by-side in sweet fellowship. Work delights the Mud Man as he tends to flora and fauna around him. The uncreated Creator gifts Mud Man with a helper right sized for him, formed from him by the uncreated Creator.

As Mud Man is created in the image of the uncreated Creator, his offspring are created in the Mud Man’s image too. Mud Man and many future mud men will also be given the joy and task of fatherhood, to reflect the goodness, love, and discipline mud men experience from the fatherly uncreated Creator.

Mud Man lives in perfect harmony with the uncreated Creator and has been granted agency and dominion. Mud Man understands his existence through a narrow lens and does not see beyond the here and now.

Mud Man cannot foresee an encounter with darkness coming, with an empty promise to make him equal with the uncreated Creator. He cannot foresee the consequences that will ripple for millennia. He cannot foresee how smudged and disfigured the image bearers will become.

He cannot foresee a swiftly turning planet in total, unobstructed chaos, with only eight surviving a worldwide drenching with a promise to restart.

He cannot foresee the uncreated Creator inviting another Mud Man to leave everything and follow him into the mystery with promises of descendants, and a test of faith, and a sacrificial ram.

He cannot foresee the plans for evil turned for good and rise of a nation breaking bondage and being led by fire and cloud through water and wilderness.

He cannot foresee the years and years of faith, jealously, generosity, love, and discipline the uncreated Creator shows his multitude of mud people.

He cannot foresee the uncreated Creator using weak and lowly mud people in powerful, giant-wrecking ways to secure victories.

He cannot foresee the oracles told by mud prophets of a king coming to the rescue.

He cannot foresee these oracles, all of them, coming true in mysterious ways, as the uncreated Creator descends and dons flesh in the dead of night.

He cannot foresee the teachings from the lips of the uncreated Creator spoken in grace and truth and understood by mud people who climbed trees, descended from roofs, or leaned in closer.

He cannot foresee the miracles of healing, resurrection, weather, fish and bread, and exorcism displaying the power of the uncreated Creator walking among the mud people.

He cannot foresee the uncreated Creator leaving mud leaders of mud people intrigued, confused, and angered.

He cannot foresee the betrayal of close friends and a kiss worth a handful of silver coins.

He cannot foresee the humiliation the flesh-clad uncreated Creator would experience by the mud people he called into existence. Unjust trials, lies, and ultimately a death sentence lobbied by those fearful of what they did not understand.

He cannot foresee the worst punishment, torture, agony, and final words of, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”

He cannot foresee the early morning emptiness of a cold tomb and a heroic comeback showing defeat of death.

He cannot foresee the spread of mud people determined to live changed lives and on mission to spread the kingdom message of the uncreated Creator’s rescue plan for His chosen mud people, nay, all mud people.

He cannot foresee that the prodigal mud people would be relentlessly pursued and called into the mystery and to a life of repentance, trust, and obedience to the uncreated Creator.

While Mud Man and his helper have long gone, a distant memory, we are also image bearers of the uncreated Creator who knit us in our mother’s womb. We are meant to live for much more, to be in sweet fellowship with the uncreated Creator whose love is beyond the deepest depths. Not only bearing his image but being adopted as children. Let us cry out, “Abba Father” and cling to him always.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!...”-1 John 3:1

Thanks for reading. Hosting this competition was loads of fun; let us know if we should run another one!

We would love to see you for the public reading of the rest of the Prize Writing submissions on Friday the 27th — but until then, share your thoughts on Broc Plattner’s Mud Man in the comments!

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1: Are you human?

2: Do you want to win a $150 Gospel gift card, some Gospel merch, books, and of course, coffee?

If you answered yes to both of the above questions, you will want to keep reading this. And even if you’re thinking, “I’m not a writer, so this isn’t for me,” you should still keep reading—because I think this is still for you, even if you don’t know it yet.

I will first explain question number 1: are you human?

If you are human, you are made in the image and likeness of God. This means your purpose in life is to image God—reveal Him, reflect Him, express His nature—with the body and soul He has given you.

Our imaging God, or reflecting God’s likeness, is multifaceted.

I image God through my capacity for reason and morality. But I also image God by expressing His attributes of love and mercy through using my physical hands to give a physical piece of bread to another human who is in need, to satisfy their physical hunger.

There are endless ways to reveal the Infinite God to the watching world; and each of us is created to fulfill this collective purpose for Humanity in our own unique way.

I would love to go on forever talking about our image bearing—how we deface the image through sin, but how Jesus, THE Image of God, renews us and restores us to proper image bearing through the gospel.

But, that’s not really why you’re reading this, is it? You want that 150 bones and you’re wondering what all this has to do with writing. Thank you for being patient. I'll tell you now.

Our God is a Creator.

He makes things. He expresses ideas and truths using beauty. He tells stories.

In the first chapter of Genesis, He sees a void of potential; and by His Word makes something Good out of it.

Okay, I know all of that is charged with meaning and we could go 100 different directions with it. But my point for now is this: one way we should image God is by creating like Him.

We should make art. We should build beautiful things. We should tell good stories that point to The Story.

We can image God by writing—using words to creatively express ideas in a way that is meaningful and Good, like we see our Creator God doing in Genesis and beyond.

Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, or if you think you’re good at writing or not, you are an image bearer.

And unless you’re illiterate, you know how to write. And if you think you’re illiterate, have I got news for you.

This brings me to question number 2: do you want $150 to pay for you and all your friends’ coffee, some merch, books, and your very own coffee beans to take home and brew?

We want to incentivize you to embrace your purpose—to image God through creativity and the use of words and story to express Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.

We want you to write for the glory of God. And we also want to give you prizes.

(Which means we also get to image the God who gives good gifts, by giving you good gifts. Full circle!)

So, here is how this will work:

The set topic everyone will run with is, you guessed it: The Image of God.

However, there is no requirement for genre. You could write an exposition on Genesis 1:26-27. You could write a fictional short story. You could write a tragedy or a long poem. You could write a Socratic dialogue between Jesus and Adam about image bearing. Get creative.

Your only restrictions are:

1. your piece has to be 1000 words or less

2. you may not use AI in any form or fashion

Other than that, have fun and use your creative freedom.

Once you have finished your writing, email your submission to: t.r.jones@gospelcoffeeclub.com

Also, send us a message to let us know you sent in a submission so we don’t miss any.

Deadline for submission is March 5th, one month from today.

Once we receive, read and evaluate all submissions, a winner will be chosen. The winning submission will receive all aforementioned prizes as well as their submission being featured on the Gospel Coffee Club substack for all to read and enjoy.

If you have any questions at all or need clarity on something, please shoot us a message on Substack, Instagram or Facebook.

Happy writing! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

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You’ll likely be seeing family, preparing food, and grabbing last minute gifts. You’ll be hearing music on the radio and television and in shopping malls singing of the wonders of the Incarnation—the entry of God into the world through the womb of a virgin.

And as you gather and listen and sing, the words of Athanasius will be fresh in your mind—the words which are his “offering to you who love Christ, a brief statement of the faith of Christ and of the manifestation of His Godhead to us.” (p.145)

I hope his offering enriches your Christmas season—your conversations with family, your worship services, your private meditation. I hope it draws you to marvel even more at the glories of the Incarnation.

“For, indeed, everything about it is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze, he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.” (p. 142)

Look around and be smitten with awe, friend.

Direct your gaze up to the stars—the heavens which declare the glory of God—and be smitten by the One who set them in place, yet cares for you, son or daughter of man.

But if you “cannot look so high as heaven, but only so far as men (p. 125),” be smitten by the Word made flesh—God become Man. See the works of the God-Man: overpowering all spiritual forces of evil, making men able to embrace virtue, and putting an end to Death and decay through the work of His cross and resurrection.

Jesus has show that the “gods” which humanity was drawn to worship are no gods at all—those “gods” who lie and cheat and murder, and which hold humanity captive to Death. He proves that He alone is God—the sole God who is Just and Good, calling Men to the same Justice and Goodness.

This Justice is what those greats among the Greeks sought to propagate among humanity, but to no avail. Plato wanted people to see that the fullest life is found in the relentless pursuit of Virtue and Truth. Socrates was put on trial by jealous and murderous adversaries claiming that he was “corrupting the youth and turning the people to worship a different god.”

He defends himself before the courts of Athens in Plato’s Apology, proclaiming:

“My excellent friend, you are an Athenian, a citizen of this great city, so famous for wisdom and strength, and you take every care to be as well off as possible in money, reputation, and place—then are you not ashamed not to take every care and thought for understanding, for truth, and for the soul, so that it may be perfect?”

Socrates was pointing out to the people that their priorities were not properly aligned. They cared so much for their status and wealth and condition of living, but cared nothing for spiritual things—living virtuously while pursuing Truth and Goodness.

But they did not listen to Socrates; they killed him.

“the Greeks failed to convince even a few from their own neighborhood in regard to immortality and the virtuous ordering of life.” (p. 130)

And Christ too was killed for His witness to the Truth. He was jealously delivered over for blasphemy and corrupting the people. But our resurrected Christ could not be defeated by death like our friend, Socrates, was.

After rising from the dead, “Christ alone, using common speech and through the agency of men not clever with their tongues, has convinced whole assemblies of people all the world over to despise death, and to take heed to the things that do not die, to look past the things of time and gaze on things eternal, to think nothing of earthly glory and to aspire only to immortality.” (p. 130)

Where the wisest and most eloquent of philosophers gained no ground in turning humanity to Truth and Goodness, Christ accomplished exactly this all over the world through a group of uneducated men with no formal training or credentials.

He used their weakness to prove His strength. And His work in the church bears witness to the Living God who did not stay dead when murdered 2000 years ago, but rose and is now actively building His Kingdom and making men to embrace Virtue, Goodness, Justice, and Truth through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

“If, then, the Savior is neither a mere man nor a magician, nor one of the daemons, but has by His Godhead confounded and overshadowed the opinions of the poets and the delusion of the daemons and the wisdom of the Greeks, it must be manifest and will be owned by all that He is in truth Son of God, Existent Word and Wisdom and Power of the Father.” (p. 132)

No “god” can stand before Him.

All the world’s wisdom is made foolishness by Him.

As their own poets have said, “In him we live and move and have our being.”

They have only to understand that the One they speak of—the One who created and sustains all that exists—is the Man, Jesus Christ. He is the Source of all Being, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. He is Being, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.

I think this is the thought that John picks up on in his gospel.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him…”

John is drawing his Jewish readers to the idea we find in Genesis, where God speaks and creation comes into existence. The co-eternal Word of God is powerful, and Jesus is that powerful Word of God through whom all things were made.

But John is writing his gospel in Greek, and that Greek term he uses for “Word” is Logos. This word—Logos—is a charged with meaning in Greek philosophy. Logos was thought of as some divine reason or force which ordered and sustained the universe, making sense of and holding all things together.

And like Paul’s appeal to the Athenians in Acts 17, John is essentially saying, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”1

“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John proclaims to his Greek readers, “The Word (Logos), which you believe is the foundation and divine orderer of the universe is the Word of God which I proclaim to you, who became flesh in the Person Jesus Christ, and dwelt among us and died for our sins and rose from the dead that we might rise with Him.”

John the Baptist prepared the Jews to receive their Savior by preaching of the One who was to come after him.

Plato and Socrates prepared the Greeks to receive their Savior by teaching their incomplete understanding of the Divine Logos.

John the Apostle steps in to finish their work, proclaiming to both Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Self-Existent, Eternal Word of God who created all things and became a man that He might re-create all things.

And this Jesus calls out to our dead and dying world, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”2

Go to Jesus and find rest for your soul.

Idols will not satisfy. Empty philosophy and worldly wisdom will not satisfy.

Only Jesus can satisfy our deepest longings. For we were made for Him; and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.

“so many are the Saviour’s achievements that follow from His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves.” (p. 141)

We have reached the end of this book club’s study of On The Incarnation, and have only begun to see the beauty of the Incarnation of the Word. There are more to discover than we can see now; and as we continue to search, more will be unveiled like waves that endlessly flow from over the horizon, breaking on the shores of our hearts.

I love Athanasius’ encouragement in his conclusion to continue studying the Scriptures—that this book is only a beginning of Macarius’ search for Truth. He must go on in devoting himself to the study of God’s Word and the practice of Virtue which we were designed for, and which Christ has set us free to.

May we take heed of Athanasius’ exhortation as well.

I pray we do.

And I hope this study was a blessing to you. I hope you leave smitten with awe as you beheld the Godhead of the Word. I hope it moves you to the virtuous imitation of Christ through which God is renewing us.

I hope.

I want to hear from you now!

• I’d love to hear what you thought of these chapters, and the book as a whole.

• I’d also appreciate any feedback or suggestions to improve Book Club or Gospel Coffee Club in general.

• It will likely be a bit before the next Book Club kicks off; and the next book has not been decided on yet, so send me your suggestions/requests if you have them!

  Leave a comment

  ---

Farewell, friends. I hope you have a merry Christmas, celebrating the Incarnation of God our Savior!

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To call the heathen? But they are called already.

To put an end to prophet and king and vision? But this, too, has already happened.

To expose the God-denyingness of idols? It is already exposed and condemned.

Or to destroy death? It is already destroyed.

What, then, has not come to pass that the Christ must do?” (p. 112)

In this painting, Isaiah and Ezekiel stand as witnesses to the fulfillment of their prophecies—the Shepherd-King of Israel born to a virgin, come to save the World.

This is the core of Athanasius’ thought in this chapter—Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, is the Messiah which the Jews were waiting for, and who all of their Scriptures were pointing to.

Who will do more signs and works than Jesus of Nazareth? Who will do greater works than Him? There is no longer any need to wait, for the Christ has come. He has fulfilled every prophecy, defeated Death, begun to fill His Kingdom, and is awaiting the time set for Him to judge the World.

Peter bears witness to his Jewish brothers in Acts 4, “¹¹ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Athanasius lays Scripture upon Scripture, establishing the fact of Jesus’ fulfillment of every messianic expectation, and barely scratches the surface of the Old Testament’s witness of Christ.

This was the habit of Paul each time he entered the synagogue in a new city: “he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’” (Acts 17:2b-3)

The Scriptures are the basis of our confident assertion, not intuition or hearsay or unverified “revelation”. The Word is our solid ground to stand on, trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

But He was not only witnessed by the Old Testament Scriptures.

“The witness to His birth was not a man, but a star shining in the heavens whence He was coming down.” (p. 102)

From the Heavens He came, so in the heavens His witness shines.

And His Heavenly witness does not end there, for the Heaven-sent angels proclaim to the lowly shepherds, “behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’” (Luke 2:10b-14)

The Heavens literally declaring the glory of God.

And this Christ, this Savior, this Lord is lying in a manger—wrapped up and set into an animal’s feeding trough. He is not visited first by kings or priests, but dirty shepherds and surrounded by livestock.

The Messiah’s humble entry into the world, which mirrors His humble first-exit from this world—His self-sacrifice on the tree, which Athanasius calls us to stand in awe of:

“O marvel at the love of the Word for men, for it is on our account that He is dishonored, so that we may be brought to honor.” (p. 99)

He draws our minds to Isaiah 53, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;”

“He is the Life of all, and He it is Who like a sheep gave up His own body to death, His life for ours and our salvation.” (p. 106)

Our gentle and lowly Savior, Jesus.

Behold Him.

Come to Him and find rest for your soul.

Offer to Him your entire self—body, mind and soul— “which is your spiritual worship.”1

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts now!

• What in this chapter drew you to worship?

• Did you collect any new insights from this chapter?

• Were there any passages or ideas that you didn’t understand?

Answer these questions or share your own thoughts in the comments!

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Next week’s reading will be Chapter 7!

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“what was ultimately to become of that body upon which the Word had descended? Mortal and offered to death on behalf of all as it was, it could not but die; indeed it was for that very purpose that the Saviour had prepared it for Himself. But on the other hand, it could not remain dead, because it had become the very temple of Life.” (p. 94)

Welcome to week 5 of Book Club. It’s been a blast getting to dialogue over this great work, both here on the substack and in person with you all. Only 3 more weeks until Christmas, which means only 3 more weeks of Book Club in 2025!

Finally we are to the Resurrection, “the supreme object of His coming.” (p. 79)

I love how Athanasius explains the necessity of the Resurrection of Jesus. The Word, who cannot die, became flesh so that He could die. But because He cannot die, His body could not stay dead, but rather rose by necessity—as it belonged to Life Himself.

Two paradoxes are resolved:

1. Man’s salvation could not be brought about by anything less than death, yet no man could stand in the place of all men as a representative and bearer of that death—for all had sinned.

2. The only One righteous is God; but as spiritual and immortal, He could not die.

But God, in His wisdom, takes a form which is subject to death—a body of flesh like ours.

“It therefore died, as mortal, but lived again because of the Life within it, and its resurrection is made known through its works.” (p. 94)

The body of Jesus could not but rise to Everlasting Life; and because He has risen, we who have been united to Him through faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit shall rise also. Because He lives, we who are His shall live as well. Amen.

And as he says above, Jesus’ bodily “resurrection is made known through its works.”

What are the works of the resurrected Christ? The righteous deeds of the saints which make up His Body—the actions which you and I, and every believer in history, have performed as led by the Spirit who fills and guides us.

Athanasius brilliantly points out that this is always how God has operated:

“It is, indeed, in accordance with the nature of the invisible God that he should be thus known through His works,” (p. 94,95)

The invisible God has always been making Himself known through His visible works.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4a)

In fact, this was the purpose given to Humanity: make the invisible God visible—bear His Image and likeness in the creation, reflecting His nature to all onlookers.

This is what Jesus restores us to through His resurrection—to bear the Image of God as we were destined.

And as we do this—as we reflect the nature of God as those transformed by the Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus—we bear witness to that resurrection of Jesus. His work in us proves that He lives; for one who has died has no power to affect change or spur along the growth of his own body. But Jesus, the living One, proves in the world that He is alive and active. Though He is unseen in the world because He has ascended to the Father until the appointed time, our works are a witness that He lives. As Gamaliel, that leader of the Jews, says in Acts 5 about the disciples of Jesus:

“Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”

This movement was of God. In fact, it was of the Living God, Jesus Christ the Lord of the living and the dead, King of kings and Lord of lords. The works of the disciples of Jesus, from Peter and John in Acts 5 to the faithful works of you and I today, bear witness that Jesus—the Living God—is present and active in the world.

The unseen God makes Himself known by His works; and “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”1

May we walk in these good works, witnessing to the world that Jesus is alive—that He has saved, raised, renewed, and is transforming us until that day in which we are completely conformed to His Image. Jesus commands us to be perfect, “as your heavenly Father is perfect.”2

And I think I agree with Lewis when he says in reflection on this passage:

“I think [Jesus] meant,” he says, “The only help I will give is help to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less.”

Jesus will settle for nothing less than what is best for us, and that best is perfection.

The world is witness to this perfecting work of Jesus in us. May we joyfully receive this perfection, and through it, proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ is risen!

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

• What stood out to you from this chapter?

• Can you think of more ways that the resurrection of Jesus is witnessed to here on earth?

• Did anything in this chapter change the way you think about the resurrection of Jesus?

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Next week’s reading will be Chapter 6!

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Peter tells his readers, “I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have… to stir you up by way of reminder”.1

And Paul writes to the Philippian church, “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”2

Following their example, Athanasius says, “You must not be surprised if we repeat ourselves in dealing with this subject. We are speaking of the good pleasure of God and of the things which He in His loving wisdom thought fit to do, and it is better to put the same thing in several ways than to run the risk of leaving something out.” (p. 75)

You may have already noticed this about his writing, but Athanasius likes to reiterate his points in many and various ways. He circles around the same ideas again and again, unfolding a new detail or perspective, but remaining grounded in the established truths we have received in Scripture. You may have also noticed this quality about the Bible itself, reminding us again and again and again and again of the same foundational truths.

This is “safe for you” because it isn’t in your nature to hear a truth once, understand it, and let it transform you as it ought. We humans must be reminded over and over, and even then sometimes the truth doesn’t sink to the depths of us. But thanks be to God, He is sanctifying us and will conform us totally to the Image of Christ—then we shall not struggle against the flesh and sin; our bodies and spirits will be in agreement that Good is what we will always do.

But not only is this “safe” for you, it works to “stir you up.” As we behold the same glorious truths about our Lord through the Spirit, we are transformed by His Spirit into His Image. We are stirred up to love and good works, inspired by the love and good works of our Savior. We are stirred up to worship, awe-struck by the glorious grace which He has lavished upon us.

So never get tired of hearing the same truths reiterated again and again. Don’t grow weary of the reminders. Humbly receive them; and allow them to stir you up to worship and faith-filled obedience, friend.

“The supreme object of His coming was to bring about the resurrection of the body. This was to be the monument to His victory over death…” (p. 79)

Jesus came to renew and restore Humanity to the Garden through a share in His own resurrection. And though this was the “supreme object of His coming,” before we unpack the glories of the resurrection in Chapter 5, Athanasius says, “We must next consider the end of His earthly life and the nature of His bodily death. This is, indeed, the very center of our faith,” (p. 74)

The Cross is the center of our faith.

The Cross is where Death is defeated, and where the seed of Resurrection is planted.

And so, together we gaze upon the glory of God in the Cross—the death of the Most High to bring about the Life of the lowly.

“there was a debt owing which must needs be paid; for, as I said before, all men were due to die. Here, then, is the second reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death and free him from the primal transgression.” (p. 74, 75)

The language of financial and legal obligation in regard to our sin, and it’s subsequent forgiveness through faith in Christ, is not unfamiliar to God’s Word.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, speaks about our salvation in this way, “you, who were dead… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”3

Our sin, and the debt it had incurred, were nailed to the cross with Christ.

Peter puts it this way, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”4

He takes our sin upon Himself. He stands in our place upon the cross, enduring the penalty due for the sins that we have committed—the just wrath of God. His chastisement brought us peace.

Athanasius describes many reasons for the “nature of His bodily death.”

It had to be public, lest any have reason for suspicion and disbelief on account of the privacy of His death.

It had to be inflicted by others, lest any think He chose a death for Himself that He could endure—that maybe there was some other death which He could not overcome.

Those are the ones that stand out to me, but I’m interested to hear which ones are most compelling to everyone else!

And reminding us again of the “Supreme object of His coming,” Athanasius ends the earlier quoted passage on page 75, by saying:

“In the same act, also, He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the firstfruits of the resurrection.”

Christ died that He might rise; and this, that we might rise with Him.

All glory be to Him forever and ever! Amen!

We will look look more closely at the resurrection next week; but for now, share your thoughts with us on this chapter!

• Were there any aspects of Christ’s death you hadn’t considered before?

• Did you agree with the claims he made about the reasons/effects of Christ’s death?

• Did this chapter stir you to worship?

• What questions arose in you as you read?

Leave a comment

Next week’s reading will be Chapter 5!

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I’ve been so encouraged by the dialogue our reading has spurred, both here on the Substack and in person as our paths have crossed out in the wild. I know this book is outside of many of your typical reading rotations, but I think it’s good for us to be stretched and to dig into the source material—the works that have had so much influence on how we understand the Faith today.

That’s one of Book Club's purposes: provide you with a community to read the great books that you might have otherwise regarded as too intimidating to tackle yourself. I hope reading this gives you the confidence and inspiration to read more of the Church Fathers as well!

In Chapter 2, Athanasius laid out for us the “first cause of the Savior’s becoming Man.” Here in Chapter 3, he explains more of the reasons our God became Man—namely, to reveal God to Man and to renew Man after His own Image.

“knowledge of their Maker is for men the only really happy and blessed life” (p. 58)

Before Nebraska’s slogan was changed to the quippy, “Honestly, it’s not for everyone,” it was:

“The Good Life.”

We all want the Good Life; and fortunately for you, it isn’t only found in Nebraska. Ha.

Athanasius explains that the Good Life—“for men the only really happy and blessed life”—is found in knowing God. Two passages come to mind:

“this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

and

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

The good life, the happy life, the blessed life, eternal life are all found and experienced in knowing God.

This is not just a knowing about God, this is a knowing God.

In his book, Room for Good Things to Run Wild, says,

“If pictures are worth a thousand words, then a kiss can fill a library.”

See the difference? The Good Life is not found in amassing a collection of facts about God, or simply being in the place where He is worshiped. The Good Life is found in relational participation and personal worship. It’s the difference between looking at a picture of my wife and sharing a kiss with her. I think you see the distinction.

And that’s what we see in the Psalm above: in God’s presence is where we experience maximum joy; at His right hand is where our longing for pleasure is eternally satisfied.

We have to be with Him, near Him, in Him, and He in us. This is The Good Life.

And this is what Athanasius says Man’s Image bearing is meant for:

“in fact, the good God has given them a share in His own Image, that is, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and has made even themselves after the same Image and Likeness. Why? Simply in order that through this gift of Godlikeness in themselves they may be able to perceive the Image Absolute, that is the Word Himself, and through Him to apprehend the Father” (p. 58)

Man was made to know God—to see Him, to reflect Him, to live in eternal fellowship with Him.

But as we saw in Chapter 1, Man discarded their Birthright of Beauty. Instead of clinging for dear Life to the Source of maximum and eternal joy, they sought pleasure and Life in lower things—“worshipping the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

On top of that, Man also neglected the unique gift given to them:

“they seemed rather to be brute beasts than reasonable men, reflecting the very Likeness of the Word.” (p. 60)

I think the way Athanasius describes the consequence of our fall is fitting:

“dehumanizing of mankind.”

To be Human is to bear His Image as we were designed; and as we rebel from that design in any number of ways, we become less human—looking less and less like the way God designed us.

We need to be renewed, re-created, restored to our designed purpose. But how? Who could do this?

Could men? No, for they were only made after the Image.

Could angels? No, for they share not in the Image.

“The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image.” (p. 62)

In the Word taking on flesh, the two great tragedies of our fall mentioned in this chapter are reconciled—Man’s losing their knowledge of God and Man’s failure to fulfill their designed purpose.

Man’s knowledge of God restored:

Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14)

Jesus is the Image of the Father, the exact imprint of His nature. He reveals the Father. He makes God known to us again.

“taking to Himself a body like the rest; and through His actions done in that body, as it were on their own level, He teaches those who would not learn by other means to know Himself, the Word of God, and through Him the Father.”

Like in Michelangelo’s painting at the top of the page, God created Man and maintains His reach for unity; but the finger of Man drops—our gaze lowers and looks for Life among creation.

And so, in love, God enters creation where our eyes and hearts have drifted—mercifully taking a form which our senses could apprehend.

“From such ordinary acts as being born and taking food, He was recognized as being actually present in the body; but by the extraordinary acts which He did through the body, He proved Himself to be the Son of God.” (p. 69)

He meets us on our level by taking for Himself a body He created to dwell in. He reveals God to us by using that body to manifest His glorious divinity.

Man’s design restored:

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Man must be renewed, re-created, born again.

“He was not referring to a man’s natural birth from his mother, as they thought, but to the re-birth and re-creation of the soul in the Image of God.” (p. 63)

“He assumed a human body, in order that in it, death might once for all be destroyed, and that men might be renewed according to the Image.”1

Through faith in Christ, “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”2, our souls are raised from Death to Life—the beginning of our total restoration to properly bearing the Image of God, the resurrection of the body in the End being its completion.

Because He came, we know God again; and we can reflect Him as we were designed.

The Good Life has been restored. Amen.

Let’s hear from you now.

• Did you collect any new insights about Jesus from this chapter?

• Did this chapter affect your view of what “The Good Life” truly is?

• What did you think of his explanation of how the Divine Nature of Christ and the Human Nature of Christ coexist?

• What questions are still lingering in your mind after reading?

Leave a comment

Next week’s reading will be Chapter 4. See you there!

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The questions and engagement with the reading in the discussion section last week was great; I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the treasures buried in this week’s chapter!

Now that Athanasius has laid the backdrop for his book, he begins the process of unveiling the many facets of his real subject. And though it is multi-faceted, he designates Chapter 2 as a description of “the first cause1 of the Savior’s becoming Man.”

This chapter describes the initial impetus of our God’s Incarnation. Let’s begin.

“once transgression had begun, men came under the power of the corruption proper to their nature and were bereft of the grace which belonged to them as creatures in the Image of God.” (p. 49)

Man was created subject to corruption—bodies made of the type of stuff that degrades, decays, and dies.

Yet Man was created to live forever—their natural proclivity to decay held at bay by their unity with the Source of Life.

They stood as the pinnacle of Creation—to be most admired as those who uniquely shared in the Nature of the Source of Life.

Our Ancestors experienced Eternal Life: knowing God—as those who walked with Him, side by side, in the Garden—and ignorant of Death through the incorruption secured for them by their relationship with the Life.

But they forfeited their high and honorable position in Creation for a Fruit—good for food, a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise.

But a Fruit which, in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

The source of those last two passages in italics is Genesis 2 & 3. This is where the crux of Athanasius’ argument lies.

Man was created and placed in this high and honorable position to image God and rule over Creation with Him, but with one command—if disobeyed, incurring the death penalty.

We know the story. They took the forbidden fruit, doubting the goodness of God. And so, we are left with what Athanasius calls:

The Divine Dilemma

“It would, of course, have been unthinkable that God should go back upon His word and that man, having transgressed, should not die; but it was equally monstrous that beings which once had shared the nature of the Word should perish” (p. 47)

He goes on to explain in more detail the many reasons this dilemma is so complicated and pressing, but I think the heart of it is the glory of God.

“it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits.” (p. 48)

God’s perfect, righteous, and Good plans ought not be thwarted by anything. Indeed they cannot. So how does God resolve the dilemma?

“By man, death has gained its power over men; by the Word-made-Man, death has been destroyed and life raised up anew.” (p. 55)

This is how God resolves the dilemma. This is how He keeps His word. This is how He vindicates His Goodness. This is how He makes Right all that others have made Wrong.

“the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world.” (p. 50)

The Word, through whom God created the world, saw the state of the world. He saw Man “wasting out of existence.” He saw Death reigning as king. He saw all things plunging deeper and deeper into the chasm of corruption. Yet He also recognized the necessity of God’s word to be upheld, the word that pronounced Death upon the world.

“All this He saw and, pitying our race, moved with compassion for our limitation, unable to endure that death should have the mastery, rather than that His creatures should perish and the work of His Father for us men come to nought, He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our own.” (p. 51)

He, the instrument of Creation, formed for Himself a human body in the womb of Mary. The Word then became flesh. God became Man. This He did to vindicate the word and goodness of God paired with His intense compassion and love for Man—for the glory of God and the good of Man.

Using the passages Athanasius includes at the end of this chapter, we see that the purpose of the Word taking a body was so that He could die. The Word, who cannot die, took a body that was capable of death so that He could do what must be done to save Man and uphold the word of God.

He was of such supreme value that giving over His single body as a sacrifice for sins was sufficient to offer forgiveness to all. And because His body was united to the Life, He “put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection.” (p. 52)

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

God took a body so that He was able to die. His entire purpose of becoming Man was to fall into the earth and die. Why?

“by the sacrifice of His body, He did two things: He put an end to the law of death which barred our way, and He made a new beginning of life for us, by giving us the hope of resurrection.” (p. 55)

If He did not die, then all must die.

If He did not rise, then none could rise.

But He did die; and by dying, destroyed Death and ushered in Eternal Life. The Great Paradox—through the weakness and humiliation of the cross, God shows Himself supremely powerful and glorious.

“the human race would have perished utterly had not the Lord and Savior of all, the Son of God, come among us to put an end to death.” (p. 53)

Left to ourselves, we are without hope in the world—steeped in corruption and hurling towards Death.

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Ps. 40:17)

He looked and saw our poverty. He took thought for us. He did not delay. He came and delivered us. He took on flesh and died to save us.

Now we are rich in Christ. Now Death has no claim on us. Now we shed the corruption which once covered us. Then we shall see Him, and be made like Him—eternally restored to that high and honorable position from which we fell.

Now it’s your turn!

• What insights did you come upon in this chapter?

• Did any aspect of the work of Christ become more clear while reading?

• Did you find any points of disagreement?

• Were there any ideas you’re still confused about?

Share with us in the discussion section below!

Leave a comment

Next week’s reading will be Chapter 3. See you there!

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In the post where I announced that we would be reading On the Incarnation, I said, “No other single work, outside of the Bible, has had more influence on my understanding of the person and work of Jesus than this one.”

I realized first hand just how true this was after giving a short talk on Discipleship at a nearby local church. The day after, I began working through this first chapter of On the Incarnation, and it was almost like Athanasius was giving that evening’s talk on Discipleship, not me. It’s funny when we think we are being original, using our own unique words, expressing our own ideas—when in reality we are simply drawing on and repeating those great, old Words.

I hope God magnifies Himself in our hearts and minds as we read this great, old book together. Thanks for joining. Here we go.

Right from the outset, Athanasius establishes a foundational pillar of this chapter, and the entirety of his book:

“the Word of the Father is Himself divine, that all things that are, owe their being to His will and power, and that it is through Him that the Father gives order to creation, by Him that all things are moved, and through Him that they receive their being.” (p. 37)

Starting out nice and light, eh?

He derives much of the meat of this statement from John 1:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

This morning a friend stopped me, telling me he had started the Gospel of John recently.

“I got one sentence in and had to stop,” he said. It was so deep, he came to a halt to reflect just on that one verse for the entirety of his devotional time and into the next day.

“Maybe I’ll finish chapter one by the end of the week,” he added as the conversation ended.

That is the nature of trying to apprehend the ineffable God, especially while using human language. It is a wholly different challenge to try explaining the glories of God using human language. Still God calls us to do the impossible.

But Athanasius is in good company as he lays the cornerstone of this book on the Word’s Identity of Divinity—the Eternal Son of God.

We are also introduced to Man, a part of what God created “out of nothing through His own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.” (p.42)

But Man’s relationship to the Word is not simply creature & Creator.

“men who, as animals, were essentially impermanent, He bestowed a grace which other creatures lacked—namely, this impress of His own Image, a share in the reasonable being of the very Word Himself, so that, reflecting Him and themselves becoming reasonable and expressing the Mind of God even as He does, though in limited degree, they might continue for ever in the blessed and only true life of the saints in paradise.” (p. 42)

Man was created in the Image of God—to be a visible expression of the invisible God—displaying His nature and character in Creation, to the degree which Man is able.

Man was created biological—body, bones, and breath given and sustained by God.

Man was created to live forever—spared from death and corruption through their unity with the Life.

Athanasius calls this our “birthright of beauty,” and I’m not sure I could offer a better description than that.

It is truly beautiful—Man made to live forever without pain or tears, reflecting the Goodness of our Maker, and walking with Him in a Garden teeming with life and abundance.

This is Joy. This is Peace. This is Life.

This is the great unrealized longing of humanity.

“But men, having turned from the contemplation of God to evil of their own devising, had come inevitably under the law of death. Instead of remaining in the state in which God had created them, they were in process of becoming corrupted entirely, and death had them completely under its dominion.” (p. 44)

We threw away our birthright of beauty, and we throw it away anew each day.

Being like God was not good enough for us, we wanted to be God; and we continue in our efforts to usurp the Throne even now, though all our efforts are in vain.

Athanasius also introduces an idea peculiar to most of us modern readers:

“The presence and love of the Word had called them into being; inevitably, therefore, when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it; for it is God alone who exists, evil is non-being, the negation and antithesis of good.” (p. 44)

Now clearly this does not mean that all that is corrupt or evil immediately is blipped out of existence or annihilated on the spot. Because, well, look around you.

The way he is using this language reminds me of the way Scripture describes us before our faith in Christ, and after we’ve placed our faith in Christ for forgiveness and resurrection:

you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:1-5)

Paul says that before Christ we were dead, yet we were still alive biologically. And after our encounter with Christ, we are made alive. This makes a little more sense when Jesus sheds light on the real definition of Life:

“this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

True-lasting-full-eternal Life is knowing God—being united in relationship and communion with Him through faith in the Son whom He sent to give His life for us, and the fellowship of the Spirit who was sent to renew and dwell within us.

The glories of the Garden have begun to be restored through faith in Jesus: namely, fellowship with God and access to Life.

However, God is not finished. As Lewis says in Mere Christianity:

“The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods,” and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and, in parts, very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.”

Lewis’ description of our destiny as Christians—what Jesus is making each of us into—sounds quite similar to Athanasius’ description of our birthright of beauty.

That’s because Jesus is giving the birthright we sold for a lie back to us.

In fact, He is giving us more than we lost. We not only return to the Garden, but we return to a better Garden with a body not subject to sin, death, and corruption. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we too will be raised and given glorified, incorruptible bodies like His.

It is this grand Story of restoration that answers the rhetorical statement of Athanasius:

“You may be wondering why we are discussing the origin of men when we set out to talk about the Word becoming Man. The former subject is relevant to the latter for this reason: it was our sorry case that caused the Word to come down, our transgression that called out His love for us, so that He made haste to help us and to appear among us.” (p. 43)

Our hopeless state, secured by our own shortcomings, beaconed to the Love of God.

He saw us—dead and dying—then entered into the valley of shadow.

The Word, through whom all things came into being, became flesh and dwelt among us.

“though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:6-8)

This He did in love and grace—to save us, and to restore us to our Birthright of Beauty.

Let’s hear from you now!

If you’re new here, let me explain. This post serves as a place to share my personal reflections on the reading with you, but even more it serves as a place for you to enter into the discussion too!

In the comments section of this post, share your own insights, reflections, and questions. Engage with the ideas and questions of others too! It is amazing how God works to teach us through dialogue with other people. I’ll throw a few guiding questions below that you can take or leave; otherwise, I’m excited to hear your thoughts!

• Were there any new things you learned about Jesus in this chapter?

• What in the chapter was confusing that you might need some clarification on?

• Did you find any points of disagreement?

• What did the reading stir up in you?

Leave a comment

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No other single work, outside of the Bible, has had more influence on my understanding of the person and work of Jesus than this one:

“On the Incarnation” by Athanasius of Alexandria

I was at my favorite coffee shop about a year ago, having a conversation with one of their baristas that had become a good friend, and was Brother.

He introduced me to the other barista he was working with behind the bar, who was also a Brother. Somewhere in our conversation he mentioned that every year leading up to Christmas, he re-reads “On the Incarnation” as a way to prepare his heart to celebrate the Incarnation—God becoming a Man, the Word becoming flesh, Jesus born as a baby to a poor Jewish family in a dirty barn.

I loved that.

It’s a short book, easy to fly through in a few days. But it’s a rich book, unpacking the wonders of God becoming a Man—the perfect preparatory devotion for the joyous Christmas season.

I was inspired. So here we are, joining this barista’s advent devotion through the great Christian classic: “On the Incarnation.”

We will not be flying through it in a few days, however. We will being doing an 8-week study through the book, covering one chapter at a time, thinking deeply, and discussing the content together. We will begin November 1st and finish the Saturday before Christmas day.

Here’s the schedule:

• 11/1 - Chapter 1 (9 pages)

• 11/8 - Chapter 2 (8 pages)

• 11/15 - Chapter 3 (14 pages)

• 11/22 - Chapter 4 (11 pages)

• 11/29 - Chapter 5 (11 pages)

• 12/6 - Chapter 6 (16 pages)

• 12/13 - Chapter 7 (11 pages)

• 12/20 - Chapter 8 & 9 (20 pages)

A few encouragements:

1. This is an old book. It was written around year 318, about 1700 years ago. But don’t let that intimidate you! Athanasius writes so deeply, yet so simply. This book was written by him to explain to a recent convert to Christianity the fundamentals of the Christian faith, especially the core doctrines related to God becoming Man in Christ Jesus. You will be pleasantly surprised to find his writing on these foundational truths both rich and clear. In this copy’s introduction, written by none other than C.S. Lewis, the reader is given a number of compelling reasons to read old books—taking a break from our modern literature and reaching into the great works of the past; the works that have stood the test of time, lasting through the ages, and influencing Christian thought for millennia. I hope this book gives you the confidence to dig into more of the ancient classics!

2. This is an important book. Though Athanasius didn’t know at the time he wrote this book, a false teaching would spring up years later claiming that Jesus was not actually God, but a created being. This movement was strong and extremely dangerous for the Church. But this book, and Athanasius himself defending the sound doctrine of the Trinity and the Divinity of Jesus, helped to protect the Church from the destructive force of that heresy. Athanasius endured slander, persecution, and exile from his home 5 separate times in defending the Truth which is expressed in this book. God used him and his writing to preserve His Holy Church in the face of great opposition.

3. This book leads to worship. As you read and behold Jesus, you will be drawn to awe. You will understand new and glorious realties of the Incarnation that deepen your love for Christ. You will see even more clearly the depths of what Jesus has done for us in His love. And as you behold Jesus, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that the Spirit will be transforming you into the likeness of Jesus. Your reading will lead to worship, which will lead to your sanctification to the glory of God!

How it will work:

This will function identically to our last Book Club! But if you’re new here, let me explain:

• If you’re local, you can come pick up a FREE copy of the book at the shop. If you’re joining us from somewhere far away, you’ll have to order your own copy :( but you should have time to order it now and have it before the start date!

• Starting November 1st, there will be a post every Saturday following the above schedule. The post will have some personal reflections, but also serve as an online meeting place for discussion and dialogue in the comments. You’ll get to share your thoughts and questions, as well as interact with the insights of others!

• The only requirement of you is to get that week’s reading done sometime before Saturday, and be ready to share your insights on the discussion post! (participation in the online discussion is not required—we’d love if you simply followed along with the reading on your own if online discussion isn’t your cup of tea)

• Also, we HIGHLY encourage you to invite someone else to join the Book Club with you and meet IN PERSON, if possible! We’d love to hear your thoughts on the online discussion, but nothing can replace real, embodied, face-to-face fellowship, so prioritize that if it’s an option for you.

  ---

If you have any questions: leave a comment here, send us a message on Substack, Instagram, or Facebook; or just come to the shop and ask!

Otherwise, come grab a copy of the book or get your own, and join us in this second iteration of Book Club!

We pick right back up where we left off last week: the aim of God is to turn tin soldiers into real Men. He does this through becoming a Man, dying, and rising to establish a new kind of Man — a New Humanity.

But incase anyone is tempted to believe otherwise, Lewis repeatedly (and sometimes sharply) reminds us that what Christ is doing is not “mere improvement” of men.

“For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine.

God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.” (p. 216)

I’m afraid that if any of us reading this were to come away without understanding what Lewis just said, he’d roll over in his grave. It is absolutely imperative that we, as Christians, understand what it is that Christ is doing in us now, and what the end of that work is: namely, our Transformation.

Not slowly making us more happy and pleasant. Not helping us to behave more properly in society. Not giving us tips for a more peaceful, productive, and prosperous life.

He’s Transforming us — changing us into something else, making us new, re-creating us after the Image of our Creator.

As he says in his chapter titled “Good Infection,”

“Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” (p. 177)

The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is not merely to improve morally, it is to be Transformed into a whole new kind of being — to become a son of God like The Son of God.

Okay, I feel like I have sufficiently emphasized the importance of this idea by my numerous uses of bolded words and italics, so I’ll move on.

But, if you are still fuzzy on what these things mean and why they are so important — or if they don’t absolutely blow you away, knock your socks off, wake you up like a glass of cold water poured on your face in the middle of the night — go meditate on those passages of Scripture Lewis alludes to on (p. 191) and pray for God to open your eyes and mind to the beauty and the glory of God’s work in us: Transformation into the Image of His Son.

Lewis goes on to explain that this work of God in us, and our participation in it through practice of Christlikeness, “is not one among many jobs a Christian has to do; and it is not a sort of special exercise for the top class. It is the whole of Christianity.” (p. 195)

The daily task and eternal destiny for every Christian is to become and be like Christ. This is not a task reserved for the pastors, ministry leaders, missionaries, and so-called super-Christians. It is for everyday, normal Christians (if you can call sons and daughters adopted by the King and Creator of the universe, “normal”) like you and me. It is simply for all Christians.

Then he connects this idea to the purpose of the Church:

“the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.” (p. 199)

The purpose of Christians is to become like Christ.

The purpose of the Church is to make Christians like Christ.

Period.

The Church can lose sight of this. They can become focused on things that are not making men into little Christs. They can sometimes take the very things which are used to make men like Christ—Communion, God’s Word, Worship—and twist them into something that does the opposite.

So, the Church must guard against these corruptions through continual, honest corporate reflection. They must be humbly walking with their God, earnestly asking Him to open their eyes to their shortcomings, so that they might repent and realign themselves with His Kingdom and Will.

The Church must recognize her purpose, and faithfully submit to that glorious purpose.

Jesus gives us quite a shock in his Sermon on the Mount:

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Perfection is what we must attain.

Nothing shatters a sense of self-sufficiency or moral apathy quite like the standard of Perfection.

“Some people seem to think this means ‘Unless you are perfect, I will not help you’; and as we cannot be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not think He did mean that. I think He meant ‘The only help I will give is help to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less.’” (p. 201)

Sometimes we don’t want to be perfect: Christ-like in all ways.

Sometimes we want to be loving, but not love our enemies.

Sometimes we want to pray for people, but not for those who persecute us.

Sometimes we want to follow Jesus, but not pick up our cross.

Sometimes we just want to settle for being kind of like Jesus.

But Jesus isn’t satisfied with kind of perfect, and neither should we.

“The command be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were ‘gods’ and He is going to make good His words.” (p. 205)

There’s the great relief you may have been waiting for: God is going to make us into these perfect creatures. The task is not on our shoulders — Jesus has taken it upon His and will carry it all the way to completion.

But sometimes God making us perfect kind of hurts, like a broken bone being set or a decaying tooth being pulled.

Sometimes fiery trials take us by surprise. Suffering strikes. Someone dies. Jobs are lost. Feelings are hurt.

But when a person finds themselves amidst the fiery flames, they must not despair:

“Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.” (p. 205)

You need not work to make yourself good enough for God to save you. You have only to do “the terrible thing, the almost impossible thing… to hand over your whole self— all your wishes and precautions — to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead.” (p. 197)

In short: Repent and believe the gospel.

Give up your life, and you will find Eternal Life. Forsake all control, and you will receive Freedom. Lose all hope in yourself, and you will find Real Hope. Lose your self, and you will find your True Self.

But don’t go looking for your Self.

“Look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” (p. 227)

Phew. What a ride.

The first iteration of Book Club comes to a close.

I’d only read about half of Mere Christianity years ago; and I’m honestly stunned by the beauty hidden within the pages that I missed out on all these years.

I hope it was a blessing to you. I hope most deeply that through it you were formed more into the image and likeness of Christ. That’s what all this is for: that the Body of Christ (you) would more completely fulfill that glorious purpose given to humanity — to bear the Image of God.

I got to share so much meaningful dialogue with many of you (both online and in person), and felt like this first run of Book Club was a great success.

I would be so grateful for your feedback on what you thought went well and was good, and also ways you think this whole thing could be improved!! Throw your feedback in the comments below or to me privately, whichever seems best to you.

I’ve got a plan for the next Book Club that is super exciting to me, and I hope for you as well. Stay tuned and thanks for being apart of this, friends. It’s been a joy.

As always, I turn it over to you: let us know your insights, reflections, and questions on this final section of Mere Christianity in the comments section!

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Lewis is describing the experience of hypothesizing oneself into heresy — trying to put God into a box of one’s own making. This can happen with a question that arises within, or independent of, Scripture. Our quest for an answer leading us to nonsense and “mere words” with no relation to Reality.

This is a danger to all of us, searchers. This is what leads us to all kinds of systems and dogmas and “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” This is why we need community: to keep us from straying, to keep us in alignment with Reality. This is why we need Scripture as our firm foundation — the anchor fixed on the sea floor as the wind and the waves threaten to cast us out into the void of “mere words.”

As Lewis unpacks the content of these chapters, he leans not on his own understanding: theories, logic, reason, wishful thinking. He plants his feet in a broad place: the solid rock of God’s revealed Word.

“we begin to see what it is that the New Testament is always talking about. It talks about Christians ‘being born again’; it talks about them ‘putting on Christ’; about Christ ‘being formed in us’; about our coming to ‘have the mind of Christ’.” (p. 191)

And in this quote, we find the burning core of Lewis’ thought: Man’s sanctification, or Man’s becoming like Christ.

Whatever way you’d like to say it, Lewis offers a sharp exhortation to his readers as they consider these things:

“Put right out of your head the idea that these are only fancy ways of saying that Christians are to read what Christ said and try to carry it out… They mean something much more than that.” (p. 191)

We are not to read the myriad passages in the Bible about our becoming like Christ— becoming “partakers of the divine nature,”1 “being transformed into the same image,”2 a “new creation” in Christ,3 “being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator”—and chalk them all up to a moral striving and mere self-improvement through our will to obey the commands of Christ.

Lewis makes clear that it is not our own strength and will to improve which are the means to the glorious end of Christlikeness.

“It is a living Man, still as much a man as you, and still as much God as He was when He created the world, really coming and interfering with your very self; killing the old natural self in you and replacing it with the kind of self He has.” (p.191)

Or if you’d like it more succinct:

“He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself.” (p. 189)

To expand on the idea and make the aspects of it clearer, Lewis takes a child’s fantastical desire for their toys to come to life.

He asks you to imagine a little tin soldier actually coming to life: cold, dead tin turning to warm, living flesh. But he supposes the tin soldier would not want to become a real, living man—that turning from tin to flesh is really like some kind of death. He will regard the loss of his tin-ness and the taking up of flesh-ness as only a destruction of his “true identity,” not knowing that to become a Man is far better than being a toy.

When we are saved “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,”4 he begins a real, substantial work in us.

Jesus is “beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.” (p. 189)

Jesus is changing us into something we were not before—this is what the Spirit means by saying that in Christ we are a “new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” What is old is dead and dying. What is new is alive and becoming alive.

A spiritual reality now, a physical reality in the Resurrection.

1 Thessalonians 4 tells us that the will of God is our sanctification—our becoming holy or our becoming like Christ. Paul then goes on to encourage the church to embrace purity and reject impurity, to live and grow in holiness. But, as Lewis says, “After the first few steps in the Christian life we realize that everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God.” (p. 193)

Scripture calls us to be holy, but says that God is the One actually making us holy. While we are present and active in obeying the commands of Christ, it is actually God working in us to accomplish the obedience to Christ’s command. We are the little tin soldiers reluctantly being turned into real Men.

And this is good news because most of us aren’t like Pinocchio, who really does want to become a real boy. Most of us are content to remain what we are, and see the transformation into a real, live Man as a kind of death. But God doesn’t leave us in this state—He acts, and that is grace.

What were your thoughts on this section? Share in the comments!

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Next week’s reading: Book 4, part 8-11 (p. 195-227 in most copies)

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