A Look at a Book
by Sanda Cooper

The Deep Things of God is a book I have read "at" through the years, though I have spent more time in some of Norman’s other books. Recently, however, I have come to appreciate this little book and treasure the secrets Norman Grubb has discovered and shared with others–literally the "deep things of God."

Norman begins by asking, "Why this book?" and answers with questions which have driven him to share over and over what God has taught him: What is the Gospel in its fulness? Do I know it? Do I live it? Can I transmit it? He proceeds to teach the basic building blocks of that gospel through chapters such as "The Key to the Meaning of Life,""The Origin of Evil," "What Really Happens at Regeneration," and "The Marriage of Law and Grace." Those familiar with Norman’s step-by-step pathway toward an understanding of our union with Christ (compressed for us into Galations 2:20) will appreciate this review of the basics, and new-comers will greatly benefit from his simple and clear presentation of what he boldly calls "the total truth."

Jewels are tucked away here and there; for example, when discussing the danger of staying under condemnation after the believer has sinned, he says, "It is the easiest thing to do, and our distressed feelings are really self-pity and pride. It is not so much that we have grieved the Lord that disturbs us, as that we have failed. The acceptance of condemnation is a form of self-righteousness….To remain in condemnation, therefore, is really disobedience and hurt self."

However, the true heartbeat of The Deep Things of God, and what sets it apart for me from all of Norman’s other books, is his insight into the dual nature of the universe, or put another way, the law of opposites. The chapter headings tell the story: "The Problem of Duality-Good and Evil," "Imperfection Points to Perfection," "How to Turn Evil into Good," "Need is the Evidence of Supply."

Norman explains how the original harmony of the universe-manifested by the right relationship of opposites-was distorted at the Fall. What we see in human history, then, is God’s process of restoring this imbalance and reconciling all things to Himself. He did this by becoming the opposite to Himself-a man, Jesus-whose death and resurrection swallowed up evil and restored life to all who receive Him by faith. Our part and privilege, as born again believers, is to see by faith the One, who is invisible perfection, behind all the visible imperfection in the world. Norman elaborates on the operation of the Cross in and through us: how failures, needs, lacks, and tragedies are God’s means of conditioning us to be agents of redemptive faith, first for ourselves and ultimately for others.

As I read The Deep Things of God, I came to a clearer understanding of what it means that we are "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:10). Few books have so thoroughly penetrated the mystery of the operation of the Cross in us for others.