King's Cross

Tim Keller's book, King's Cross, takes us through the life of Jesus by the accounts written in the book of Mark. One of my favorite things about Tim Keller's style of writing is that he explains passages in a way that an ordinary person can understand, but at the same time I think he takes too many liberties with the Bible's wording. If you read the book knowing that they are Keller's words and not God's words in many cases, a lot can be gained by reading the book. It is divided into two parts with "The King" describing who Jesus is and "The Cross" explaining what he did and why he did it.

"The gospel isn't advice: It's the good news that you don't need to earn your way to God; Jesus has already done it for you." (Keller, pg 20)

At the end of each chapter when he was nailing his point, I truly became aware of my sinfulness. Yuck! I am not perfect nor is God asking me to be, but he is calling me to run to the one who is perfect. "He (Jesus) must become the still point of your turning world, the center around which your entire life resolves." (page 45) Don't read this book if you don't want to be convicted that you are not doing this. We are made to worship, and if we are not worshiping Him, we are worshiping something in this world. I can not run this race alone with the expectation of winning without him, and there is nothing that I can do to earn his favor. "It's not the quality of your faith that saves you; it's the object of your faith."

Run to him.

Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Part II, "The Cross" of the book focuses on Christ's purpose on this earth and why he had to die. I have read this section of Mark many times before, but I learned so much about the Bible in light of what was happening during that point in history. At the time of his death, many people did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah because of his death, but Keller shows through certain historical and biblical points that prove just who Jesus is, our Savior. Also, Keller takes us through the lives of those who were closest to Jesus during his last days, his death and after he had risen. I came back with so much more of God's word after reading this section.
When we suffer from things of this world, where does our hope lie? Because Jesus left his father's side to come to this earth and die, we can have hope that one day our sufferings of this world will be gone because we will of the honor of praising God.