A life of happiness is one that finds its sense of identity and origin in the outrageous & spacious love and excitement of the dancing and partying God!
Listen to this…
All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes accused him, saying: “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” Jesus immediately responds with no less than 3 parables to emphasize God’s view of the so-called “sinners”… these parables are key to understanding what motivates God.
He says: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”
The term “hundred sheep” refers to the world with all its “sinners”, and the term “one” is an individual. This Man may have more than 6 billion sheep, but if one goes astray He will not count the 6 billion enough but immediately leave to go after the one! He will seek until he finds. Not give up after a week or 2 months or a year, but until He finds him. And when He finds him he is overjoyed and not angry with the sheep. He lovingly picks him up and carries him all the way home. He then calls all his friends and neighbours and celebrates his joy with them…
Now throughout all my observation and experience I have never seen or heard of a man motivated in this manner. Its, well, nearly ridiculous… placing so much value on the individual (and in this case the one who was the worst of the lot) to seek him, not giving up until he finds, not being angry at all, and then calling everyone he knows together in a huge celebration.
This, my friend, is what righteousness in God’s heart is about. Its not about doing right, but about placing the right value. “Sadok”, the hebreeu for righteousness, is the beam in a scale of balances. If God places you and your life on one side of the scale, what did He put on the other side to balance it out… no less than Himself!
You see, there was never another you. And there will never be another you. He only has one of you, if he loses you… he has lost you. For Him, you have equal value than Himself. He cannot be without you.
Jesus asks, “What man…” I don’t know of one with this outrageous love for us…
The last part of this parable was aimed specifically at the Pharisees’ twisted mindsets, “I say unto you, that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents (Gr. metanoeo – to change your mind) than over ninety nine (so called) just persons that need (Gr. echo – the correct translation is to hold, posses or conceive…) no repentance (Gr. metanoia – change of mind)”.
Someone once said something that left a deep impression on me: “When Jesus hung on that cross, He didn’t die for a faceless multitude, but He died for you by name”.
Once I went out into the night alone and seeked God. I distinctly became aware of Him saying to me, “David if you were the only one on earth, I would still die for you.”
For months though, I wasn’t satisfied with this impression alone, and there was a yearning within me to read it in the bible. I prayed and searched specifically about this. Then one day I was sitting on my bed and opened my bible where it says: “I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.” I read this, and then opened the bible directly at the above portion, loosely translated: “I am the Good Shepherd that will leave the ninety nine and go after the one”. If you put these two scriptures together we have this word confirmed.
(When next you have some study time, I recommend looking up the word “shepherd” in the New Testament…)
In order to clearly emphasize the principle Jesus tells the 2nd parable in Luk 15.
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’”
The Pharisee may think that a coin (a simple man) is worth nothing, but this special woman searches carefully until she finds it; and once again an outrageous celebration follows in the joy of the find. Likewise God rejoices in your intrinsic value.
Jesus felt so strongly about establishing God’s viewpoint against the Pharisees’ viewpoint of man that He told another radical parable.
Luk 15 from verse 11. This parable I found so rich with meaning … let it lie in your mind…
“There was a man who had two sons; And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he wasted all his possessions with prodigal living.”
Young and without insight and knowledge this son may have lived in the home, but in his heart he was lost and living somewhere else. So the Father, seeking to find him, let him go…
“And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!’”
So when the temporary dried up and his once confident independence and control over circumstances could not satisfy or sustain him, the truth started dawning on him. He realised his foolishness and that his Father is the only continually sustaining source of life. He realised that this is where he belongs.
“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘
Notice that although he sincerely repented, he still had a “sinner” and a slave mentality. He viewed himself as the Pharisees would have that must have reeled with disgust at the thought of prodigal living and thereafter sharing a living with pigs!
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Now it is very uncommon for Hebreeu fathers to run. Woman and children ran, but not “respectable” fathers. What is more is that the father was constantly on the lookout, scanning the horizon. He was the first to see him from a distance. There was only one thought on his mind, this all-surpassing treasure of His was found. Overcome by emotion he ran to embrace and kiss his son, not giving any popular opinions any thought.
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
The son had his little speech prepared and delivered it. He valued himself according to his deeds, and therefore only expected the very least.
The father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’
Paul asks, “if He has given us Jesus, how much more won’t He give us all things?” Rom 8:32
What the son discovered was a dancing, partying Father because of his own value to Him. He discovered that his father doesn’t love him for what he does. His father doesn’t stop loving him for rebellion or miserable failure. He discovers that his Father is his Father – no matter what, and therefore he is and remains the beloved son, no matter what! And its in this revelation, from this position, that man is made to live from. Anything or anyone that withholds this privilege from another person is in direct opposition to God, and withholds that person’s very Source of Life!
These parables all point to a single principle – how does God value and see you? If I can put the answer in words it would be that the definition of you is Himself and His love, not where you come from or what you have done.
Why does God feel so strongly about this one principle? Imagine building an intimate relationship with someone based not on value, but on guilt and a poor self-image! It will never work. Why do we fool ourselves thinking God who did everything to reconcile us to Him in blameless innocence (Col 1:22) takes pleasure when we feel sinful & unworthy? How can I build a relationship with Him feeling this way? It is nothing less than a false religious humility based on the original sin of “I am not, I must become”. And it disregards His accomplishments on the cross. True humility is to know my works or my past cannot help me, but He did it all, a perfect and complete work! Now I see as He sees, I know as He knows – I am enveloped in His love, His thoughts, His works, His joy – I rejoice and rest in all I am and have in Him. Its not about what I do or fail to do. Its about coming to know my identity in His love and Word as I have always been known, and bask in His relationship with me. And that’s all that matters to Him.
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Although the sheep or the coin or the son were lost, and may have been battered along the way, they never lost their value. Nothing can change it, not even you, and so nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing can change the cross – it happened and the result was final. Do you really understand what happened there? It is the single most important truth you will ever consider… make sure you do!