Chapter 2 - Breakthrough--The Beauty of Christ, My Joy

Now that Piper understood his calling as a minister of the gospel, more specifically a pastor, what was next? He had no idea what it meant to be a pastor, and his fiance had no idea what it meant to be a pastor's wife. So at that point he centered his attention to the Word of God and entered seminary.

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Suddenly there arose a problem: If the Bible is objective truth and was written by divinely inspired men, then what does God really mean in each portion of text? There were popular arguments going forth saying "since literature does not accurately convey reality, literary interpretation need not accurately convey the reality which is literature." This basically means that since the Bible is in written form, it's interpretation is subjective and is up to the individual. This was the premise of Existentialism, which was the popular train of thought in the 1960's. Existentialism said that "Existence precedes essence. That is, I don’t find meaning—I create it. The Bible is a lump of clay, and I am the potter. Interpretation is creation. My existence as a subject creates the “essence” of the object." This was the generally accepted worldview on the Bible that Piper had to fight his way through. He found help in a book written by a Professor of Literature from the University of Virginia, E. D. Hirsch entitled 'Validity in Interpretation', which led Piper down the road of true Biblical interpretation, otherwise known as hermeneutics - finding the original intended meaning of the author. Since 2 Peter 1:20 states that "...scripture is of no private interpretation" and 1 Corinthians 2:14 reveals that "...the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned", it is understandable that the Existentialist view of the Bible rose in popularity, as it continues today repackaged in the relativist and post-modern worldview of the 21st Century. Without the Spirit of God, man cannot understand the Bible. So in order to logically make sense of it, people add their own meaning. Besides, who wants to hear that they are sinful, that their heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, and that if they don't submit to Jesus Christ and put away their sin they will end up in hell? The only way that a man can receive the gospel is if the Spirit of God softens their heart and he/she is drawn to the Son in true repentance and receives the free gift of salvation.

As Piper continued his journey in true Biblical interpretation, he took his final course, "The Unity of The Bible", which was taught by Dr. Daniel Fuller (who also wrote a book using the same title). During that course, he began to see that God's aim was both to fully display His glory and that His people should delight in Him. At this point he began to read manuscripts from the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards. The writings of Edwards only reinforced this notion in Piper, whose focus became to help others understand that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." This is quite possibly his most famous quote, as Piper has trailblazed his way into ministry under the guise "Desiring God Ministries."

The rest of this chapter goes on to explain why God desires to be glorified, why He alone is worthy of that glorification, what true glory is, and how we can receive satisfaction and joy in Him alone. The fact remains that we were created for the glory of God: "...bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory..." (Isaiah 43:6-7) To glorify means to magnify. When you magnify something you bring it closer to display it's true form. When we glorify God, we should display His true beauty. God wants us to "to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is." This is why we should display the love of God to others, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). As Piper puts it "Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God."

Once Piper was able to put all the pieces together of the above mentioned discoveries, he "finally felt free to embrace the single passion for which he was made." Scripture was now known as objective truth, and God became real to him in the person of Jesus Christ.

"God created me—and you—to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion—namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life." (Page 31 - 3rd Paragraph)