Also by this author: 1 Corinthians for You, The Boy from the House of Bread, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: Joys That Make the Season Special
Published by Zondervan on March 2, 2021
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life
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Abstract theology is overrated, for God can be found in even the most ordinary of things.
Jesus used things like a lily, sparrow, and sheep to teach about the kingdom of God. And in the Old Testament, God repeatedly describes himself and his saving work in relation to physical things such as a rock, horn, or eagle.
In God of All Things, pastor and author Andrew Wilson invites you to rediscover God in this way, too--through ordinary, everyday things. He explores the idea of a material world and presents a variety of created marvels that reveal the gospel in everyday life and fuel worship and joy in God--marvels like:
Dust: the image of God
Horns: the salvation of God
Donkeys: the peace of God
Water: the life of God
Viruses: the problem of God
Cities: the kingdom of God
God of All Things will leave you with a deeper understanding of Scripture, the world you live in, and the God who made it all.
God of All Things features short, essay-like chapters, and each one focuses on a different common object, animal, or experience. Andrew Wilson writes about things like bread, light, donkeys, trumpets, and earthquakes, and he explores significant examples of these things from throughout the Bible. He focuses on Old Testament imagery in the first half of the book, while he focuses on the New Testament in the second, but in all of this, he maintains a big picture view of the Bible. Even when he is writing about a particular part of Scripture, he draws in parallels, quotations, and examples from other parts of the Bible, providing context for these images within the scope of redemptive history.
God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World is a very unique book. Even though I have read before about why physical matter and experiences are spiritually important, and have read before about Scriptural metaphors, this was my first time reading a book that focused completely on what physical things mentioned in Scripture tell us about God. Andrew Wilson does a great job exploring this topic without overreaching or making tenuous connections, and he uses different verses from throughout the Bible to support his points, along with an understanding of its ancient historical context. I found this book very interesting and encouraging, and appreciate his emphasis on seeing God’s glory through the ordinary, physical world around us.
Some of the metaphors build in context with each other, so I enjoyed reading this book straight through, but the short chapters would also be great for daily readings. Each chapter is brief and self-contained, typically lasting for five pages, and Wilson does an amazing job of writing a satisfying introduction and conclusion every time. In my experience, the hardest part of writing an essay or article is getting the opening hook and ending right, but Wilson handles this perfectly again and again, and each chapter feels both thought-provoking and complete. I highly recommend this book to other Christians, or to people who are interested in learning more about the Bible, and this book is wonderful for both teenagers and adults.
