Christmas Joy: Jesus' Salvation, Pt. 5

A great goal for you and me this Christmas Season and every day is to be Jesus people, people who help others receive salvation.

Christmas Joy: Jesus' Salvation, Pt. 5

"And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

(Luke 15:5-7)

With which of the three groups of people in Luke 15:1-7 do you most relate? Of course, we should all aspire to be like Jesus. A great goal for you and me this Christmas Season and every day is to be Jesus people, people who help others receive salvation. We all can relate to the sinners in the story, but we must lean into Jesus to help and save us. Jesus hung out with these people not to condone their behavior but to draw them to Himself, and they were the ones most receptive to His teaching. Of the three groups, do all you can to not resemble in any way the religious crowd full of judgment, complaining, and pushing people away from God. One New Testament scholar, Joel Green, links the Pharisees and the legal experts with the crowd in the wilderness wanderings "who complained against God's representatives, Moses and Aaron" (Source: NICNT, p. 571).

Keep in mind the main point of Jesus' parable: God rejoices over the lost when they repent and are found.

Here are a few truths from this biblical text to share with you as we conclude our devotions this week:

Religious people often miss God. God walked right among them in the Person of Jesus, but they missed Him because they were so set in their ways and in their traditions. In fact, not only did they miss Jesus, but they also helped kill Jesus.

Thom Rainer speaks truth to us when he writes in his article, Urgent Church: Nine Changes We Must Make or Die:

"We must abandon the entitlement mentality. Your church is not a country club where you pay dues to get your perks and privileges. It is a gospel outpost where you are to put yourself last. Don't seek to get your way with the music, temperature, and length of sermons. Here is a simple guideline: Be willing to die for the sake of the gospel. That's the opposite of the entitlement mentality."
Repentance is the key to everlasting joy and life. The sinners received Jesus and obeyed His message to them to turn from their sins and repent. In Luke 19:6, one of the chief tax collectors, a man named Zacchaeus, received Jesus joyfully in his home and then repented of his sins and received Jesus in his heart (verse 8).
During this Christmas Season, who are the lost sheep with whom God is leading you to share the way of salvation? Who are your "ones," the lost sheep with whom God is leading you to share the greatest story ever, the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Many of the sinners in the New Testament received Him joyfully. They saw their need for Him and His forgiveness. Do you? If so, call upon the name of the Lord today, even now. Others, you have drawn more entrenched in your man-made ideas and traditions to the neglect of the Holy Spirit. Repent and ask God to restore to you the joy of your salvation.