Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The Gospel Centered Woman by Wendy Alsup

Wendy realized while attending a women's retreat at her church that, even though the women looked together on the outside, the majority of them had been or were dealing with serious trials and struggles. She has written this
book so that women will see how the gospel meets wounded women in their brokenness.

She looks at what God created women to be, identifying what Scripture says to women through the lens of the gospel. She writes for women who are single when God says it is not good for man to be alone. She writes for those with no children when God says children are a blessing from Him.

She explores how the Fall affected women, how sin has marred the image of God He created women to be. “Until we grasp our root problem, we will not fully understand how the gospel equips us to reclaim God's image in us as His daughters.” (25)
She helps us understand what Christ has done to equip us to live in that tension between what God created us to be and the reality of our lives in a fallen world. It is in the gospel we find confidence, we have spiritual resources, and we are equipped to redeem what was lost in the Fall. God is our strength. God is our satisfaction and our inheritance. She then tackles what it means to find our identity in Christ.
In the next section Wendy looks at the law, Old and New Testament instructions, and Christ's fulfillment of the law. She distinguishes wisdom, law and the good news to determine how to navigate Scripture and learn from its instructions.
She lays the background for understanding what Scripture does and does not say to women today. Particular attention is brought to Proverbs 31, Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3.
She ends her book by exploring how the gospel equips women at all stages of life to live as images bearers of God.

Discussion questions have been added at the end of the book so this would be a good eleven week study for women.

Wendy Alsup is a wife, mom, and math teacher. She is the author of Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives and By His Wounds You are Healed: How the Message of Ephesians Transforms a Woman's Identity. Learn more at www.theologyforwomwn.org/

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can read other reviews here.

Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/jgKJd

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the author for the purpose of this review.

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