How many Christians lack the sense of reality in their spiritual lives? If we are God’s children, why does God seem so far away? In his book The God Who Draws Near, Baptist theological and church history professor Michael Haykin looks to Scripture and the Reformers to anchor our foundation for our spiritual walk with God in this life.
Michael Haykin is Professor of Church History & Biblical Spirituality at SBTS and the Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.
How do we learn about and live out our spiritual life and walk with God? Haykin offers nine chapters to guide us into a greater understanding of the work God is doing in us and the means he uses. Haykin covers topics like the Trinity, God, and Jesus (chs 1–3), the cross, the Word of God, prayer, and meditation (chs 4–7), and friendship and missions (chs 8–9). To be truly spiritual is to know that God is a triune Being. This God, above all other gods, is a giving God. He gives us his Son and, through his death and resurrection, the Father gives us his Spirit to become his beloved children.
Haykin doesn’t have a chapter devoted specifically to the Holy Spirit, but he does note that the Spirit, like floodlights that point us to a large house, directs our attention to Christ. That said, Haykin focused too little on Christ in his chapter on a Christ-centered spirituality (ch 3). While he did put forth Moses as an example for us to follow of someone who put Christ ahead of all earthly material success (Heb 11:23–26), Haykin also could have provided more passages and commentary on Christ himself in this chapter.
Haykin briefly but cogently argues against merely understanding “Christ’s death as the supreme instance of utterly selfless love” (71). Instead, Christ, who was without sin (and an explanation about how wonderful that is), took our place and rescued us and gives us “safety from the fire of God’s judgement” (77). This should keep us from taking our access to God in prayer lightly. Jesus was slaughtered like a lamb because of our “futile ways” (1 Pet 1:18), and the only way to know God is through Christ and him crucified.
Haykin’s chapter on meditation was much needed, as I fear many read the Bible and then forget what they read. I shouldn’t only talk about others; I myself do this! What can I do to make it stick and to savor Scripture? In Psalm 39:3 we see that as David meditated (or “mused,” ESV) his heart grew hot within him. As Haykin writes, “Meditation and affection are thus closely linked” (120).
Haykin gives us models to follow: William Tyndale who led a Word-centered life, Jonathan Edwards on meditating over Scripture, the friendship shared between Paul and Timothy, and that of John Ryland Jr. and Andrew Fuller, and Paul as a missionary (to name a few). These were men who lived out these spiritual truths and savored Christ, his Word, and the people who make up his body, with the aim of telling more people about this wonderful Savior so that they might believe too.
Recommended?
This is an easy and enjoyable read by Haykin. As said above, there are other aspects of the Christian life that could have been covered, Haykin need not cover all of them. He gives us a snapshot of what life in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit looks like as children of God and how this can look in the lives of believers. What was missing was more practical application, yet Haykin does provide a select bibliography that points you in many directions for further study.
Buy it on Amazon or from Union Publishing!
Lagniappe
- Author: Michael A. G. Haykin
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Union Publishing (November 2023)
Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Union Publishing. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.
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