The Story of His Glory

This book is very short and concise. You could almost use it as a Gospel tract with more information. It would be fabulous for evangelism and a beginning for some discipleship.

Too often in our postmodern world, the gospel has been bloated to incorporate each and everything. From social justice to a wholefoods diet, all is considered essential to the gospel. This unjust impregnation of the gospel can lead to fogginess in which the true gospel becomes fuzzy and veiled.

The Story of His Glory by Brian G. Hedges dispells this fogginess by the illuminating light of scripture. The author does this by telling us the greatest story, the story of the glory of God. As he puts it, ‘it is the story of God’s gracious rescue of the world through the gift of his Son and the sending of his Spirit’. And this story is told with enthusiasm and much excitement, ‘it is a story of creation and judgement, crime and punishment, grace and glory. It is a story filled with drama, tension, power, beauty, and hope’. In other words, this book tells the glorious and exciting story of God.

The Story of His Glory is simple but not simplistic, rich but not hard to understand, and short but not without weighty substance. It presents the story of the Bible with clarity, focus, and joy.

Given the theological quality and the size of this book (64 pages), it would serve Christians in many ways. For instance, this book would be great for evangelism, confirmation, and baptism preparation. However, that is not to say this book is only for new Christians. From time to time we all need a gentle, clear and precise reminder of the precious news of the gospel. This book does this superbly.

The Bible contains 66 books of the inspired word that God wanted His people to know. The Bible tells us the story of God. The Bible is about God, not us.

There are many books on the Bible that are hundreds even thousands of pages long. Most of them are great reads, but to a new believer or a lost person, it may a little intimidating. There are some books that gives us the story of the Bible in a simple format that a maturing believer can take a new believer or lost person through it.

Brian G Hedges' latest book takes us through the Bible in just a few pages. The book is titled, The Story of His Glory. Hedges wrote that this book tells the story of "God's gracious rescue of the world through the gift of his Son and the sending of his Spirit. It is a story of creation and judgment, crime and punishment, grace and glory. It is a story filled with drama, tension, power, beauty, and hope...At the heart of this story is the revelation of God's glory in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. The Story is true and is found in the narratives, laws, parables, poems, sermons, songs, visions, prophecies, oracles, and letters that make up the sixty-six books of Scripture. At the heart of this story is the revelation of God's glory in the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus. This story, the story of God's glory, is the most important story in all of human history. And it is a story that can change your life. This is that story in a nutshell."

Hedges beings this story in creation, which is where the story of the Bible beings. We were made for God's glory and in his image. Adam and Eve (the first people created) were in perfect fellowship with God till sin came into the world. God made a promise to bring a Messiah. The Messiah came, lived a perfect life, died the death we deserved, was buried, and rose from the dead. Our response to this good news that Jesus is our Messiah, is to put our faith in Him. Once we trust in Christ, we are given a new life where we live to please the Father. We are to share this story with everyone around us and share our lives with the people God has rescued from their sins, the church.

I have been a fan of Hedges' writing for some time. I think I have every book he has written. To be honest, I thought this book was going to be longer. I finished it in one day which was quite shocking. After reading this, I came to the conclusion that this book will be perfect for those who are new believers in Christ as well those who do not understand the Bible. This book is small enough that churches can have plenty of them on hand to give their members so they can give them to their friends.