Why Desiring God Exists

From Gospel Translations

Desiring God, like all fallen, finite human ministries and people, sees “in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do not claim to be perfect in what we know. And we do not claim to know all that can be known. Nor do we claim to see what we know more clearly than others may see it. 

But we do say with Paul, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Though we do not know everything there is to know, and though we do not know anything perfectly, yet we do know many things truly and confidently, because of God’s revelation and his Spirit. To give a few examples:

• We know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God”. (Romans 3:19)
• We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. (Romans 6:6)
• We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. (Romans 6:9)
• We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22)
• We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
• We know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4)
• We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6)
• We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 2:16)
• We know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully. (1 Timothy 1:8)
• We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
• We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18)
• We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. (1 John 5:20)

While agreeing with all that is true, and while approving all that is true and good, Desiring God is called to trumpet biblical truth with an angle. It is not the only important angle. We love to think of how much greater Christ’s church is than we are. We simply want to be faithful to bear our little witness in the great global congregation (Psalm 40:9-10).

Our angle on biblical truth is Christian Hedonism. Christian Hedonism is the conviction that the pursuit of our deepest and longest joy in God is a very fruitful way to see and savor and spread the biblical truth captured in historic Reformed convictions about God.

That means our needle is always swinging toward the true north of God’s sovereignty, God’s passion for his glory, the majesty of Christ, the centrality of the cross, and the way these are magnified through our joy in all that God is for us in Christ. Some of the passions we want to pursue and spread include the following. (I have tried to give biblical explanation and foundation to these in some of the things I have written, so I mention the related books.)

A passion for the infinitely glorious and valuable Christ

God’s Passion for His Glory
The Pleasures of God
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ

A passion for the salvation of perishing people and world evangelization

Let the Nations Be Glad
Don’t Waste Your Life

A passion for the gospel of Christ and its power to save sinners

God Is the Gospel

A passion for what Christ accomplished on the cross at the center of the gospel and history

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die
Counted Righteous in Christ
The Future of Justification

A passion for the absolute sovereignty of God

The Justification of God
Spectacular Sins (forthcoming - September, 2008)
The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God

A passion for the truth and authority of the Bible

Desiring God(Appendix 2)

An appreciation for and experience of the purifying power of the promises of God severing the roots of sin

Future Grace

An appreciation for and experience of the biblical strategies of how to fight for joy in God

When I Don’t Desire God
A Hunger for God

A love for the local church and the preaching of God’s word

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals
The Supremacy of God in Preaching

A joyful commitment to the complementary nature and roles of manhood and womanhood

Recovering of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
What’s the Difference?

A firm grasp and good understanding and joyful commitment to the Desiring God Affirmation of Faith

The Desiring God Affirmation of Faith (PDF)

Please pray for us that we will always be humbly submissive to the Bible over all systems of thought and all angles of view. And pray that we will not reject the truth of systems and angles. Pray that Christ would be all (Colossians 3:11).