God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 15

Day 15 Luke Chapter 15

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” {vv.4-5 NASB}.

The care our magnificent Creator of the universe takes in reaching the poor, lost, and wandering sinners. His sheep are important to Him. He cares so much for His sheep that even though He has one hundred, should one stray away, He will search until He finds that one lost sheep.

I find it so beautiful (and no accident) that today is the third Sunday in Advent, in which we focus on joy. {If you would like to read more on joy in Advent, I wrote several posts a few years back for Advent; you can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here}. Jesus continues within this verse to say, “I tell you…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” {v.7 NASB}. When one sinner comes to Him, there is JOY in heaven. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God! Imagine how wonderful that is, that though they cannot fathom salvation {1 Pet. 1:12}, they rejoice when one of God’s human creations receives salvation. Our salvation is one of joy; the psalmist prays, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit” {Ps. 51:12}.
I heard a minister of the Word once say that most Christians look more like they are on their way to hell rather than heaven. We should be the most joyous people on earth. Our salvation should sparkle in our eyes, exude joy on our faces, and joy in our walk; we should not cause the loss to long for what we have. If our Messiah has this much joy over finding us, should we not have joy when we find Him and walk with Him for the rest of our lives?

In chapter fifteen, Jesus teaches parables throughout on the importance of finding those who are lost. The righteous ninety-nine should take care lest they think themselves more virtuous than the lost one. We need to share the heart of the Shepherd and search for those who are lost. Pray daily for the lost—those you know and those you don’t. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Let’s search for them this Advent season and bring them into the care of the Good Shepherd. 

 

Graciously consider subscribing to the blog? 

Advent: Seeking Christ Day 15

Day 15 Luke Chapter 15

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” {vv.4-5 NASB}.

The care our magnificent Creator of the universe takes in reaching poor, lost, wandering sinners. His sheep are important to Him. He cares so much for His sheep that even though He has one hundred, should one stray away, He will go searching until He finds that one lost sheep.

I find it so beautiful (and no accident) that today is the third Sunday in Advent in which we focus on joy. {If you would like to read more on joy in Advent, I wrote several posts a few years back for Advent; you can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here}. Jesus continues within this verse to say, “I tell you…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” {v.7 NASB}. When one sinner comes to Him there is JOY in heaven. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God! Imagine how wonderful that is, that though they cannot fathom salvation {1 Pet. 1:12} they rejoice when one of God’s human creations receives salvation. Our salvation is one of joy; the psalmist prays, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit” {Ps. 51:12}.

I heard a minister of the Word once say that most Christians look more like they are on their way to hell rather than heaven. We should be the most joyous people on earth. Our salvation should put a sparkle in our eye, joy on our face, joy in our walk; we should cause the lost to long to have what we have. If our Messiah has this much joy over finding us, should we not have joy when we find Him and walk with Him for the rest of our lives?

The whole of chapter fifteen Jesus teaches parables on the importance of finding those who are lost. The righteous ninety-nine should take care lest they think themselves more righteous than the lost one. Instead of glorying in that we have been found, we need to share the heart of the Shepherd and search for those who are lost. Pray daily for the lost—those you know and those you don’t. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Let’s search for them this Advent season and bring them into the care of the Good Shepherd.

Graciously consider subscribing to the blog?

Taste And See That The Lord Is Good

God is good. His goodness is all around us and woven through every part of our life. The first time we see the goodness of God is in His good creation;

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.Genesis 1: 3-4 NASB

 

God is summum bonum, the highest good.

“All that emanates from God—His decrees, His creation, His laws, His providences—cannot be otherwise than good: as it is written, ‘And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold it was very good.’ (Gen. 1:31). Thus, the ‘goodness’ of God is seen first in creation. The more closely the creature is studied, the more the beneficence of its Creator becomes apparent” (Arthur Pink, 1975, 58.)

We must begin with this understanding, that God is good, in this dark world, with its evil, poverty, disease, rumors of war…He is the Light of the World, and He causes darkness to flee. 

It is hard for us to understand this from our perspective, because we seem to have darkness before us whichever way we turn. There are few constants in this life, one of them is evil. Jesus promised that we would suffer trials, and they will remain in the earth until Christ once again kisses the earth with His glorious coming. In the Old Testament, specifically in the prophetic books, the prophets bring warning of coming destruction and punishment for Israel, should they not turn from their idolatrous ways and run back into the arms of their loving Father. But always riding the coat-tails of impending doom, comes the promise of redemption—another constant. Always. The trouble may not go away, but God promises to be with us through it, and when we come out the other side. The goodness of God brings hope and healing in the midst of our circumstances, and keeps us from falling into despair, if we but dare to trust Him:

I would have fainted, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 NASB

 

“The goodness of God appeared most illustriously when he sent forth His Son ‘made of woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons’ (Gal. 4:4-5).” (Pink, 59).

The goodness of God desires your healing. The goodness of God desires to deliver you.

Prophecy: 

Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way (Ps. 25:8)

For thou Lord, art good, and ready to forgive (Ps. 86:5)

The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works (Ps. 145:9)

For the Lord is good;His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations (Ps. 100:5)

Fulfillment:

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.Jn. 10:11 NASB

Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me? Jn. 10:32 NASB

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 NASB

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Rom. 2:4 KJV

For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Eph. 5:9 NASB

To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power. 2 Thess. 1:11 NASB

If you are hurting, suffering a trial, or just feel hopeless or despair, look for the goodness of God in the land of living…even if the land you’re in feels desolate—God is there too, He is the God who sees you, just as He saw Hagar wandering, running away from an abusive situation:

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”Gen. 16:13 NASB

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Ps. 34:8 NASB

The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nah. 1:7 NASB

In His Grace,

Enjoy this beautiful prayer that I cannot stop listening to...