John Piper has released a new book sharing his thoughts on what God might be doing through the coronavirus pandemic. 

In Coronavirus and Christ, the respected Baptist theologian seeks to explain how believers the world over can stand on the rock of Christ during the pandemic. 

The 112-page book has also been made available for free download in eight different languages from Piper's website, Desiring God.  A free audiobook version available on YouTube is just over two hours long.  It is the first ever audiobook to be recorded by Piper.  

The book is split into two parts dealing with what Piper calls his "two burdens". 

"When I wrote it, I was carried along by two concerns," he said.

"One of them was that I wanted to provide a Bible-saturated, God-centred, Christ-exalting rock, a solid place to stand in the midst of such fragile times.

"The other burden is that I wanted to summon the whole world, including the Church, to repentance because I think that's what God is doing.

"What I mean by repentance is experiencing a transformation of our thinking and our feeling and our living that reflects, brings our lives into alignment with, the infinite value of Jesus Christ."  

The first part of the book, called "Who is this God that rules over the coronavirus?", deals with the "sweetness" of experiencing the righteousness and holiness of God in the global pandemic, while the second part, "What is this God doing through the coronavirus?", seeks to build on "the conviction that God is not silent". 

"He hasn't left us without a word in the Scripture concerning His purposes for suffering that is both global and personal," he said. 

While God is "doing a billion things" through the pandemic, Piper focuses on six questions in his book.

"It's a book about reality, not sentimental imaginations," he added. 

"That's not what we need, it's not what our kids need. 

"We don't need sentimental substitutes for reality.  We need reality.  God is real, death is real, life is real. Jesus Christ crucified and risen and reigning is real.  Salvation is real.  Eternal joy is real."