The Gospel According to Job: An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt from the Life of One Who Lost Everything
Overview
Anyone who has suffered knows that there is no such thing as “getting a grip on oneself” or “pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. The only bootstrap in the Christian life is the Cross,” says Mason. “Sometimes laying hold of the cross can be comforting, but other times it is like picking up a snake."
Job knew this firsthand. From him we learn that there are no easy answers to suffering. That the mark of true faith is not happiness, but rather, having one’s deepest passions be engaged by the enormity of God. And through Job we learn the secret of the gospel: that “mercy is the permission to be human." The Lord never gave Job an explanation for all he had been through. His only answer was Himself. But as Job discovered, that was enough.
The Gospel According to Job sensitively brings the reader to this realization, using a devotional commentary format that reminds them that it’s all right to doubt, to be confused, to wonder–in short, to be completely human. But what will heal us and help us endure is a direct, transforming encounter with the living God.
Top Highlights
“The only bootstrap in the Christian life is the cross” (source)
“The secret begins with a solid grasp of the fact that being ‘blameless’ is not quite the same as being ‘guiltless.’” (source)
“For in the gospel according to Job a person is either righteous, or not” (source)
“The real question is whether I myself, in my own unique set of circumstances, am giving glory and thanks to God from my heart. If I am not, then it makes no difference whether the problem I face is a big thing or a little thing. For the smallest of complaints can spoil fellowship with God.” (source)
“But anyone who has truly suffered will know that when it comes to the real thing there is no help for it, no human help whatsoever. Simply put, when we are in a deep dark hole we cannot think our way out; neither can we hope, sing, pray, or even love our way out.” (source)
Product Details
- Title : The Gospel According to Job: An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt from the Life of One Who Lost Everything
- Author: Mason, Mike
- Publisher: Crossway
- Publication Date: 2002
- ISBN: 9781433516320
MIKE MASON lives with his wife, Karen, in British Columbia, Canada. Mason received a BA with honors and an MA in English from the University of Manitoba. His other books include The Mystery of Marriage, The Mystery of the Word, and The Furniture of Heaven. He now writes full-time and divides his attention equally between fiction and devotional writing.
Reviews
0 ratings
Ven. Richard Spencer
3/17/2020
I own this book and have read it. It is for far more than "Christians who, like Job, are experiencing deep suffering . . . " (as in the Logos description). The back cover has this quote, from J.I. Packer, no less: "The profundity of the insights into spiritual life that Mike Mason draws from Job is stunning. What Oswald Chambers once did well, though briefly, Mason has now done better, and on a grander scale. Every way, this is a five-star book!"
