A Loss – For Whom?

The Evangel that Paul preached, he calls “the Evangel of the glory of Christ” (2Cor.4:4). Most Christians do not, at all, know this. They think that the Evangel, primarily, concerns man. In practice, man occupies the central place in the message of salvation that is preached to him. Man is lost, and therefore (so they think), the primary interest is for man to be saved. The latter is not entirely untrue, but thereby, the essence of the Evangel is overlooked. If something is lost, that is a loss to the owner, and for no one else! The one lost, may not even be aware of being lost. He may even be very happy. Just think of the parable of the prodigal son, who squandered all his assets abroad. Was that son only lost after he had spent everything and then, most miserably, sat and ate with the hogs to still his hunger? No, from the moment the son left his father, he was the lost son. The father did not anymore have his son. Just as the shepherd who missed a sheep; from that moment, he had suffered a loss, and had become a loser. Of course, it will be of great importance for the owner to seek the lost. And it will be the great feast of the owner, when he will have found that which was lost. The Evangel is about God, Who saves His lost world. It is called Evangel (Good News Message), because it will be His feast! It will be His honor! Man, of himself, seeks not to be saved. All he is able to do is get and stay lost. But God seeks humanity. And He finds humanity! The latter is undoubtedly the best that can happen to man, but make no mistake; in the first place it makes God happy. Hence, we read in 1Timothy 1:11 “the Evangel of the glory of the happy God.” The Evangel is called Evangel, because it reflects God’s glory and makes Him happy. He finds everything that has become a loss to Him.

… go after that which is lost, until he finds it? Luke 15:4

Delen: