Even Better Than Eden

God’s Story Will End Better than It Began . . . Experienced Bible teacher Nancy Guthrie traces 9 themes throughout the Bible, revealing how God’s plan for the new creation will be far more glorious than the original. But this new creation glory isn’t just reserved for the future. The hope of God’s plan for his people transforms everything about our lives today.

It's amazing how heavy the weight of emptiness can feel, how much room it can take up in our souls, how much pain can be caused by something that isn't even there.But while we may see the emptiness of our lives as our greatest problem, that's not how God sees it. When God looks into the empty places of our lives, He sees His greatest opportunity. God does His best work in the emptiness of our . . . Insatiable craving for things that don't satisfy Relational disappointments and loneliness Frustrated search for purpose and meaning Relentless desire for comfort and security Ongoing struggle to live with loss and unfulfilled dreams Join Nancy Guthrie in discovering why emptiness has never been, and never will be, a problem to God. As Nancy pulls back the curtain on God's work to fill up emptiness as revealed throughout the Bible, you'll experience page after page of grace and hope that your emptiness can and will be filled. You'll begin to see that God really does do His best work with empty--as he fills it with Himself.

Concise, pithy chapters with dozens of charts, highlighted summaries and study questions make Graeme Goldsworthy's introductory text enormously useful for understanding how the Bible fits together as the unfolding story of God's plan for salvation.

Although temptation is a common and well-acknowledged part of the human experience, few realize the truth behind temptation and fewer still know how to defeat it. Tempted and Tried will not reassure Christians by claiming that temptation is less powerful or less prevalent than it is; instead, it will prepare believers for battle by telling the truth about the cosmic war that is raging. Moore shows that the temptation of every Christian is part of a broader conspiracy against God, a conspiracy that confronts everyone who shares the flesh of Jesus through human birth and especially confronts those who share the Spirit of Christ through the new birth of redemption. Moore walks readers through the Devil’s ancient strategies for temptation revealed in Jesus’ wilderness testing. Moore considers how those strategies might appear in a contemporary context and points readers to a way of escape. Tempted and Tried will remind Christians that temptation must be understood in terms of warfare, encouraging them with the truth that victory has already been secured through the triumph of Christ.

This 10-week study of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon mines the Wisdom Literature not only for wise principles for living, but also for the wise person these books point to through their drama, poetry, proverb, and song. In her accessible and authentic style, Nancy Guthrie focuses on seeing Jesus in the Old Testament instead of emphasizing works-based moralism. She presents clear commentary and contemporary application of gospel truths, speaking directly to issues such as repentance, submission, happiness, and sexuality. Each weekly lesson includes questions for personal study, a contemporary teaching chapter that emphasizes how the passage fits into the bigger story of redemptive history, a brief section on how the passage uniquely points to what is yet to come at the consummation of Christ’s kingdom, and a leader’s guide for group discussion.

We tend to look to the New Testament to tell us about Jesus, yet it was the Old Testament about which Jesus said, “the Scriptures point to me!” In The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament, Bible teacher Nancy Guthrie takes readers from Genesis through Malachi, shining the light of Christ on the promise of a descendent who will put an end to the curse of sin; the story of a father who offers up his son as a sacrifice; the symbol of a temple where people can meet with God; the prophecy of a servant who will suffer; the person of a king who will rule with righteousness—and so much more. Day by day throughout the year, readers will see the beauty of Christ in fresh new ways, creating a deeper understanding and appreciation for who Jesus is and what he accomplished through his Cross and Resurrection.

ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award Biblical Foundations Book Award Winner Sandra L. Richter cares about the Bible. She also cares about creation. An expert in ancient Israelite society and economy as well as biblical theology, she walks readers through passages familiar and not-so-familiar, showing how significant environmental theology is to the Bible's witness. She then calls Christians to apply that message to today's environmental concerns. Richter is a master Bible scholar. Each chapter draws out a biblical mandate about humanity's responsibility to care for the land, domestic and wild creatures, and people on the margins. She is also a master storyteller. Well informed on present-day environmental challenges, Richter includes case studies that connect the biblical mandates to current issues. Though modern political alliances may tempt readers to sever Christian faith from environmental stewardship, in this concise and accessible book, Richter urges us to be driven by God's values instead.

Why does the earth exist? What is the purpose of human life? These are two of life's most fundamental questions - and they are addressed by the Bible's remarkably unified story, which centres on a unique deity. Desmond Alexander explores this story by beginning at the end, in the final chapters of the book of Revelation. Anticipating the creation of a new earth and a new heaven, these chapters bring to fulfilment a process that began with the creation of the earth, as described in the opening chapters of Genesis. These passages frame the entire biblical 'meta-story'. This stimulating study outlines some of the central themes that run through the Bible, with broad brush strokes designed to show the general shape of the meta-story. Seeing the big picture enables us to appreciate the details more clearly; and since the themes were an integral part of the thought-world of the biblical authors, an appreciation of them may alter significantly our reading of individual books. Good theology always has pastoral implications, and the study occasionally moves into areas of application - the truths revealed are extremely important for shaping our life-style choices.