A Look at a Book
BOOK REVIEW:
Yes, I Am
by Norman Grubb
Yes, I Am was given to me by a friend several years ago when I first wanted to know what the big deal was as she enthused about her new spiritual insights. So much in it was new to me that it was slightly more than I bar-gained for. I read enough to convince myself I wanted to go to a conference and find out more, but I did not finish the book at that time.
In the intervening years I have come to appreciate Norman Grubb’s teachings and insights very much. With their help, I have been learning how knowing who I really am in Christ works out in the nitty-gritty situations of life so that I can live victoriously.
I have recently read right through Yes, I Am, which is one of Norman’s last writings. I am very impressed by its clarity and thoroughness. In the fore-word, he tells us, "I sought in my earlier years…the key to what I call total living–complete satisfaction, complete enabling–and the Holy Spirit turned that key in the lock for me…." He calls this revelation, for which his sole authority is the Bible, Total Truth. In this book, Norman shares the Total Truth with us in an all-encompassing way.
Yes, I Am describes three stages Christians must go through to become settled into who we are in Christ. These stages, described in the first letter of John, are "little children," "young men," and "fathers."
The first stage is justification, as the matter of our sin is dealt with by our personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior. In the early chapters of the book, Norman tackles issues such as the origin of evil, man’s fall, the purpose of the Law and our two-fold redemption through the blood and body of Christ.
In our second stage, our union with Him, we recognize that we are not a lonely, independent "I," but as believers it is now Christ living His life in us. I Corinthians 6:17 describes this as being "joined to the lord…one spirit with Him." Norman does not deal with these matters merely in a doctrinal way–their application to daily living is ever-present. In Chapter 15, Norman states, "…we live not in the past or future, but in the present. Have we an answer for its immediate needs? Yes, we have…." He tells us that knowing Christ as our Savior must be accompanied by a knowing of Him as our personal sufficiency for our daily living. Christ and I are two, yet one, in this wonderful, paradoxical condition of "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me," as described in Galatians 2:20.
The third stage is that of becoming co-operating sons, or intercessors. At this stage we no longer see Christ as just our Savior but become aware that He came to take over our lives and express His selfless love-nature through us. In Chapter 32 Norman states, "Everything earthly must go to the winds for that, whatever the cost." Although there is pain involved, the glory is that the things which once seemed precious lose their appeal. In Philippians 3:7 Paul says, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." At this stage, we are no longer depending on Christ for our own convenience, but are, rather, ready to pour out our lives in God’s appointed way–dying that others may live.
Towards the end of the book, Norman goes on to deal with other weighty matters, such as good and evil, the word of faith, our prayer life and how to deal with difficult people. He illustrates these concepts with practical examples of how this Total Truth has been lived out in individual lives.
Yes, I Am is a challenging, at times uncomfortable, but extremely worth-while book. Anyone willing to delve into the whole picture of God’s purposes for us will find it rewarding and illuminating.
