I recently read N.T. Wright’s book, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. His driving force for this book is a response to a book published in 2007 by Dr. John Piper called, The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright, which probes the foundations of Wright’s understanding of Paul and if this is a helpful or harmful understanding.

I personally find Wright’s view of The New Perspective on Paul very exciting.  I love how he puts the Scriptures, Paul, and Jesus in their historical context. He takes that same approach with this book and makes the doctrine of justification very clear and historical. I’m personally not helped by the esoteric explanations of justification that others have given.  What I loved most about this book, though, is the overarching, big picture paradigm which is opposite of an anthropocentric vision that is often espoused.

Here are some great quotes of this idea of us not being the center of the universe:

“Salvation is hugely important…. Knowing God for oneself, as opposed to merely knowing or thinking about him, is at the heart of Christian living…. But we are not the center of the universe. God is not circling around us. We are circling around him. It may look, from our point of view, as though ‘me and my salvation’ are the be-all and end-all of Christianity. Sadly, many people–many devout Christians!–have preached that way and lived that way. This problem is not peculiar to the churches of the Reformation. It goes back to the high Middle Ages in the Western church, and infects and affects Catholic and Protestant, liberal and conservative, high and low church alike. But a full reading of Scripture itself tells a different story (23).”

“God made humans for a purpose: not simply for themselves, not simply so that they could be in relationship with him, but so that through them, as his image-bearers, he could bring his wise, glad, fruitful order to the world. And the closing verses of Scripture, in the book of Revelation, are not about human beings going off to heaven to be in a close and intimate relationship with God, but about heaven coming to earth (24).”

“Paul’s view of God’s purpose is that God, the creator, called Abraham so that through his family he, God, could rescue the world from its plight…. Paul’s understanding of God’s accomplishment in the Messiah is that this single purpose, this plan-through-Israel-for-the-world, this reason-God-called-Abraham … finally came to fruition with Jesus Christ (94).”

N.T. Wright in many of his books, and certainly in this one, has continually opened my eyes to the big picture of God’s purpose and saving activity in the world.

I just became a dad 9 months ago. I started fatherhood a bit later in life. I am 37 years old and have been married for over 8 years. My wife and I recently completed the adoption of our son and have embarked upon a new chapter in life. As I look back on what my expectations, fears, and trepidations about fatherhood were I am amazed at the stark contrast to the reality of being a dad.

For one thing, I am not a little baby kind of guy. I did not grow up thinking having a family was the direction I was going to go. I didn’t give it much thought but when I did I was fairly sure that raising a child would be a bit of a headache best left alone.

As my wife and I contemplated having a child I became very clear what my expectations were. Work, work, work, and more work. Yes, having a child would be noble, inspiring, and a way to give back and to love another person in a way that friendships aren’t able. I could see from a rather heady perspective the ‘rightness’ of fatherhood.

The reality of fatherhood isn’t too far from what I expected. I haven’t gone fishing once since my son was born. I haven’t gone kayaking. We haven’t had a dinner party. I get far less sleep, have far less money. I have never been so concerned for someone else’s health. I was right; being a dad is a lot of work and expensive.

On the other hand the work is not a drudgery, nor is there any sense of loss for those things that I had time to do before. My son is an absolute joy to see every morning. I look forward to seeing his face when I come home from work. I anticipate the weekends when I can be more involved in his entire day. I am grateful to get to know him to be a part of his new life. Being a part means changing poopy diapers, playing with little plastic drooled on toys, making bottles, folding countless little cloths, making stupid faces to get him to laugh, and taking him for walks.

I have my son’s picture taped to my visor on my work truck; I never taped a picture of my kayak or my fishing rod. Every little thing he learns is fantastic. I am convinced he is a genius. The mold was broken with the advent of my son. He is an inspiration. I don’t mind working for someone I love. A little work never hurt anyone anyways!