Desire of Ages (the book)

Are you satisfied with the present condition of things? Don’t you have a longing for something more in your life, a longing for a true blessing? Introducing the greatest spiritual leader the world has ever known: we call Him the Desire of Ages.

THEME

One of Ellen White’s classics, the book entitled the same – Desire of Ages – is based on the life of Jesus – the One who stands at the centre of all human history. No one else has had such a profound influence on Planet Earth as Jesus Christ.

AN INSPIRING PASSAGE

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which we He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “With His stripes we are healed.”

Ellen White

CONTENTS

In this book the author expands on different events of Jesus’ life, introducing Him as the One who can satisfy the deepest yearnings of the human heart. She presents the divine beauty of the life of the Saviour, the love of God as revealed in His Son. New and glorious light flashes from many familiar passages of Scripture. Follow Jesus in these pages from His birth in Bethlehem’s stable to His death on the cross, His glorious resurrection, and triumphant return to heaven.

The book presents the love of God as revealed in His Son, the divine beauty of the life of Christ, of which all may partake. It does not aim to satisfy the desires of the merely curious nor the questionings of critics. Desire of Ages includes both narrative and theological commentary, as nearly every chapter is based upon a portion of Holy Scripture.

By the attraction of His own goodness of character Jesus drew His disciples unto Himself. And by His personal presence, by His sympathetic touch and feeling in all their infirmities and needs, and by His constant association, transformed their characters from the earthly to the heavenly. He changed people from selfish to sacrificing, from small-hearted ignorance and prejudice to large-hearted knowledge and profound love for souls of all nations and races.

This book also presents the blessed Redeemer so as to help the reader to come to Him face to face, heart to heart, and find in Him, even as did the disciples of old, Jesus the Mighty One, who saves “to the uttermost”. To find the One who transforms to His own divine image all those who come unto God by Him.

THE STORY BEHIND THE TITLE

Ellen Gould White (1827–1915) is the most translated woman writer in history, and the most translated American author of either gender. She was the author of forty books and more than five thousand periodical articles. In 2015, Smithsonian Magazine, the main publication of the Smithsonian Institution, named Ellen G. White among its “100 Most Influential Americans of All Time.”

Ellen White’s motivation to write the volume entitled Desire of Ages stemmed from her desire to prepare a more complete portrayal of the life of Christ than was contained in her previous works. She wanted a new book that literature evangelists could sell to the public. For nearly 40 years she wrote on this subject, finally having The Desire of Ages published in 1898. She became so caught up in the subject that she produced enough material to fill two additional books, Christ’s Object Lessons and Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings.

The title of this book is drawn from an Old Testament prophecy of Jesus:

And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 2:7 (KJV)

We offer a free copy of Desire of Ages (hardcover, illustrated) to all our students who complete the full set of 28 quizzes on our ADC sponsored FreeBible programme.

A free ebook can be downloaded here.

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