Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
Friends, in Luke 19:10 we come to the mission of Jesus. To seek and save the lost.
In today's world, people don't think they are lost. Everyone who is without Christ is lost. Period.
You may have wealth, beauty, prestige, friends, and prestige, but if you don't have Jesus, you are still lost.
In this verse, it says that Jesus sought us. Yes friends, every one of you who is a believer in Christ was sought by Jesus first.
The sovereignty of God and human responsibility are intertwined once again.
I would like to share with you some thoughts from Bible. org's Bob Deffinbaugh on this great verse:
First and foremost, Jesus came to save sinners. Yes, He would later establish the kingdom of God on the earth, but the basis of this kingdom, that which Christ must accomplish at His first coming, was the forgiveness of man’s sins. Men could not enter into the kingdom of God in their sinful condition. Jesus came to bear the penalty of man’s sins, and to provide them with His righteousness. This was the foundation of the kingdom.
Jesus came to seek and to save sinners. He did not come to associate with the rich and powerful. He did not come to provide positions and power for the disciples. He came to save sinners. To do so, He must associate with sinners. Thus, while it may offend the sensitivities and the social mores of His day, Jesus would go where sinners were, so that the gospel could come to them and they could be saved. If one’s goal is to save sinners, then being with sinners is simply a means to that goal. Jesus’ ministry was governed by His goal of seeking and saving sinners. Did Zacchaeus think that he had sought the Lord? He had. But the Lord had also sought Him.
What a beautiful picture of the tension that is maintained here between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Zaccheus did not call upon the Lord, but the Lord called to him. The Scriptures clearly teach that no one who truly comes to Jesus for mercy, on the basis of faith, will be turned away. They also teach that anyone who comes to Christ for salvation does not come on their own initiative, but is drawn by God:“WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” (Romans 10:13, citing Joel 2:32).
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).
It is therefore God who both begins and finishes the work of salvation, and yet man is not to be passive:
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith (Hebrews 12:2).
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, In order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in you faith supply moral excellence, and in you moral excellence, knowledge … (2 Peter 1:4-5ff.) .
God’s sovereignty does not remove our responsibility both to seek God and to obey Him. And yet when we do, we know that it is because God has caused us to will and to work His good pleasure. No man who truly seeks God as Savior will ever be turned away. Those who do seek, will find that they have first been sought by Him, the One who came to seek and to save the sinner.
http://bible.org/seriespage/sublime-ridiculous-luke-1831-1910
Soli Deo Gloria.
Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.
I had an interesting conversation on this topic. I ran into an old friend at the new Sunday service, Access. BTW, if you haven’t attended the service yet you are missing out. It is a powerful service. Anyway, she is a single mom who is full of Jesus. I call her Jesus girl for everywhere she goes she gets people excited about Jesus. If you aren’t excited about Jesus you will be after talking with this young mother.
ReplyDeleteI noticed about 4 kids with her and 2 adults. I asked who these people? She explained how she was doing some apartment ministry and has had an incredible response to the gospel. The kids and adults were from the outreaches she is doing. She said she had over 100 kids respond to the gospel and was begging for help!!! These were the only ones she could fit in her car but she stated she could fill up a bus if she had one. She was overwhelmed with what God was doing and the response in the children’s hearts. . Truly the harvest is ready but the labors are few. I told her, hang on, help is on the way. I’ve learned a long time ago, we need to find out where the Lord is working and then partner with Him. He is still seeking and saving the lost.