The Pharisees and teachers of religious law were clueless! The irony of them thinking they understood God is embarrassing. They thought God despises people because of their sin. No, God loves people, in spite of their sin. And He loves people so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die on a cross to pay the penalty for sin, so that all who believe can reconnect with God forever. I don't think I have given much thought to the celebration aspect that is reiterated in Luke 15: lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. Upon finding, there is joy and celebration. This communicates the heart of God.
L 15:6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!
... 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."
... 22 "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began.
... 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."
... 22 "But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began.
His love is so deep that He is willing to sacrifice His own Son, the Perfect and Spotless Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. It reminds me of a song by David Crowder that Brandi is especially fond of:
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
[Chorus]
Indeed, we will sing for all eternity in overwhelmed humility and awestruck gratitude for the price Jesus paid to redeem us. And we will sing for all eternity, joyfully celebrating those who have been reunited with God. We will feast with Him - the Year of Jubilee - forever.
Heavenly Father, your love is too much! It is excessive that you would sacrifice your own Son. How you must love us. How you must rejoice upon those who by grace through faith, are returned to you. May the Lord Jesus Christ be celebrated because He is victorious! He has conquered sin and death, and He is happy for those who repent. Lord, please help me take the message of Christ to the lost, and don't ever let me think like those Pharisees. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
God's redemption of a fallen sinner is surely cause to rejoice. The Son as the Good Shepherd is searching for fallen man as the lost sheep. The Spirit, signified by the woman, is sweeping within the house (man's heart) for the lost coin. The Father is waiting for His prodigal son to come to himself and return to the Father's house. Here we see the Triune God operating to redeem fallen man. Actually, the three of the Trinity are working as one. The Son's seeking is realized by the sweeping of the Spirit to shine in man's heart, causing man to realize his pitiful condition and return to the receiving Father. The Father receives this repentant son with the best robe (none other than Christ as our covering), a ring (the eternal Spirit) and sandals (to separate man from the dusty world). At this point, the son is qualified to live in the Father's house as a redeemed son! Surely God is satisfied and has reason to rejoice. The newly redeemed man would also rejoice but he still has a very pressing need...hunger. Years of longing to be filled by the carob pods the pigs were eating gave him a full realization of the emptiness within. Now that he has returned to the Father and is fully redeemed by the Son, he may say "Father, I am hungry." Can we stop here in our appreciation and enjoyment of God's salvation? Christ's redemption is surely a priceless gift to humanity, but is God's goal merely to have many redeemed sons? What happens next in the Father's house points us to the goal of Christ's redemption. "Let us eat and be merry!" Christ as the fattened calf full of the unsearchable riches of God has been slaughtered. On one hand, this death redeems us; much more than that, this death made Him available to redeemed man as food.
ReplyDeleteRom 5:17 - "For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled."
Hallelujah for a MUCH MORE salvation! Judicial redemption is a procedure for us to reach of the goal of God's organic salvation. As we take Christ in as our life supply, day by day He is assimilated into our being until we are constituted with His very element. We pass through the organic, metabolic, life-long processes of growth (in the divine life), renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification which produces us as the Body of Christ to match the Head and as the Bride of Christ to match the Bridegroom!
The Old Testament also gives us a wonderful picture of this process. The Israelites were surely redeemed by God out of the slavery and usurpation of Egypt under Pharoah (the world today controlled by Satan). Although they had come out of Egypt, they still longed after the things of Egypt (fleshpots, leeks, garlic, onions, etc.) showing that their constitution was still Egyptian. At this point, God changed their diet! They began to be constituted with heavenly food: manna. This manna was just a picture of Christ (Jn 6). Eventually, in the land of Canaan, the Israelited even ate of the produce of the good land. This land with its produce is also a picture of Christ (Col 1:12-14). Eventually, God's people defeated all of God's enemies, built the one temple and became the one kingdom of God on the earth. What a glorious picture of God's salvation for His expression in man and through man. How we need to go on from the base judicial redemption to organic salvation which will meet God's need today! May we all ask the Lord for His mercy to show us His full salvation and to lead us into a deeper experience and realization of being "saved in His life!"
Thank you for your comment. Actually, I was just thinking about this some more this evening. I was visiting with a Brother about the passage of Stephen being martyred that we will study tomorrow morning. It wasn't that he was redeemed and felt obligated to do things for Christ. No, he loved Christ and enjoyed Him, and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit to live Christ!
ReplyDeleteAmen, may we hunger and thirst for the Lord and enjoy Him as our complete satisfaction! Hallelujah!