Lost
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Lost….lost to God and to all HIs original intention for mankind.
“Up Calvary’s mountain one dreadful morn,
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn;
Facing for sinners death on the cross,
That He might save them from endless loss.” (Blessed Redeemer)
When Adam sinned…..God lost the whole creation. (Romans 8:22)
Mankind died. Adam was a murderer of millions of his children…from generation to generation…through his sin.
God lost the beautiful, fruitful creation….made to be a garden, where men and animals lived together in peaceful harmony….it gave thorns and thistles instead.
But mankind lost the most….as the song says…..”endless loss” is our portion on this earth, without the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ.
This loss is seen and felt by all. For so many people are “looking for something” to satisfy and to give their life meaning.
But without Christ…..our life is just living a lie. We try and cover our “endless loss” by doing, and going, and keeping, and accumulating, and seeking…..but when we are in the quiet moments…..we know that our hearts grow older, but are not satisfied.
Ephesians 2:1 “And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
[This second chapter in Ephesians stresses the death that we were and had because of Adam’s sin, again and again:
……we were dead in trespasses and sins (verse 1)….we walked according to this world as children of disobedience (verse 2)….we were children of wrath (verse 3)….we were dead in sins (verse 5)….we had no hope (verse 12)….we were far off (verse 13)….we were strangers and foreigners (verse 19).
All of these stress an impassable gulf between us and God….our heart’s rest.
All these stress that though we may be alive for many, many years….though we may experience many things….we are just waiting the ultimate death,…..
………without Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
But this second chapter in Ephesians also tells us that:
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”.
To all those who receive Him as Lord and Savior]
Jesus Christ asked us plainly when He was here….
Luke 9:25 “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”
To the unsaved, Jesus asks…..
How could you better yourself, if you were made the ruler of the whole world….but then, only had endless loss of yourself….your true self in Christ…your purpose…dying day by day, away from Me….till eternal separation in Hell is your “gain”?
And the Lord Jesus spoke even to those who followed Him:
How could you gain anything more from the world? Beware lest you lose your way and become useless in your life’s purpose.
The answer to man’s “loss” is of course believing on Jesus Christ….following Him….and continuing to follow Him.
For with every step we take with Christ…….we find….
….we find everlasting life….He quickens us (Eph.2:5)…
….we find that we belong to the family of God….
Ephesians 2:19 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God;”
….we find our walk, and a work…and are molded into HIs character….and how much we “find” in Him in this!
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (made provision for) that we should walk in them.”
…..we find the Spirit of God indwelling us, giving us the blessings of His love worked in us….HIs joy and peace in many situations….His goodness, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23)
…..we find Him….more and more of Him satisfying every part of us.
Ephesians 3:18-19 “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Luke 9:23 “And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Jesus never said there would not be a cost to follow Him…..only that life is what He is offering….eternal life with Him, here through this world’s scene….and on, into eternity.
Eternal life? Or endless loss?
Christ Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. And we are all lost to God,….till He saves us.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 