I Was Lost

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

I Once Was Lost

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” — Matthew 18:1

To know anything of the heart of God is to appreciate His love for those who are lost. And it is to know both sides of the equation, for in Jesus, God came as the seeker and savior of the lost, and fully identified with us in our lost estate. He knew on the cross, the despairing cry of the psalmist:

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.” — Psalm 119:176

And he knew the heart of the shepherd who had lost his sheep, the woman who lost her coin, and the father who lost His son.

“My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.”- Jeremiah 50:6

The heart of God breaks over the lostness of people:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” — Luke 13:34

So Jesus did not waver in declaring His mission to seek and to save that which was lost. And Jesus wants us to remember that we were among those who were lost even as Moses admonished the children of Israel to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and that they had been redeemed by God. Even as that knowledge was to inform all of their behaviors toward widows, aliens, the fatherless, and the poor, so this remembrance is to provoke us to love the lost among us.

“I once was lost.”

In old age, Newton was encouraged to retire from the work of rescuing the perishing and caring for the dying because of ill health and failing memory. To this he said,

“My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior!”

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And https://www.historylink.org/File/9065

And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokichi

Watch the film at https://archive.org/details/kairei-1983

Matthew 18:10–20

“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

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