The God Who Draws Near (Paperback) by Michael A G Haykin

The God Who Draws Near seeks to retrieve the key elements of a biblical spirituality and what they mean for our daily lives. Spirituality is very much a positive buzz word today; but in so many of the ways that it is used, it muddies the waters as to the nature of true spirituality. By going back to the sources, as the sixteenth-century Reformers would advise, namely, the Scriptures, this book draws together the main threads of a biblical spirituality and provides foundations for believers to anchor their lives in truth, love, and a growing relationship with the living God--that very God who has drawn near to us in love and grace through Jesus Christ. May these pages help you to draw near to him.

Contents

Introduction

1. A trinitarian spirituality

2. Knowing God and knowing ourselves

3. A Christ-centred spirituality

4. A cross-centred spirituality

5. A spirituality of the Word

6. Prayer and the Christian life

7. Christian meditation

8. Spiritual friendship as a means of grace

9. Mission — the inevitable fruit of true spirituality

Title

The God Who Draws Near
Author(s)

Michael A G Haykin
ISBN

9781739342647
Format

Paperback
Publisher

Union Publishing
Topic

Trinity, Holiness
Audience

Adults
Published

04/12/2023

Overall rating

4.0 based on 2 reviews

The God Who Draws Near

This book covered a lot of basics, but did it in a way that was a helpful reminder and had me praising God for who he is. If you want to go in-depth on the different topics this book covers then you might need to use some other resources as well, but I'd recommend this for general encouragement in your Christian life, or to those who would like to learn more about theology and need a starting point.

Hazel

Beginning with exploring a biblical theology of the triune God, the author leads the reader through the trinitarian references in Scripture with particular focus to how the apostle Paul and the New Testament writers make reference to the three Persons of the Trinity. Drawing on the teaching of the Puritan John Owen, Haykin then moves on to discuss the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man in the chapter on “Knowing ourselves and God.” There are also a couple of helpful chapters on a Christ-centred and Cross-centred spirituality, I particularly enjoyed these two chapters as the author highlights the fact that so much that is wrong in the modern church can be attributed to a elevating the person of the Holy Spirit above Christ. Haykin makes the important argument that the Holy Spirit draws our attention and affections to the Person of Christ.

There are also chapters on the spirituality of the Word, prayer, Christian meditation, where Haykin does an excellent job of explaining the often misunderstood spiritual discipline of meditation, spiritual friendship as a means of grace and mission as the inevitable fruit of true spirituality.

In conclusion, this excellent book is essentially a condensed ‘mini systematic theology’ - weighty and meaty whilst also being very accessible and practical.

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