He Came to Seek and to Save
by Pastor Tim Gresham
Text: Luke 19:10
I. His Incarnation is Selfless
“For the Son of Man has come….”
Incarnation (Lat. in and caro, stem carn, meaning “flesh”). In the context of Christian theology, the act whereby the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, without ceasing to be what He is, God the Son, took into union with Himself what He before that act did not possess, a human nature…”
- Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.
His becoming flesh was Selfless…
Cp Philippians 2:7-8, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
His becoming flesh was to condemn sin…
Cp Romans 8:3, “…God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
His becoming flesh is without controversy…
Cp 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail th’incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
‘Glory to the newborn King.’
- Charles Wesley
HIS INCARNATION IS SELFLESS
TS – As we see His selfless incarnation of putting on human flesh, we must remember that He became flesh for a purpose.
II. His Inquiry in Genuine
“…Son of Man has come to seek (zeteo)…”
zeteo – to seek --be (go) about, desire, endeavour, enquire (for), require, seek (after, for, means).
Example of usage:
Cp John 16:19, “Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire (zeteo) among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?”
Concerning Luke 19:10, Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote, “…and this concise statement included both His finished work upon the cross (John 19:30), and His unfinished work in the world (Acts 1:1)…Seeking the lost is more than a mere attempt to locate unsaved men, for they are present on every hand. The term ‘seeking the lost,’ therefore, suggests a divine preparation of the unsaved that will bring them into adjustment with the necessary conditions of salvation.”
– True Evangelism
Cp Matthew 6:33, “But seek [zeteo] ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
We, his people, the saved of this generation, are to aggressively seek the lost.
“Oh,” you say, “if they really want salvation they will come to church a find it!”
No, my friends, for the Bible testifies, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11).
“That is, none do so by nature; those who seek after God are led to do so by a work of grace upon their hearts. Otherwise, men are blind, they do not see the right path; they are willful, and do not seek after God…The ungodly do not, as a rule, believe that they have any need of salvation: therefore they do not desire it, or seek after it.” – C. H. Spurgeon.
HIS INCARNATION IS SELFLESS
HIS INQUIRY IS GENUINE
TS - We must go out and find them! But still…once found they must be compelled to believe.
III. His Involvement is Proactive
“…to seek and to save…”
Repeat last statement of Chaffer: “The term ‘seeking the lost,’ therefore, suggests a divine preparation of the unsaved that will bring them into adjustment with the necessary conditions of salvation.” – True Evangelism
Jesus did not come just to live a good life to serve as an example for social well-being. He has come to be proactively involved in the affairs of mankind to seek and save the lost.
Cp Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
He did this while He was ministering on this Earth and He still does this through His people and through the work of His Holy Spirit.
Cp 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
The Heavenly Father calls the believer to repentance.
Cp John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
HIS INCARNATION IS SELFLESS
HIS INQUIRY IS GENUINE
HIS INVOLVEMENT IS PROACTIVE
TS – But to whom did He come to save and to what extent?
IV. His Impartiality is Exhaustive
“…to save that which was lost.”
(lost) apollumi ap-ol’-loo-mee – to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), --destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.
· The negative nature of this word tells me that the Lord is seeking the worst of the worst. He doesn’t come to save just the desirable, as we would see it, but He has come to seek and to save the undesirable.
· He takes the lowest possible example of a marred, outcast, unregenerate, bankrupt, debased human being and says: “I’ve come to save even you.”
· That is not to leave out the desirable, the well-to-do, the beautiful but to ensure the salvation of the lowest of mankind from our human perspective is to guarantee salvation for all.
Cp 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
Cp 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
“While the work of saving the lost must ever be a divine undertaking accomplished only through His finished work on the cross, there are aspects of the work of seeking them which were committed to His followers, and which are a part of His unfinished work in the world.” – Lewis Sperry Chafer
HIS INCARNATION IS SELFLESS
HIS INQUIRY IS GENUINE
HIS INVOLVEMENT IS PROACTIVE
HIS IMPARTIALITY IS EXHAUSTIVE
