New Book Release!

Short of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall

Mitch Chase

May 16, 2023

Today—May 16, 2023—is the official “release day” for my newest book, published by Crossway, called Short of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall.

Here’s a brief overview of the writing timeline for Short of Glory:

Fall of 2021: worked on and submitted book proposal
December 2021: signed contract with Crossway
February 2022: first draft completed
March 2022: manuscript submission to Crossway; total word count approximately 54,000 words

The subsequent months involved all the good processes and back-and-forths that get a book from the writer’s computer into a reader’s hands. The team and editors at Crossway are such a blessing to work with!

The title Short of Glory is drawn from Romans 3:23, where Paul says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The book’s subtitle emphasizes that this book is a work of biblical theology. In thirteen chapters, I take readers through Genesis 3, which is undoubtedly one of the most pivotal sections in the entire Bible.

Consider this popular way to conceive of the Bible’s big picture:

Creation → Fall → Redemption → Consummation

Short of Glory is primarily about that second piece of the paradigm—the fall. But we can’t understand the fall apart from the other three pieces (Creation, Redemption, and Consummation), so they’re in view as well.

The focus in Short of Glory is on unpacking Genesis 3 while keeping an eye on how that chapter impacts the larger storyline of Scripture.

Not every chapter in Scripture needs a whole book devoted to it, but Genesis 3 is the kind of chapter that is so rich and so important that we, as Christian interpreters, should spend time thinking through its content. What happened in Genesis 3 impacted everything.

Genesis 3 contains themes like temptation, wisdom, sin, shame, hope, judgment, faith, reconciliation, and exile. Understanding more about these themes will help us read Scripture better, and it will strengthen our hearts as disciples of Jesus.

The layout of the book is like this:

Chapter 1: Sacred Space
Chapter 2: Two Trees
Chapter 3: The God Who Walks
Chapter 4: That Ancient Serpent
Chapter 5: Taking and Eating
Chapter 6: A Broken Covenant
Chapter 7: Afraid and Ashamed
Chapter 8: Salvation through Judgment
Chapter 9: Multiplication and Division
Chapter 10: From Dust to Dust
Chapter 11: The Mother of All Living
Chapter 12: Garments from God
Chapter 13: East of Eden

The content of Genesis 3 is intriguing to readers. There’s a talking serpent, two trees in the midst of a garden paradise, and a rebellion. Eyes are opened, fig leaves are sown, and trees become a place of hiding. The Lord pronounces consequences on the serpent and on the image bearers. Specifically, there is hope for a deliverer that is sown despite the Edenic tragedy. A serpent-crusher will come, and his victory will be accomplished through suffering.

In Short of Glory, readers will delve into the history and tragedy and hope within the storyline of Scripture, through the lens of Genesis 3.

If Short of Glory sounds like the kind of book that interests you, here is a link to get it.

Many books are published every year, so word-of-mouth is especially significant in letting people know about a new resource. Think about how many books you’ve read due to someone’s recommendation!

If you would like to support the release of Short of Glory, I’d be so grateful. You can do that on your social media sites with this button, which will direct people to this post:

If you read and were helped by the book, saying so in an Amazon review will help future readers know about this resource and whether they should get it.

I was very encouraged by these endorsements:

“Short of Glory is an exceptional introduction to the way the events of Genesis 3 are woven through the biblical witness. Mitchell Chase’s theological acumen and exegetical sophistication are front and center as he carefully elucidates the far-reaching implications of sin and the even farther-reaching implications of God’s grace to his people. Highly recommended as an example of theology and exegesis in service of the good news.”
-Brandon D. Smith, Assistant Professor of Theology and New Testament, Cedarville University; Cofounder, Center for Baptist Renewal
“We often speak of living in a ‘fallen world.’ But what does that mean, precisely? In order to embrace the good news of the gospel, we first have to understand the problems that Jesus came to fix. In this penetrating reflection on Genesis 3, Mitchell Chase helps us see every aspect of life as, to quote Tolkien, ‘soaked with the sense of exile.’ Short of Glory will help us better appreciate how comprehensive the work of Christ is—and make us long for it to be completed.”
-Gavin Ortlund, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Ojai, California; author, Finding the Right Hills to Die On and Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t
“Understanding what went wrong is essential for understanding how it can be made right, and by whom. Mitchell Chase expertly guides readers not only through Genesis 3 but also through the reverberations of Genesis 3 in the rest of the Scriptures. The tentacles of the fall can be felt on every page of the Bible. Not paying attention to these themes might mean missing what the good news is all about.”
-Patrick Schreiner, Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, The Visual Word and The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross
“We live in a world of turmoil, heartache, and evil. We know it shouldn’t be so, but we don’t always spend enough time reflecting on why it is. As this book helps us to stare at the greatest of all tragedies, two things start happening: we see the world in much sharper clarity, and we find ourselves drawn again and again to the hope of Christ.”
-Sam Allberry, pastor; author, 7 Myths about Singleness
“Mitchell Chase’s book is refreshing because he retrieves the covenant of works to explain why original sin must be traced back to Adam as our federal head. Plunging into the sorrow of Adam’s iniquity, Chase then lifts our heads to see the hope we have in Christ, our covenant surety. Unless we understand the tragedy of our fall in Adam, we will not rejoice at the triumph of our redemption in Christ, the second Adam. Here is a compelling exposition of our exile east of Eden.”
-Matthew Barrett, Associate Professor of Christian Theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Executive Editor, Credo Magazine; author, Simply Trinity

Thanks for making it to the end of this post! I hope Short of Glory will encourage your faith and joy as we meditate on the Scriptures together.