The Original Jesus: Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is

by Daniel Darling

Publisher:

Baker

, 2015

Overview

From hit songs to bumper stickers to football eye-black, Jesus is trending high wherever you look. But at the end of the day, many “try Jesus” and come away disappointed in the experience. That’s because the Jesus of popular culture looks much more like us than the God-man who appeared in the flesh two thousand years ago. We’ve developed plenty of imposter Jesuses that feed into our selfish desires—Guru Jesus, Braveheart Jesus, Dr. Phil Jesus, Free-Range Jesus. The problem is, they don’t have the power to save us or transform us into new creations.

The Original Jesus calls us back to the Jesus who demands our worship—the potter who molds us, the clay. Seekers, skeptics, and sojourners in the way of faith will see Jesus for who he really is: God in the flesh, calling us to surrender our very lives that we may truly live.

Key Features

• Examines conceptions of Jesus popular in American church culture
• Tears down our idols and exposes the biblical Jesus
• Demonstrates that to know the true Christ is to experience life at its fullest

Contents

• Guru Jesus
• Red-Letter Jesus
• Braveheart Jesus
• American Jesus
• Left-Wing Jesus
• Dr. Phil Jesus
• Prosperity Jesus
• Post-Church Jesus
• BFF Jesus
• Legalist Jesus

Top Highlights

“Reason #3: If the gospel story is true, it means we can experience personal renewal” (Page 27)

“Reason #5: If the gospel story is true, we can actually know God” (Page 31)

“I’m afraid much of our preaching and teaching in the church is like this: merely good, practical, helpful messages by godly men but that could easily be preached at a corporate business seminar. I’m afraid many of our pulpits lack the kind of Christocentric, gospel-saturated, bloody-cross-infused preaching that reminds us daily that Jesus didn’t come primarily to slightly improve us but to breathe new life into the walking dead.” (Page 96)

“Jesus came to offer his people a life much better than the one we envision for ourselves. He came to rescue us from selfishness and despair, to call us to a new and different way. Following Jesus demands that we worship him for who he is, that we step off the cardboard throne we’ve erected and surrender to his kingship over our lives. He is the potter, we are the clay. It is his creative hand that molds us, re-creating and restoring what sin has destroyed, renewing us into a life of glory.” (Page 15)

“I don’t want to sound alarmist, but the coming years will force us to make difficult choices. The unbroken social contract between the church and the culture, rare in human history, is fraying, and I’m afraid we’re not ready for what comes next. We will have to choose between cultural acceptance and the way of Jesus.” (Page 63)

Endorsements

If you have questions, or even frustrations, about the person of Jesus Christ—this book is for you. It cuts through our society’s confusing and contradictory opinions about Jesus to find the glorious, wonderful reality of him spread throughout the pages of Scripture.

—Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family

This book will make some of you mad. Good! Hopefully God will use that to expose some areas of your life that need to be transformed and changed by his penetrating Word.

—Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

In a world of cheap imitations of the gospel and false portraits of the Savior, Dan Darling’s work makes me yearn to know better the biblical Jesus—the Savior who demands we worship him for who he is, not what we want him to be.

—Trevin Wax, managing editor, The Gospel Project

Product Details

• Title: The Original Jesus: Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is
• Author: Daniel Darling
• Publisher: Baker
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 160
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Person and offices; Christianity › United States
• ISBNs: 9781493403745, 9780801006494, 1493403745, 080100649X
• Resource ID: LLS:RGNLJSSTRDNGWHS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:43:11Z

About Daniel Darling

Daniel Darling is an author, pastor, and leader. He was recently appointed as the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dan is a bestselling author of several books, including The Original Jesus, The Dignity Revolution, The Characters of Christmas, The Characters of Easter, and A Way With Words. He is the general editor, along with Trillia Newbell, of a small group study on racial reconciliation, The Church and the Racial Divide and is a contributor to The Worldview Study Bible.

Dan is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications. He is a columnist for World Magazine, and a regular contributor to USA Today. His work is often featured in Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition and his op-eds have appeared in The Washington Post, CNN, Washington Times, Time, Huffington Post, National Review, First Things, and other leading outlets. Publisher's Weekly called his writing style "substantive and punchy."

Dan speaks and preaches around the country and is regularly interviewed on radio and television, including MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN, and Fox. He is the host of a popular weekly podcast The Way Home where he interviews Christian leaders, politicians, and journalists. He holds a bachelor's degree in pastoral ministry from Dayspring Bible College, has studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served churches in Illinois and Tennessee. He and his wife Angela have four children.

Sample Pages from The Original Jesus: Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is