30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 15 8-10 To seek and to save the lost - part II The lost coin 03 Restored to a full relationship with Jesus
📖 Luke 15:8-10
07Feb2020 - *Restored to a full relationship with Jesus* - _Luke 15:8-10_ - Bible reading: _Hebrews 12:11-13_
We are now studying the second parable in Luke 15. _Luke 15:8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?_
We began with God, who had made all things well and complete and then we read that one coin was lost. This relates to man being lost. The whole of creation too is languishing because man is not fulfilling his responsibility of a regent/viceroy of God’s creation. God’s heart is breaking over His creation and He is on the task of seeking to bring man and all of creation back into a relationship with Him.
As much as Jesus is the light, He has made us, His disciples to be lights in the world. _Matthew 5:14-15 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house._
We know that there is nothing good in us but that the excellence of our lives is of God and not of us. _II Corinthians 4:6-7 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us._
God is in the task of searching out the lost and restoring them back into a full and complete relationship with Him. _Ezekiel 34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day._
This was the prophesy of Jesus, that was articulated by Caiaphas the high priest. _John 11:51-52 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, (52) and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad._
When we are committed to the task of evangelism, let us be conscious that this task is not just about saving people from hell fire but to bring people back into a full relationship with Jesus.
Therefore, our responsibility is to bring about wholeness in our own lives as well as in the lives of people, whom we reach out to. _Hebrews 12:11-13 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (12) Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, (13) and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed._
*Thought to ponder*
```Are you moving to wholeness, and is that what you are involved in, in the lives of people, whom God has brought into your care?```