THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

1144. Confession—“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before You!”(v. 18)The Lost are Lost to GodIn these parables God is the Shepherd whose sheep has wandered off; He is the womanwhose piece of money has disappeared in the darkness and debris of the house; He is the Fatherwhose son has gone away, and become lost to Him.What is the lesson? There are lost people! And lost people matter to God! Becausethey matter to God, they should also matter to us.The lost are a loss to God Himself. Because of sin, the highest glory--man--is lost toHim. Seeking the lost is not a chore to God; it is a heartfelt pursuit. The sheep, the coin, the sonare not just lost; they represent loss.The lost are helplessly and hopelessly lost in and of themselves. They need to besought because• Lost sheep don’t come home by themselves.• Lost coins have no ability to find themselves.• A son who has so blatantly raped his father’s estate has no claim to recoveryunless he is received and forgiven by the father.Notice that what is missing is worth an all-out search. These people were in a searchmode.The search was intense, diligent and relentless.And when they retrieved that which was lost there was great celebration. Why?Because what was lost was so precious, so valuable!God’s love for the lost is seen in the fact that Jesus gave three parables to emphasize thesame thing, that is, that God seeks the lost. Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus speak on any subjectby illustrating it with three parables, yet that is what He does here.Taken together, it is an amazing picture of God. He is seen grieving, seeking, findingand rejoicing.