The God Who Gives

Reviews

A once-common hymn declared that those who know the old, old story best long to hear it like the rest. Kapic’s book demonstrates that one who knows the gospel well can tell Jesus’ story very, very well---so well that we will delight to be owned by the One who gave himself for us.

Compelling and almost always ringing true, what we have here is a fresh and readable retelling of the greatest story ever told. God’s overwhelming generosity becomes the key to the whole compass of the biblical narrative, generating all kinds of interconnections across the Scriptures, while teasing out the sheer giftedness of the gospel, and rendering inescapable the Trinitarian reading of the Christian canon. This is a work worth pondering as it explores “the movement of divine generosity, a movement that is meant to pulsate through God’s church to the world” (250).

God is stingy. He condemns joy and fun. Or, this is what many believe. How far from truth! In this poignant and practical exploration of the Bible's teachings about God, Kelly Kapic shows that Father, Son, and Spirit overflow with generosity. God is always giving. Come and receive.

Here is a rich portrayal of redemption! In The God Who Gives we are challenged to don the familiar story of salvation as a vestment more precious than the king’s crown jewels. As we robe ourselves, we take delight in the story’s often surprising and baffling, but always precious, truths. Sparkling quotes enliven each chapter.

Kapic is a clear communicator who cherishes Christ, cares for the church, and conducts all the right conversations across the fields of theology. The result is a rare combination--- a robust, warm-hearted, accessible book that glorifies our generous triune God and instructs and inspires readers throughout the church.

Kelly Kapic has given us a forceful presentation of our universe ruled by a magnificently giving God. It is a scholarly and deeply thoughtful presentation that is, at the same time, vividly inspiring. It will help you to think magnificently of God and of what your life can be in his universe. Stepping into a life of giving love is the only reasonable response since that is how God is and how he has made us.

Like the Gospel upon which it is based, this book is life-changing. Reading it was an important step in my own spiritual journey toward freedom in Christ. Kelly reminds us that God’s love is the fuel that not only ignites our faith, it keeps us going and growing each day.

One cannot read this book without being filled with wonder. Divine generosity is far more glorious than we could ever imagine. Kelly Kapic presents the beautiful paradoxes of God’s kingdom, revealing that we experience true freedom only by belonging to God, and unfolding what that means on a very practical level in our lives today. In Christ, we get to participate in the love and generosity of God.

Our cultural environment seems to assume a world as a given rather than a gift, as debt rather than exchange, as limited resources rather than “enough to go around.” How refreshing it is to step into the world of the triune God, who not only gives it all but creates a new society that anticipates his everlasting shalom. With beauty and wisdom, Kapic leads us into the breathtaking vistas of this new creation. This book itself is a welcome gift to Christ’s body.

The God Who Gives is a must read. Jesus himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is a great book; it is beautifully written, practical, helpful, and biblically sound. I encourage all Christians, particularly those seeking to experience the blessings that come out of generosity, to read this book. The blessings we receive from generosity are not limited to strictly financial blessings, but often are the blessings of love and encouragement that we get from sharing our lives with others. These blessings are more precious than silver and gold.

The God Who Gives is a work of rare theological and spiritual perceptiveness. As it conducts its readers through the movement of God’s ways with the world, it invites them to contemplate the divine works and to be formed in godliness by them. This is practical Christian divinity at its best: intellectually astute, humane, and animated by the gospel’s generosity.

The God Who Gives is an eye-opening exploration of the boundless dimensions of God’s heart for the world. Simultaneously, it raises the bar for how God’s image-bearers join him in big-hearted, open-handed, selfless generosity of our resources and of ourselves to the world he loves. Kelly Kapic has gifted us with a thought-provoking, deeply needed vision of our calling to gospel living.

This fine book is an elegant portrayal of a marvelously generous God, who calls his people to show forth his generosity in a world that he sent his Son to redeem.

What does it take to motivate a generous life? How far back do you have to go to secure an adequate starting point for such a life? This book takes us all the way back through the history of salvation and the doctrine of creation, back into the heart of the triune God. Rich, readable, and newly revised, The God Who Gives is an example of theology as the motive power behind a life of giving.