God with Us:
Knowing the Mystery
of Who Jesus Is
DETAILS:
Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books
Publication Date: June 29, 2021
Format: Paperback
Length: 155 pg.
Read Date: January 16, 2022
Machen powerfully stated, “Let us not deceive ourselves; a Jewish teacher of the first century can never satisfy the longing of our souls.” No mere man, however holy, can bring us into fellowship with God.
What is amazing in Scripture is that this is the case because God not only desired to give us grace that met our crimes against Him but that His grace would “super-abound” (hupereperisseusen) beyond our sins (Rom. 5:15-21). Only an infinite Savior could bring us an infinite grace. Had Christ not possessed the two natures of divinity and humanity in His one person, we would be without salvation.
What’s God with Us About?
Hyde begins his Introduction by talking about some of the problematic teachings he was introduced to as a young Christian as an example of the wide range of problematic teachings being promulgated throughout Evangelicalism (whatever that means).
The antidote for that is a better understanding of what the Bible teaches—as developed, defined, and defended by the Early Church. In five chapters he talks about the singularity of the Incarnation, helps the reader to understand the doctrine of the hypostatic union, and also clarifies understanding of Christ’s Human Nature and His Divine Nature. Why was it necessary for Christ to be both God and Man, and the benefits for believers that He was.
Hyde closes with a chapter comparing the Christ presented in the Qur’an and the Christ of the Bible as a means of applying the rest of the work.
So, what did I think about God with Us?
This is the Second Edition of this book, and Hyde refers to improvements he made, but without spending time reading both, I really couldn’t tell you what was changed. He does quote some hymns from The Trinity Psalter Hymnal, that wasn’t published when the first edition was, so I guess that would be a change (he may have cited some of those same hymns before, just from a different hymnal)—oddly, though, he didn’t update his Bavinck quotations from Our Reasonable Faith to The Wonderful Works of God.
Throughout Hyde’s footnotes refer to dense, heavy theological tomes, but he distills the points to easy-to-digest wording.
Not only does he provide good explanations of the teachings of the Early Church as they worked through these doctrines, but he also ties it into the Reformation churches to demonstrate their continuity with the Early Church. Hyde made particular use of the Belgic Confession, of the Three Forms of Unity, it’s the one I see cited the least, so that was nice to see.
The book as a whole was great—Hyde does yeoman’s service in laying out these doctrines in a clear and helpful manner. For me—this time through, at least—the most meaningful chapter was Chapter 6, “The Importance of this Mysterious Doctrine.” Faith, sanctification, worship, personal comfort, evangelism, and more are tied to and grounded by our understanding of the Incarnation, of God truly being one of us. Outside of reading the whole book, it’s a chapter to return to.
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely, for those new to the Christian faith and those who are not—a better understanding, or a refreshed understanding, of these vital truths is always called for and Hyde is a great guide through them.
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