Book Review “It is Finished: Why You Can Quit Religion And Trust in Jesus”

Religion is the best way to make Jesus unattractive and undesirable – Bas Rijksen

Even though mankind is created to enjoy friendship with God religion has caused our eyes to be blinded for the purpose and ultimate experience of life: to glorify God by enjoying Him forever

Yesterday Blaise’s book “It is Finished” came out on Amazone. I’ve read it and made a review for you (In case you wonder: I didn’t lose sleep over it, but made this a while back :)). 

In his book “It is Finished” Blaise Foret paints one of the clearest pictures of the Gospel I’ve come across. I felt like sitting across Blaise – having a coffee together – as he explained in a conversational style how religion started in Garden, what devastating consequences it has on our view of God, ourselves and others and how Jesus Christ is the answer to our identity crisis.

He describes religion as working to gain what is freely given or trying to become what we already are.

The religious try to gain a heavenly status through their self-effort, when all along, friendship with God would have made it clear to them that they already had a heavenly status….

Furthermore he explains,

The problem with religion is that it always leaves you lacking. It always tells you there is more work to be done. It always demands something and doesn’t lift a finger to help you out. It is the never-ending hamster wheel that keeps you running after the dangling carrot you will never catch.

Throughout his writing Blaise invites us to retire from our works – to step of the hamster wheel – and to enter into the rest of the Gospel. What’s required to enter God’s rest? It’s found in one word. Trust. Not trust in your work, but His.

In order to trust Him, you have to lose trust in yourself and let go of your own abilities to achieve goodness and perfection.

Here is the Video Blog: 

God is for us

What spoke to me the loudest throughout the entire book is that GOD IS FOR US and not against us! A message we all need to hear. Some insights Blaise gives might be provoking to you at first, since he has a good understanding about the nature of God and the finished work of Jesus.

Here are some thoughts you’ll find in the book “It is Finished.”

Even though we might have perceived our Father as our enemy due to a darkened understanding, He was never our enemy, and we were never His enemy.

Adam’s sin didn’t alienate God from Adam; it alienated Adam from God. Paul says in Colossians 1:21 that we became enemies of God in our minds. God was never our enemy; but we sure thought He was.

God has always been our Friend who’s always been with us and close to us. Revelation of our inclusion in Christ’s work on the cross has not only destroyed our sin nature but redeemed our image and likeness of God, thus restored our friendship with God.

Sin did not change God’s mind about us, but our mind about God.

God is not for us from the moment you come to faith as if He’s against you if you don’t believe. Likewise, He doesn’t start loving you after you’re saved as if He’s angry before you woke up to His love… He’s always loved you and will always love you simply because He is Love.

Even before you were lost in Adam, you were found in Christ, thus God has always been for you and has infinitely loved you, even before anything was created.

In other words, everybody – Muslims, Hindus, Humanists, New-agers, Homosexuals – is already included in God’s family (from God’s perspective). However, not everybody is awakened to their inclusion in Christ. (By the way, we’re not talking universalism here, but we do talk what the Bible reveals as being universal atonement)

What if God is not against humanity? What if God loves everyone? What if Jesus cared about everyone regardless of what they believed about Him? What if God’s love was unconditional?…It seems that God cared about us when we didn’t care about Him. It seems that God loved us all while we were still against having a relationship with Him.

The good news actually being Good News

Besides articulating how God is for us, Blaise clears up some common misunderstandings that you hear quoted by religious preachers, and explains the true meaning of statements like,

• “You need to deny yourself and pick up your cross”

• “You need to die daily like Paul“

• ”God’s ways are higher than our ways”

• “God is to holy to look upon sin”

• ”Sin separates you from God”

The true meaning of these quotes are presented by putting them in the proper context and we’re encouraged to interpret the entire Bible through the Person of Jesus.

Whereas religious preachers put an unbearable burden on your shoulders and leave you with a sense you’re serving a distant, uninterested unenjoyable, angry God, Gospel preachers like Blaise show you that you have already died with Christ (Gal. 2:20, Col. 2:11-12); your old sin nature is no more and that you’re a partaker of His holy nature (Rom. 6:6-7, 2 Pet. 1:4).

All of these passages were never meant to become self-denial passages that make people think they need to quit doing the things they love. The only self that you need to deny is the old-selfish-sinful-self that has now been dead and buried through the death of Christ on the cross…Go, live life and live it to the fullest!!!

And,

In light of the reality of God expressed in and through Christ, we see that sin didn’t actually separate us from God, but it made God come closer! Not that we should “sin so that grace might abound” (see Romans 6:1-2), but the revelation of His nearness is what actually brings life transformation!

If you desire to taste and see how Good God really is – that He is for you, not against you – be challenged here and there, and fall deeper in love with Him, then this book is for you. Even if you’ve heard thousands of sermons, read the Bible from cover to cover, this book will leave you with a fresh awareness of how GOOD the Good News really is. I highly recommend it!

Also, Blaise masters the skill of taking good ole’ Bible stories and turn them into modern-day language which makes the points he’s making hit home hard. Especially because it’s often spiced up with typical Foret humor and presented in a clear and simple manner. It makes it an easy and appealing read.

Click here to view the book on Amazone (The paper back is available in a few days from now)

To share your toughts, click here.