STEEMCHURCH: WE ARE ALL OF GREAT VALUE FOR GOD - THE LOST SHEEP

Greetings to the whole community to friends and brothers who visit my blog today. Today I will speak of an important point in the life of a Christian, as it is to remain in the flock of the Lord.

(Matthew 18: 12-14) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them is lost, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains and look for the one that has been lost? And if he finds it, I really tell you, he rejoices more for that sheep than for the ninety-nine that were not lost. This is the will of the Father who is in heaven, that none of these little ones should die.

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This is a metaphor; What kind of feeling does this passage produce? The form in which this allegory is expressed uses a rhetorical figure of human language; it is something that is within the sphere of the knowledge of the human being. If God had said something similar in the Age of the Law, people would have felt that it was not really consistent with His identity; However, when the Son of Man communicated this passage in the Age of Grace, it was comforting, warm and intimate for the people. When God became flesh, when He appeared in the form of a man, He used a very appropriate metaphor to express the voice of His heart in humanity.

It represented God's own voice and the work He wanted to do in that age. It also symbolized an attitude that God had toward people in the Age of Grace. Looking from the perspective of God's attitude towards people, he compared each of them to a sheep. If a sheep is lost, He will do what it takes to find it. This represents a principle of God's work in the midst of humanity, this time in the flesh. God used this parable to describe His determination and His attitude in that work. This was the advantage of God in incarnating: he could take advantage of the knowledge of humanity and use human language to speak to people, to express His will.

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He explained or "translated" man His deep divine language, which was difficult for humans to understand in human language, in a human way. This helped people understand His will and know what He wanted to do. He could also have conversations with people from a human perspective, use human language and communicate with them in a way they would understand. I could even speak and act using human language and knowledge, so that people could feel the goodness and closeness of God, and see His heart.

What do you see in this? That there is no prohibition on the words and actions of God? In the way people see it, there is no way that God could use man's knowledge, language or ways of communicating to speak about what God Himself meant, the work He wanted to do, or express His own will ; this is thinking wrongly. God used this type of metaphor so that people could feel the reality and sincerity of God, and see His attitude toward people during that time period. This parable woke up people from a dream who had been living under the law for a long time, and also inspired one generation after another of people who lived in the Age of Grace. Reading the passage of this parable, we know the sincerity of God in saving humanity and we understand the weight of this in His heart.

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Let's take another look at the last phrase in this passage: "This is the will of the Father who is in heaven, that none of these little ones should die." Were these the words of the Lord Jesus, or those of His Father in heaven? Superficially, it seems that it is the Lord Jesus who speaks, but His will represents that of God Himself, and therefore He said: "This is the will of the Father who is in heaven, that none of these little ones should die." The people of that time only recognized as God the Father of heaven, and this person they saw before their eyes was only an envoy of his, and he could not represent it. For this reason, the Lord Jesus also had to say this, so that they could truly feel God's will for humanity, as well as the authenticity and accuracy of what He affirmed. Although this was a simple thing to say, he was very kind and revealed the humility and secrecy of the Lord Jesus. Regardless of whether God became flesh or worked in the spiritual realm, he knew the human heart very well, and he understood perfectly what people needed; he knew what worried them and what confused them, so he added this phrase, which highlighted a hidden problem in humanity: people were skeptical of what the Son of Man said.

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Therefore, when the Lord Jesus was speaking he had to add: "This is the will of the Father who is in heaven, that none of these little ones should die." His words could only bear fruit on this premise, for people to believe their rigor and improve their credibility. This shows that when God became a normal Son of Man, He and humanity had a very embarrassing relationship, and His situation was very embarrassing. It also shows how insignificant was the status of the Lord Jesus among humans at that time. When he said this, he was really saying to people: you can rest easy, this does not represent what is in My heart, but it is the will of the God that is in your hearts. Was not it ironic for humanity? Although working in the flesh, God had many advantages that He did not have in His person, He had to resist their doubts and rejections, as well as their insensitivity and mental slowness.

CONCLUSION

It could be said that the process of the work of the Son of Man was to experience the rejection of humanity, and to be competing against Him. More than that, it was the process of working to continually win the trust of humanity and conquer it. through what He has and is, from His own essence. It was not so much that God incarnate was waging a war on the ground against Satan, but that he became an ordinary man and started a fight with those who follow him. In it, the Son of Man completed His work with His humility, with what He has and is, with His love and wisdom. He got the people he wanted, got the identity and status he deserved, and returned to His throne.