Let me begin by saying that every pastor in the world ought to read John Piper’s God is the Gospel. Most of what passes for preaching and teaching doesn’t seem to be even close to the message of this book. It is humbling. Thoughts from & on the info.
“If the enjoyment of God himself is not the final and best gift of love, then God is not the greatest treasure, his self-giving is not the highest mercy, the gospel is not the good news that sinners may enjoy their Maker, Christ did not suffer to bring us to God, and our souls must look beyond him for satisfaction.”
And this, indeed, is what most of us evangelicals do. We do not seek to enjoy God in our worship, sports, work, sex life etc. We do not view these things as pointing us to God. We treasure the things themselves, or, worse, ourselves. In my margin I wrote “Above All” the very popular song which exalts us over God’s glory in Jesus’ mind. We make too much of ourselves, and therefore rob glory from God.
“The saving love of God is God’s commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself.”
Have you heard such preaching often? Pastors, do you preach such things often? Such things filled the sermons of Calvin, Owen & Edwards. Let’s not imagine it was common then- the flesh constantly corrupts the truth.
“Would you be happy in heaven if Christ was not there?”
Obviously there can be no such place without Him. But Piper’s point is what are you looking forward to? Seeing loved ones? No longer sinning? No longer suffering from illness and injury? All good things, but they pale in comparison to beholding the unmediated glory of Jesus the God-Man. This ought to create the hunger in our hearts that presses us forward. This is what the world longs to see, needs to see. It does not want to see our big buildings, televangelists, and shabby copies of popular culture. They need to see people who are so joyful in Christ that they work well, love well, feast & fast well, and suffer well.
Cavman Considers 
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