30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
LUKE 19 1-10 SEEKING TO SAVE THE LOST 18 To be in tune with the purpose of God
📖 Luke 19:1-10
02Dec2020 - *To be in tune with the purpose of God* - _Luke 19:1-10_ - SEEKING TO SAVE THE LOST 18 – Bible reading: _I Timothy 2:3-6_
_Luke 19:9-10 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; (10) for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."_
The Lord came seeking to save, lost Zacchaeus, and he was found and restored to a full relationship of the habitat of God. Zacchaeus was now a citizen of the kingdom of God.
At the core, what was the issue that was keeping Zacchaeus in a state of lostness? It was his attachment to mammon that drove him to be unconcerned for people. There were many people like him, who were lost, but Zacchaeus’ pursuit for wealth prevented him from his concern for the lost to be found.
This is why the love of money is a root of all evil.
_Mark 10:21-22 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (22) But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions._
This is where we see a huge difference between Zacchaeus and the Rich Young Ruler. The Rich Young Ruler seemed so much closer to God than Zacchaeus, but his attachment to money prevented him from coming into the habitat of God and also prevented him from becoming a co-worker, a co-labourer, with God in seeking to save the lost.
_Luke 13:30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."_
Zacchaeus was saved from the wrath of God and brought into the kingdom of God.
What are the two options before us? On one side we have the option to choose the habitat of God, the kingdom rule of God, which would require that we surrender to His lordship over us and the other option is the wrath of God.
God does not want anyone to perish but that all should come into eternal life.
_II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, *not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance*._
_I Timothy 2:3-6 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, (4) *who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth*. (5) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,_
The Lord desires all men to be sought and found. He does not want anyone to perish but each individual must make a choice. God has given man free will. It would be unjust on God’s part that He gives man free will and then takes the choice away from man, in choosing life or death.
God has demonstrated His love for man and has provided all that is needed for lost man to understand God’s love and make a thought through, deliberate choice, to come under the lordship of Christ over his life.
Would he or she be willing to come under the kingdom rule of God and be subject to His authority over him or her? Or would that person choose to remain independent of God, running his or her life, their own way, which would result in that person incurring the wrath of God and perish?
As we come to the end of the age, these two options must stand clearly before us and there can be no more room for ambiguity. This ought to be the focus and commitment of the church, to be in tune with the heart of God, which is to seek and save the lost.
In order for His purpose, to be fulfilled in and through us, we need to be able to let go of our attachment to materialism.
_Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon._
*Thought to ponder*
When we stand before the Lord, which is going to take place very soon, will we stand there and tell Him that we were busy taking care of our material needs that we forgot His purpose for us?