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Scripture Reading: Rom. 3:11-12; Luke 19:10
We thank and praise God. It is not we who first love God, but God who first loves us. According to Romans 3:11-12, no one seeks after God. According to Luke 19:10, the Son of Man came to seek and save those who were lost. We thank and praise God that He does not require us to bring to Him cows and sheep, like the people in the Old Testament age, in order to meet Him. Rather, He tabernacled among us through His Son so that we could draw near to Him.
Today in front of this table of grace, none of us dares say that we intended to be saved and seek after God. I have done some work among unbelievers. Among those whom I have met, I have never seen anyone who seeks after God. Mr. Paget Wilkes said that he had preached to tens of thousands of people in Japan, but that he had never met one who was really seeking God.
A slogan that said, "China returns to Christ," was translated into English as "China for Christ." This is something from hell. Only Christ is for China. There is no one in the world who is for Christ; only Christ is for man. This is grace, and this is the gospel. What about the idol worshippers? Are they not seeking after God? No. They worship only for their own self-interest. Some desire to be prosperous in their business or safe and secure with their family. They are only after blessings. Man seeks after what God has, not God Himself. God is after us, the persons. Man seeks after God's grace, peace, and prosperity. God is not after what we have, but what we are. Today in the presence of God, we ought to utter our praise and thanksgiving. How good our God has been to us! The goodness that He has shown to us is beyond what we could ever think!
Second Corinthians 8:5 says, "And this, not as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and to us through the will of God." Do you see this? God wants us, the persons. In God there is no covetousness. Does He want the money of wealthy men? No, God is after us. No one seeks after God. Man only wants God's blessing and peace. But God is after us. Even though man never seeks for God, He seeks us.
If God wants something from us, we have nothing to give to Him. God only wants us. If a man is saved, that is good enough. God wants man and saves man. Prior to our salvation, we lived in a world without a Savior, and we never gave any thought to eternal life or the future. Perhaps we heard of God, but we did not want Him. Perhaps we heard of God, but we still hated Him. But we thank and praise God; He has saved us! Today this bread and this cup tell us that God sent His Son to the world to seek us because He loved us. Then His Son gave up His life and shed His blood to save us!
We do not start out as prodigal sons. Rather, we start out as lost sheep. The shepherd first came to look for the sheep. There are three parables in Luke 15: a shepherd searching for his lost sheep, a woman seeking for a lost coin, and a father receiving a prodigal son. First, a Savior went out to seek for us, then the Holy Spirit shined on us. Finally, the Father received us. Thank and praise God; He sought out and saved us!
