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God With Us Exploring God's Personal Interactions with His People
The humility of God is a mind-boggling concept. The self-sufficient, transcendent Holy One . . . does he really come down to the level of those he has created?
Yet this is not only true, but a major biblical theme—God’s way of relating to his creatures is by condescending to come to where they are. The ultimate example is Christ’s incarnation—but this is not the only time God has humbled himself for his creation, either before or afterward.
Glenn Kreider explores the whole Bible to show us the full scope of God’s active involvement in his creation from the very beginning. This better understanding of God’s humility will affect our own humility and our attitude toward serving those around us.
Yet this is not only true, but a major biblical theme—God’s way of relating to his creatures is by condescending to come to where they are. The ultimate example is Christ’s incarnation—but this is not the only time God has humbled himself for his creation, either before or afterward.
Glenn Kreider explores the whole Bible to show us the full scope of God’s active involvement in his creation from the very beginning. This better understanding of God’s humility will affect our own humility and our attitude toward serving those around us.
- GenresTheology
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 16, 2017
Many of us are already familiar with the idea that Christ humbled himself and took on humanity in order to die for all humans, raise from the dead, and thus make salvation possible for all humans. But we not have realized that this kind of humility didn't start with the Christmas story. As Kreider walks us through the history of God's interaction with humanity beginning with Genesis 1, we see that He has been condescending to us from the very beginning. And He expects us to display the same kind of humility in our relationship with Him and in our relationships with each other. This is a great book to help you see the biblical story all as one story. Kreider also starts each chapter with an inspiring story of humans being humble toward other humans. So we lose the excuse that humility is something only God is capable of.
January 3, 2021
Really enjoyed this journey through the Bible and how God is present throughout. It left me with several things to think about!
January 23, 2015
Avid Bible readers will no doubt be familiar with the biblical expectations that God's people are to be a humble people. Indeed, most people have heard of Jesus' teaching to turn the other cheek--an act of humility in the face of injustice.
In this lucid treatment of God's dealings with humanity, Glenn Kreider takes those injunctions to humility a step further: he roots them in the very nature and work of God in the world throughout history. And to be clear, Kreider believes that the reality of God's humility is one that should carry over into the lives of those who follow him: "If God is most clearly revealed in his Son, and if this revelation is humble and sacrificial, and if God wants his followers to be like him, then surely understanding God in this way compels his followers to give up their rights, privileges, and prerogatives for the sake of others."
I expect that this vision of God and what that means for those who follow Him will encourage readers by seeing the myriad ways that God has given up what was rightfully His in order to interact with, serve, and ultimately to redeem His creation. Further, Kreider presents a deeply challenging vision of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus, as we seek to give up what is rightfully ours for the sake of another of God's creatures.
With study questions at the end, the book would work well not only for individual study, but for group interaction as well.
In this lucid treatment of God's dealings with humanity, Glenn Kreider takes those injunctions to humility a step further: he roots them in the very nature and work of God in the world throughout history. And to be clear, Kreider believes that the reality of God's humility is one that should carry over into the lives of those who follow him: "If God is most clearly revealed in his Son, and if this revelation is humble and sacrificial, and if God wants his followers to be like him, then surely understanding God in this way compels his followers to give up their rights, privileges, and prerogatives for the sake of others."
I expect that this vision of God and what that means for those who follow Him will encourage readers by seeing the myriad ways that God has given up what was rightfully His in order to interact with, serve, and ultimately to redeem His creation. Further, Kreider presents a deeply challenging vision of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus, as we seek to give up what is rightfully ours for the sake of another of God's creatures.
With study questions at the end, the book would work well not only for individual study, but for group interaction as well.
June 1, 2017
I was talking with one of my uncles some months ago and he was lamenting the lack of good Christian books out there, pointing out that the only good 'Christian' books are the ones that lead you to read the Bible itself instead of more books about the Bible. God with Us: Exploring God's Personal Interactions with His People Throughout the Bible by Glenn R. Kreider is one such book. I don't believe that I had heard of this book before, or at least if I had it didn't catch my attention at the time. A friend gave it to me and I ended up being very pleased with it.
In the book, Kreider focuses upon the humility of God. He goes through the different periods of Biblical history pointing out many instances of God's graciousness towards mankind. I'll list some particular snippets that I found fascinating:
First, in his section on Abraham Kreider points out that God could have responded in anger for Abraham's asking how he would know that he will gain possession of the land (instead of just accepting that it would happen), but He didn't, "God's response is compassionate, gracious and kind. He cuts a covenant with Abram.…..The covenant does not make the promises of God more secure, but it does give Abram something he knows and understands." God didn't have to make a covenant at all, but He graciously did so. And despite Abraham's flaws, God condescends to be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who also were very flawed).
Later on, in His call to Moses God condescends to answer Moses' objections to being chosen to lead his people out of Egypt, and has already provided a helper for Moses in the person of Aaron - This made me realize too that God could have made Aaron the leader of His people. But even though Moses objected so much, God graciously still used Moses.
And then of course, the amazing condescension of God to send His Son to earth as a human being….and as an infant, not an adult. Kreider says that for a while he had a hard time with the account given by Luke of when Jesus was 12 years old and deliberately stays behind in Jerusalem when His parents leave for home - in particular, Mary's apparently frustrated response towards Him, "My Son, Why have you treated us like this?..." How could she dare do that seeing that she had been told beforehand that Jesus was "the Son of God"? And then he explains that his conclusion, " "Anyone who was in the presence of God in the flesh would recognize his deity, I thought. I Now believe that this story reveals to us that Jesus' deity was well concealed. Apparently, the difference between Jesus and her other children was not as obvious to Mary as I had thought. Jesus never sinned, never rebelled against her; he never behaved in a depraved way." He goes on to explain that, in a way, Jesus was, as it were, 'immature'(not meaning to indicate that Christ's action in staying behind was immature). In other words, He still grew in wisdom, as that chapter points out, though in the process of growing in wisdom/'maturing' He never sinned. And so Mary apparently had trouble perceiving His divinity because of this, despite having seen His perfect goodness. I thought that was an interesting point.
I also loved the concept that God has condescended to have His Son be in human form forever, "he humbles himself by adding to his complete deity complete humanity, not temporarily but permanently." And not only this, but that Christ will be with His people forever on the new earth, "The hope of redeemed humanity is not heaven but earth. Heaven is a temporary home until the day of resurrection, when heaven will come down to earth and the God of heaven will make the earth his home (Rev. 21:3). When the work of redemption is completed, the triune God will condescend to dwell eternally on this planet."
All in all I thought that it was quite thought provoking. There were some things (as in any book other than the Bible) that bothered me a bit: such as Kreider's stating that, ""Although sin and rebellion will continue, God promises never to respond as harshly as he did in the flood." - I guess that he doesn't think that the future judgments to come upon the earth are not that bad? That confused me - especially as he says that he is premillennial. And then he says that "Since the Scriptures testify about Jesus, any reading that fails to hear Jesus, any interpretation that fails to elevate Jesus, and any bible study that fails to focus on Jesus is incorrect and worthy of judgment." But what if certain passages elevate God the Father? What if they focus upon Him and not upon Christ…or what if they focus upon the Trinity as a whole? * Sigh*…..
But I still liked the book :) Kreider does a good job of pointing out this other attribute of God, humility, that we ought to emulate, and that we will emulate because we have God- The Holy Spirit living inside of us. It makes you want to take another look at the Bible with, not necessarily a new perspective, but with a heightened desire to notice God's condescension and humility towards humanity that is revealed therein.
In the book, Kreider focuses upon the humility of God. He goes through the different periods of Biblical history pointing out many instances of God's graciousness towards mankind. I'll list some particular snippets that I found fascinating:
First, in his section on Abraham Kreider points out that God could have responded in anger for Abraham's asking how he would know that he will gain possession of the land (instead of just accepting that it would happen), but He didn't, "God's response is compassionate, gracious and kind. He cuts a covenant with Abram.…..The covenant does not make the promises of God more secure, but it does give Abram something he knows and understands." God didn't have to make a covenant at all, but He graciously did so. And despite Abraham's flaws, God condescends to be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who also were very flawed).
Later on, in His call to Moses God condescends to answer Moses' objections to being chosen to lead his people out of Egypt, and has already provided a helper for Moses in the person of Aaron - This made me realize too that God could have made Aaron the leader of His people. But even though Moses objected so much, God graciously still used Moses.
And then of course, the amazing condescension of God to send His Son to earth as a human being….and as an infant, not an adult. Kreider says that for a while he had a hard time with the account given by Luke of when Jesus was 12 years old and deliberately stays behind in Jerusalem when His parents leave for home - in particular, Mary's apparently frustrated response towards Him, "My Son, Why have you treated us like this?..." How could she dare do that seeing that she had been told beforehand that Jesus was "the Son of God"? And then he explains that his conclusion, " "Anyone who was in the presence of God in the flesh would recognize his deity, I thought. I Now believe that this story reveals to us that Jesus' deity was well concealed. Apparently, the difference between Jesus and her other children was not as obvious to Mary as I had thought. Jesus never sinned, never rebelled against her; he never behaved in a depraved way." He goes on to explain that, in a way, Jesus was, as it were, 'immature'(not meaning to indicate that Christ's action in staying behind was immature). In other words, He still grew in wisdom, as that chapter points out, though in the process of growing in wisdom/'maturing' He never sinned. And so Mary apparently had trouble perceiving His divinity because of this, despite having seen His perfect goodness. I thought that was an interesting point.
I also loved the concept that God has condescended to have His Son be in human form forever, "he humbles himself by adding to his complete deity complete humanity, not temporarily but permanently." And not only this, but that Christ will be with His people forever on the new earth, "The hope of redeemed humanity is not heaven but earth. Heaven is a temporary home until the day of resurrection, when heaven will come down to earth and the God of heaven will make the earth his home (Rev. 21:3). When the work of redemption is completed, the triune God will condescend to dwell eternally on this planet."
All in all I thought that it was quite thought provoking. There were some things (as in any book other than the Bible) that bothered me a bit: such as Kreider's stating that, ""Although sin and rebellion will continue, God promises never to respond as harshly as he did in the flood." - I guess that he doesn't think that the future judgments to come upon the earth are not that bad? That confused me - especially as he says that he is premillennial. And then he says that "Since the Scriptures testify about Jesus, any reading that fails to hear Jesus, any interpretation that fails to elevate Jesus, and any bible study that fails to focus on Jesus is incorrect and worthy of judgment." But what if certain passages elevate God the Father? What if they focus upon Him and not upon Christ…or what if they focus upon the Trinity as a whole? * Sigh*…..
But I still liked the book :) Kreider does a good job of pointing out this other attribute of God, humility, that we ought to emulate, and that we will emulate because we have God- The Holy Spirit living inside of us. It makes you want to take another look at the Bible with, not necessarily a new perspective, but with a heightened desire to notice God's condescension and humility towards humanity that is revealed therein.
August 4, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. Underlined a ton. It describes a God of love to condescends to his creatures. This book inspires worship of the God who is.
May 20, 2016
This review originally appeared on my blog: https://lightenough.wordpress.com/201...
The focus of this book is on the condescension of God. Condescension? Sometimes that word is used in a negative sense, but that is not the way the author intends it. Rather God’s condescension is viewed in a very positive sense. God waived his privileges and humbled himself in order to relate to his creatures in a way that they could understand. Andy Crouch is quoted who states “In an earlier day, condescension meant the powerful treating everyone they met with dignity and respect.” Kreider sees this as an apt description of our God. The book, in a simple way, walks you though the Old and New Testament pointing out ways that God has graciously condescended himself to humanity. By simple, all I mean is that the book is focused on the Scripture. You’ll likely discover new observations about God that you overlooked in familiar Bible stories. Indeed, familiarity can be a problem, as we think we already know the story and thus fail to notice aspects of it as a result.
The humility of our God can be an overlooked theme. Why? The author proposes two reasons. One, there is something counter-intuitive about it. God is great so how could he be humble? We misunderstand humility as a form of weakness. Second, we are uncomfortable about what this would mean for us. If God is humble, then we should certainly be humble too. (Uh-oh.) While the book points out examples of God’s humility in his interactions with humanity throughout both the Old and New Testament, the ultimate act of condescension – the Incarnation of God through Jesus the Son – receives 2 chapters of focus. It is also emphasized earlier in the book that Jesus is the ultimate focus of all the Scripture.
The book has a much needed eschatological theme on the culmination of God’s plan for this world. Jesus will return to earth and live here once again. Here is an excerpt:
“…the hope of the followers of Jesus is not just that they will go to be with him, but that he will come to them – that he will return to the earth and make things right when he lives on the earth forever. In short, the hope of redeemed humanity is not heaven, but earth. Heaven is a temporary home until the day of resurrection, when heaven will come down to earth and the God of heaven will make the earth his home (Rev. 21:3). When the work of redemption is completed, the triune God will condescend to dwell eternally on this planet.” – pages 162-163
Something discussed on my blog in the past is divine accommodation. God graciously condescends himself and communicates with people in a way that matches the time and place in history, as well as their ability to comprehend. If God used methods totally foreign to the place and time, likely the people would be confused or not understand. Therefore, we will naturally see similarities between the way God was working and the surrounding culture at the time. The book offers examples of this in the biblical story, and also quotes several theologians such as Herman Bavinck: “If God were to speak to us in a divine language, not a creature would understand him. But what spells out his grace is the fact that from the moment of his creation God stoops down to his creatures, speaking and appearing to them in human fashion.” (pages 29-30)
I recommend this book to you. It is practical as it helps us realize that if God is humble, we should be humble too. Condescension, or the voluntary humbling of oneself for the sake of others, is both an attitude and an action that should be reflected in our lives.
The focus of this book is on the condescension of God. Condescension? Sometimes that word is used in a negative sense, but that is not the way the author intends it. Rather God’s condescension is viewed in a very positive sense. God waived his privileges and humbled himself in order to relate to his creatures in a way that they could understand. Andy Crouch is quoted who states “In an earlier day, condescension meant the powerful treating everyone they met with dignity and respect.” Kreider sees this as an apt description of our God. The book, in a simple way, walks you though the Old and New Testament pointing out ways that God has graciously condescended himself to humanity. By simple, all I mean is that the book is focused on the Scripture. You’ll likely discover new observations about God that you overlooked in familiar Bible stories. Indeed, familiarity can be a problem, as we think we already know the story and thus fail to notice aspects of it as a result.
The humility of our God can be an overlooked theme. Why? The author proposes two reasons. One, there is something counter-intuitive about it. God is great so how could he be humble? We misunderstand humility as a form of weakness. Second, we are uncomfortable about what this would mean for us. If God is humble, then we should certainly be humble too. (Uh-oh.) While the book points out examples of God’s humility in his interactions with humanity throughout both the Old and New Testament, the ultimate act of condescension – the Incarnation of God through Jesus the Son – receives 2 chapters of focus. It is also emphasized earlier in the book that Jesus is the ultimate focus of all the Scripture.
The book has a much needed eschatological theme on the culmination of God’s plan for this world. Jesus will return to earth and live here once again. Here is an excerpt:
“…the hope of the followers of Jesus is not just that they will go to be with him, but that he will come to them – that he will return to the earth and make things right when he lives on the earth forever. In short, the hope of redeemed humanity is not heaven, but earth. Heaven is a temporary home until the day of resurrection, when heaven will come down to earth and the God of heaven will make the earth his home (Rev. 21:3). When the work of redemption is completed, the triune God will condescend to dwell eternally on this planet.” – pages 162-163
Something discussed on my blog in the past is divine accommodation. God graciously condescends himself and communicates with people in a way that matches the time and place in history, as well as their ability to comprehend. If God used methods totally foreign to the place and time, likely the people would be confused or not understand. Therefore, we will naturally see similarities between the way God was working and the surrounding culture at the time. The book offers examples of this in the biblical story, and also quotes several theologians such as Herman Bavinck: “If God were to speak to us in a divine language, not a creature would understand him. But what spells out his grace is the fact that from the moment of his creation God stoops down to his creatures, speaking and appearing to them in human fashion.” (pages 29-30)
I recommend this book to you. It is practical as it helps us realize that if God is humble, we should be humble too. Condescension, or the voluntary humbling of oneself for the sake of others, is both an attitude and an action that should be reflected in our lives.
April 18, 2015
Would you use the adjective humble to describe God? Why or why not? Yet, for God to communicate with man, isn’t that an act of grace, an act of God descending to communicate with those who are not equal to Him.
This essentially is what this book is about. God’s divine condescension with His creation. Glenn Kreider has written a book that shows the readers what the bible has to say about God’s condescension. Kreider moves from the Old Testament to the New Testament and shows the readers God’s act of grace towards his creation.
I found that Kreider has really done a good job showing the readers how gracious God was towards His creation, and still is very gracious towards us.
I would highly recommend Presbyterians to read this book, given that the Westminster Confession makes special reference to the divine condescension of God, this book would be an excellent resource to deepen one’s understanding of it. Even if you’re not a Presbyterian, you should give this book a read, I would recommend those who wishes to see what the Bible has to say about His grace and compassion towards us to read this book. Likewise, for those who are interested to learn about humility, they are recommended to read this book.
Rating: 4.75 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
This essentially is what this book is about. God’s divine condescension with His creation. Glenn Kreider has written a book that shows the readers what the bible has to say about God’s condescension. Kreider moves from the Old Testament to the New Testament and shows the readers God’s act of grace towards his creation.
I found that Kreider has really done a good job showing the readers how gracious God was towards His creation, and still is very gracious towards us.
I would highly recommend Presbyterians to read this book, given that the Westminster Confession makes special reference to the divine condescension of God, this book would be an excellent resource to deepen one’s understanding of it. Even if you’re not a Presbyterian, you should give this book a read, I would recommend those who wishes to see what the Bible has to say about His grace and compassion towards us to read this book. Likewise, for those who are interested to learn about humility, they are recommended to read this book.
Rating: 4.75 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
March 22, 2015
No problem with the books theology (other than celebrating a Roman Catholic). However, the book is patronizing by constantly including big names in Christianity, which seemed more than once for the sake of mentioning the name than for substance. The most obvious instance happens when Mother Teresa is included. His method of referencing Bible verses was plain confusing. Frequently there will be a reference that will give only the verse without the book or chapter. To find the latter often requires the reader to look several paragraphs previous. Finally, I am under the impression that the author had a page minimum to fill, so he took a topic that would have been addressed more effectively in 25 to 30 pages and squeezed it into 203 pages.
February 13, 2016
It was a good book, though if you've read a few biblical theologies there won't be much new in here. However I did enjoy his discussion of Phil. 2.5-11, and how Jesus took the form of a servant "because" he was God. Kreider summarized many biblical passages throughout his book and commented on the condescension of God - God stopping/coming down to man to be with him. This approach can be good or bad. It was interesting, but since much of the book was a summarization of biblical texts, it was hard not to skip over a lot of it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews