The Shack Revisited by William Paul Young
Week 11: Chapter 10 — The Circle of Blessing and the Life of the New Creation
Read Chapter 10 of The Shack Revisited. Primary Bible passages: Ephesians 1:3-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
Previewing Week 11 of The Shack Revisited
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Kruger begins to describe what life looks like when the orphaned heart is healed and a person starts to live from the inside of the Trinitarian circle — loved, known, and sent. This is the chapter about what the gospel produces, not just what it forgives.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Kruger describes what he calls the "circle of blessing" — the life of the Trinity as a never-ending gift-giving in which the Father gives to the Son, the Son to the Spirit, and the Spirit back to the Father. How does understanding the inner life of God as a circle of blessing (rather than a hierarchy of command) change the way you think about authority and relationships?
2.Kruger argues that the new creation life is not a different kind of life than the Trinitarian life — it is an extension of it. Human beings are made to receive the Father's love, live in the Son's relationship with the Father, and flow outward in the Spirit's creativity and care. Does that vision feel available to you, or does it feel like an impossible ideal? Why?
3.Kruger connects the circle of blessing to Paul's vision in Ephesians 1 — that we were chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world" to be holy and blameless, adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus. How does being chosen before you existed change the weight of your identity?
a.What would change in your self-understanding if you truly lived from this truth?
b.How does this connect to what Kruger has said about the orphaned heart?