1) How is a “tragedy” defined? What would Piper define as a tragedy? What is tragic about the situation he describes?
2) Why does Piper say single-minded passion is the essence of not wasting your life?
3) What does ‘boast’ mean in “Boast only in the cross”?
4) In your own words, explain how Paul can say “Boast only in the cross,” and yet also say that he boasts in his weaknesses, his converts, and his sufferings without being contradictory.
5) How does having a singular boast in the cross of Jesus Christ relate to the meaning of life discussed in the previous chapter (pp.30-31, 40)? Why is it that a life not wasted will have its singular boast in the cross?
Check the comment section below for the detailed chapter notes.
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Lesson 3 – Examining the Christian Worldview: The Reliability of the Word of God
Based on the material from Chapter 3: Boasting Only in the Cross, The Blazing Center of the Glory of God
Since Don’t Waste Your Life is written from the perspective of the Christian worldview, it is fitting that the center of its message should be the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the center of our joy. Furthermore, he himself is truth. Therefore focusing in on Jesus is also a means of authenticating the Bible and Christianity as true. In the end Jesus’ self-authenticating nature will show both the truthfulness of Christianity and the superiority of the happiness offered therein.
1. Reflect upon the life of Jesus Christ
1.1. Jesus was a man of incomparable love for God
1.1.1. Mark 11:15-17; John 7:18; 12:27-28
1.2. Jesus was a man of incomparable love for mankind
1.2.1. He was an advocate for women, children, the poor, the sick, the alien, and a friend of sinners and tax collectors
1.2.1.1. Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 3:4-5; 7:24-30; 10:13-16, 46-52; Luke 7:36-50; 17:11-19; John 4
1.2.2. He lived his life to serve others
1.2.2.1. Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17
1.2.3. He prayed for his enemies, even his murderers, returning good for evil
1.2.3.1. Matthew 5:10-12, 43-48; Luke 23:33-38
1.3. Jesus was a man of incomparable wisdom
1.3.1. Matthew 9:9-13; 12:22-45; 19:3-12; 21:23-46; 22:15-46; Luke 7:36-50; 12:13-21; 14:1-24 18:9-17
1.4. Jesus lived his life above reproach but was not after human praise
1.4.1. Matthew 11:29; John 8:46; Mark 10:21; 12:14
1.5. Jesus spoke with authority and power
1.5.1. Matthew 7:29; John 7:46
2. These and other observations of the life of Jesus show him to be a remarkable man. And virtually everyone wants to affirm Jesus in a positive light as a wise teacher whose morality and compassion and justice is worthy of admiration. How does this testimony function as a self-authenticating argument for the person of Jesus Christ and thus for the truthfulness of Scripture?
2.1. Consider the following quote from C.S. Lewis:
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
2.2. In acknowledging the extraordinary character and life of Jesus Christ we find that he is either a man to be trusted or denounced; there is not room for middle ground. If he is to be trusted, then we powerful reason to have confidence in the inspiration and truthfulness of the Bible because Jesus himself affirmed it to be inspired by God and true
2.2.1. Matthew 5:17-18; 26:54-56; Mark 7:9;12:36; John 10:35; 14:26; 16:13
2.3. Is it circular reasoning to use the Bible to demonstrate the self-authenticating life and character of Jesus in order to prove the truthfulness of the Bible?
2.3.1. What if the biblical account of the life and character of Jesus were inaccurate?
2.3.2. What if the biblical account of the life and character of Jesus were fabricated?
2.4. Time permitting; think of other helpful arguments for the truthfulness of Scripture
3. We have seen why Jesus’ life and character support a belief in the truth of the Bible. Consider the far-reaching implications of this testimony:
3.1. If the Bible is true, then the happiness it offers is a real happiness we can attain. Therefore the longing in our heart to be happy can find its fulfillment in Christianity.
3.2. How should this shape how we view authentic love? Read “Loving People Means Pointing Them to the All-Satisfying God” on pages 34-35 in DWYL.
3.3. We have seen here many reasons to admire Jesus. Piper has argued that Jesus is the center of all Christian happiness. Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. And God is fully revealed in Jesus Christ.
Most of the content in this lesson is taken from Appendix 2, “Is the Bible a Reliable Guide to Lasting Joy?” in John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003), 322-334. For a more in depth study see the seminar booklet, Why We Believe the Bible, available from Desiring God.
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