Saving the Lost

UV 4179/10000 Saving the Lost For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Matthew 18 v 11 Jesus, confident of His status as Son of God, preferred to refer to Himself in the newly assumed role on earth- Son of Man. He came with a mission to save not just Jews but all that which was lost- Jew and Gentile or in other words, all of humanity. He embraced humanity giving up His divinity, His position at the right hand of the Father. He embraced poverty to identify with all. He embraced absolute death, absolute sin, absolute misery, absolute pain, absolute loneliness, absolute hatred, absolute curse in order to be an absolution for mankind and a solution for all the ills and sins of mankind. The definition of the Good Shepherd is that He is the One who goes in search of the lost sheep. God sends the Holy Spirit to search for that sense of ‘lostness’ in our hearts and reveals His plan of salvation in Christ to us. He did not come to save the righteous ( or those who think themselves to be righteous). Only those who know that they are genuinely lost sinners, can benefit from the promise of salvation offered by Jesus. Repentance or a turning away from the past is called for if a person is to be saved. Since the sin offering is absolute, a once and for all payment for all sin of all mankind, a one time repentance and commitment to Christ is all that is required for a man to be saved. Our confidence or trust in this plan of God executed by Jesus for our salvation needs to be also at an absolute level or as near to that we humans are capable of. The plan of salvation executed by Jesus is comprehensive. It gives us hope of our own overcoming of our spiritual poverty, pain of all kinds, diseases, shortcomings, loneliness, hatred, curses, misery, punishment and eternal death. In addition to confidence and trust, we also need to be grateful for so great a salvation that comes to us at no cost to us but with many benefits. It is God’s plan to prosper us, to give us hope on earth, a better future and life in eternity.