There have been few authors that I enjoy more than A.W. Tozer. It seems that every time I go to read one of his books, I have to brace myself mentally for what is about to happen to me. The words of Tozer are like a verbal barrage against your spirit. This is true of any time you find yourself next to someone who has encountered Jesus in such a way that every time they speak, it's as if they are speaking in a language your antenna doesn't pick up.

As we entered the Media Fast, one of the books I was most excited to pick up was God's Pursuit of Man. Functioning as "prequel" to The Pursuit of God, God's Pursuit of Man takes on a whole new facet of the God honoring life.

To be able to say that we were meant to pursue God would come as no surprise to most of us who have had our time in the Evangelical community. Your mind will probably harken back to services, conventions or concerts in which the entirety of the gathering was called to pursue after God with all their heart, sould and mind. However, to say that God has spent Himself pursuing after us would be an idea, though familiar, still foreign to our mind. This is where Tozer really shines. He has a way of taking the otherwise mundane aspects of Christianity and cause each person to examine how it is possible for such a thing to be mundane at all. Allow me elaborate briefly upon his thesis.

God loves us in that while we are still sinner Christ died. By standing in our place, Christ took the full punishment deserved for you and I. Upon doing so, instead of leaving it at that, Christ welcomes us to be with Him where He is (with the Father). Once there, we are no longer called foreigners and outcasts. Instead, we are now referred to as sons and daughters of the Most High. Not leaving it at that, He promises us to never leave us alone and upon doing so becomes a High Priest that suffered as we did upon whom we can approach boldly. Not leaving it there, this High Priest then decides to put His Spirit within us, the ultimate form of pursuit. Let's recap together now.

You and I were distant foreigners, outcasts to God. God loved us before we loved Him and upon loving Him, He puts Himself within us.

I would say that's enough said.

The miracle that is grace and salvation is fully realized when you take into account all that God has done on our behalf. God has extended the invitation of full life to each of us. It was upon reading this book that for the first time, the distinctive of Christianity from all world religions and traditions came to life for me. You don't find this story elsewhere. Though glimmers are similiar, the story of Christ and what is offered to His followers is unlike anything the world has ever know. Thank God for the pursuit He has given for men like me. And a person like you.

And now for a couple of quotes:

“Is justification from past offenses all that distinguishes a Christian from a sinner? Can a man become a believer in Christ and be no better than he was before? Does the gospel offer no more than a skillful advocate to get the guilty sinners off free at the day of judgment?” God’s Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer, pg. 23

“When the Holy Spirit ceases to be incidental and again becomes fundamental, the power of the Sprit will be asserted once more among the people called Christians.” God’s Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer, pg. 61

“God’s thoughts are not only greater than ours quantitatively by qualitatively wholly different from ours.” God’s Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer, pg. 74

“I wonder if there is on earth anything as exquisitely lovely as a brilliant mind aglow with the love of God.” God’s Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer, pg. 104

“The Spirit indwelt life is not a special deluxe edition of Christianity to be enjoyed by a certain rare and privileged few who happen to be made of finer and more sensitive stuff than the rest. Rather, it is the normal state for every redeemed man and woman the world over.” God’s Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer, pg. 137

God's Pursuit of Man : A++++ (Must read)
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