Created to Draw Near: Our Life as God’s Royal Priests
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Many Christians prefer to keep God at a safe distance—a distant God makes fewer demands. They imagine God has rules just for the sake of obedience, missing the point that God delights in making them holy so they can draw near to him. God’s plan from the beginning has been for his people to draw near to him as a kingdom of priests.
In 40 short, meditative chapters, best-selling author Ed Welch traces iterations of the priestly job description from the garden of Eden to the heavenly city. Along the way, believers will discover their identity as royal priests and learn what it means that they were created to be made holy as they draw near to God and receive his lavish hospitality.
- Traces iterations of the priestly job description throughout Scripture
- Explores the themes of holiness and intimacy with God
- Invites readers to draw near to God and receive his lavish hospitality
- Part 1: Our Past
- Part 2: Jesus Our Tabernacle
- Part 3: Almost Truly Human
Top Highlights
“Whereas all subhuman creation reflects God, we are like him in every way a creature can be like him.” (Page 25)
“priests are the ones brought close to God, and Jacob was very close” (Page 57)
“The human condition is bent toward connection and closeness” (Page 13)
“To bear his image is to be like him and have the capacity to grow in a relationship with him. Nearness, after all, is useless if there is not a similarity of one to the other.” (Page 25)
“When we follow him into disobedience, Satan will add one final strategy: ‘You are now irredeemably bad, and God could never forgive or love you.’” (Page 40)
When some writers and preachers today suggest that the gospel is only about forgiveness, Ed Welch reminds us that it is also good news that God brings us into a life of holiness.
—Gerald R. McDermott, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion, Roanoke College; coauthor, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards
I treasure Ed Welch’s writings. I don’t know another counselor who can write a book like this—Ed has built for us a rich biblical theology of God’s presence. Created to Draw Near helped me to understand my Old Testament better, and it grew my love for Jesus as Savior and High Priest of my soul.
—Deepak Reju, Pastor of Biblical Counseling and Family Ministry, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC; author, The Pastor and Counseling and She’s Got the Wrong Guy
Scripture is a strange book that tells a different story about who we are. It feels strange to hear that priesthood is a key theme of our identity in this life, so full of work stress, broken relationships, and personal failure. But Welch shows us that being near to God, secured by the priestly work of our Lord Jesus Christ, is what we were made for. This book will help you see yourself in this strange, wonderful light.
—Jeremy Pierre, Dean of Students, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
- Title: Created to Draw Near: Our Life as God’s Royal Priests
- Author: Edward T. Welch
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Priesthood, universal; Identity (Psychology) › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9781433566387, 9781433566417, 9781433566394, 9781433566400, 1433566389, 1433566419, 1433566397, 1433566400
- Resource ID: LLS:CREATEDDRAW
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:59:36Z
Edward T. Welch (PhD, University of Utah) is a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, where he has served since 1981. He holds a doctor of philosophy in counseling (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah and a master of divinity from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed is a licensed psychologist and has been active in local church ministry for decades. He has been counseling for more than 35 years and has written extensively on the topics of depression, fear, and addictions. He has written numerous books, including When People Are Big and God Is Small (P&R Publishing, 1997), Shame Interrupted (New Growth Press, 2012), Side by Side (Crossway, 2015), and Created to Draw Near (Crossway, 2020). He blogs regularly at CCEF.org.