Christ Our Mediator by C.J. Mahaney

Christ Our Mediator by C.J. Mahaney. Multnomah Books, 2004. 96p. (9780307563804)

When I requested this book to review from Blogging for Books I didn’t realize it wasn’t a recent book. Therefore I was a bit confused when the author used the attacks of 9/11/01 and the movie The Passion of the Christ as examples. It’s a great book though.

In the introduction Mahaney asks, “Do we adequately understand the deepest reasons behind the cross?” In the following eight chapters he seeks to remind and show the reader why Jesus had to die, the agony he endured, and God’s great love for all mankind.

The chapter that stood out to me the most was chapter four, Staring into the Cup. I read this chapter aloud during staff devotions last week. Keith and Kristyn Getty’s latest CD has a song that almost perfectly sums up this chapter and gives you a glimpse of what Jesus went through in the Garden of Gethsemane for you.

Please listen to the song and then think about the quote below.

Listen to this verse for the very first time: For God so loved the world … that He’s silent at this moment when His son appeals for an alternative. (Christ Our Mediator, Chap 4)

But the pain Christ experiences in the Garden is nothing compared to what he endured on the cross. In chapter six, The Scream of the Damned, the author describes Jesus’ suffering (what an inadequate word!) thus:

[Jesus is] experiencing on the cross what no one in human history ever has or ever will experience. He’s receiving what you and I should be receiving – His Father’s full ad furious wrath. He’s experiencing what every other human being in history deserves and which He alone does not deserve.
And He’s experiencing it alone. (Christ Our Mediator, Chap 6)

I can try to continue to summarize and give you key quotes but reading this book for yourself and pondering its message will be much better.

Go read it! Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from ChristianBooks

Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher through the Blogging for Books book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

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