Frank Viola was kind enough to interview me about my book:
As we consider Easter this year, I want to draw attention to my friend Adrian Warnock’s recent book Raised with Christ. The book is an excellent treatment on the resurrection of Jesus . . . why it’s important and how it applies to our lives today.
Adrian Warnock blogs at Patheos, and serves on the leadership team of Jubilee Church, London. He is passionate about refocusing the church on the resurrection. He is also keen to introduce a new generation to the life and works of Charles Spurgeon and is part of a planned documentary about Spurgeon’s life that is currently seeking crowd-sourced funding.
I caught up with Adrian recently and interviewed him on the book. Enjoy!
Frank Viola: Your book, Raised with Christ, is an excellent work. What motivated you write it?
Adrian Warnock: I was feeling really spiritually dry one spring. I took a phone call from the pastor of our church asking me if I would like to preach that Easter Sunday morning. I realized things were worse than I thought when my first thought was “oh, no I will have to preach the gospel again, how boring!” So, I said I would pray about it, and my tone of voice probably had my long-suffering pastor already beginning to think again about who to invite! That night I prayed a half-hearted prayer, then at about 3 am I woke, sat straight up in bed and heard a voice in my head say, “Adrian, preach on the resurrection!”
I immediately set about with renewed zeal to study, and I soon realized that Jesus’ resurrection is a massively neglected core foundation of our faith. I couldn’t find many books on the subject. Later on I discovered the young Spurgeon had complained about the lack of resurrection focus in preaching and books in his day, and as a result determined to put the resurrection at the heart of his preaching. As a direct result of this he knew remarkable blessings and many became Christians. It became clear to me that throughout his ministry Spurgeon focused on the resurrection in a way that is sadly lacking today. Soon I knew somebody had to write a book about the implications of the resurrection, and I knew it should be me. Oh, and by the way, in the process I found much joy, a renewed understanding of the vital place of the resurrection, and enthusiastically preached the full gospel message that Easter Sunday.
Frank Viola: What has the response been so far? Both positive and negative.
Adrian Warnock: I thank God that people have been incredibly positive and gracious about the book. I think there is a growing recognition that since the Reformation Christians have spent a lot of energy focusing on the meaning of the cross, but very few have explored the resurrection in a similar way. One chapter which some people said changed their thinking looks at Romans 4:25. This verse acts as a summary of Paul’s message to that point, and a turning point between his gospel explanation and application. It says Jesus was “delivered for our sins, and raised for our justification.” I remember the second half of that sentence tormented me for months as I wrote. Very few commentaries focus on what Paul meant here, since most of us assume it was the cross that justified us. It really is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that truly saves us.
The main criticism of the book has centered on some people not seeing how some of the later material about spiritual renewal is related to resurrection. But the gospel is the announcement that Jesus has risen again, as this gospel is proclaimed spiritual power is released, and the risen Jesus is now a life-giving Spirit eager to pour out his resurrection power on us. I am more and more convinced that the goal of every Christian should be to know Jesus and experience the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10).
Read the rest at Beyond Evangelical
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