Christ Empowered Living

Book Review.

Hughes, Selwyn. Christ Empowered Living. Celebrating you significance in God. Broadman &Holman. 2001
S.H.- founder of Crusade for World Revival and author of Every Day With Jesus, a best selling daily devotional.

Comment. Henry
Selwyn has given us a resource that speaks powerfully to the plan and purpose that God has for each one of us that genuinely seeks to be faithful followers of Christ. He clearly explains the consequences of the Fall and the provisions God has made to remedy the disaster. I found the read revealing but also encouraging. One ‘take-home’ for me was the truth that regardless of our spiritual condition (especially those who do not know the Lord) we are all made in the image of God and we must respond to each other in such a way that respects that truth.

In order for us know ourselves we must begin by getting to know God. He is our ‘designer’. “We learn from the Trinity that relationship is the essence of reality and therefore the essence of our existence.” Broughton Knox. God has “communicable and incommunicable attributes”. (7)

Being made in the image of God has profound potential for relationship with God and with one another. Selwyn guides us through an intense discussion about what went wrong in God’s beautiful garden. God’s image was severely marred by sin but it was not destroyed. This marring is described as “magnificent ruins”. (55) There isn’t an area of life that has not been impacted by the sin that caused death. The process originated at the Fall and continues throughout time.

The sooner we acknowledge the problems of our personal lives and how they developed the better we will able to appropriate God’s provisions to deal with those problems. We are “physical, relational, rational, volitional and emotional beings” (119) and we understand how problems impact those areas of our life. “We live dangerously when we do not understand and make God supreme.” (135)

God reveals himself to man through his creation. Salvation required that he become incarnated in his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was the “perfect Man”. (164) Reconciliation did not take place until the cross. Justification, sanctification and glorification are part of this reconciliation.

Five steps are presented as part of the process of ‘knowing God’. (Five spiritual laws.) Staying the course in our Christian lives has to do with some practical steps. We must look after our physical bodies. We must understand our longings. We must “chase God”. To stay the course we must acknowledge and deal with sin through confession and repentance. The spiritual discipline of having our mind stayed on Christ is crucial. Our will and emotions must be managed. “To be is to be in relationships.” (253) We compromise Christianity in our relationships. “The measure of our relationships with others is the measure of our relationships with God.” A.W.Tozer.

The author closes his book with a very practical “spiritual checkup” (261) made up of twelve questions that remind us of what is required for our ongoing spiritual growth and maturation.