Redemption
Let us not forget, not matter how bad we think we are or how far apart from God we feel, that we can be redeemed to God. How does that happen? In Ephesians 1:7 the redemption is through Christ's blood. Christ shed his blood and became the sacrifice for our sins. When we accept Christ, our sins are forgiven because of God's grace. We don't have to be perfect, we just need to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
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Falling Short and Being Redeemed
There are far too many verses in scripture that we know and understand when we hear them, but we do not get the full context. Romans 3:23 is one of them for me. It tells us that we all fall short of the glory of God. This verse has been used to further one's personal agenda outside of Christ. It has been used to say we all sin (which is true) but it does not tell the rest of the story. It's like saying we all fail and that's it. End of story. It can also be comforting to know that we all fail and that you are not alone when you sin as we all sin. But what about after that?
We have to understand the context that Paul was telling fellow Jews that they were not better than others. This is in line with what Christ taught to Pharisees who were hypocrites and thought they were better than others. Righteousness does not come from obeying God's laws (such as the ten commandments). Righteousness comes from doing God's will out of loving obedience. As I have stated before, in relationships (like dating and marriage) we don't keep ourselves from cheating simply because it is not the right thing to do. Look at the essence of why it wouldn't be right. We don't cheat because of love. We love the other person. We are honoring the other person and our relationship and ourselves. But, ultimately, we should not cheat because we would be sinning against God. Righteousness is through love of God which is outside the law (ten commandments).
But how do you get redeemed to God after sinning. That redemption comes from Jesus. If you accept Jesus, the redemption comes. His blood was shed so that we don;t have to be a human sacrifice for our sins. Sin causes death in at least 2 ways: spiritual and physical. Spiritually i am separated by God when I am outside His will. Physically when I sin I could die like if I were to do drugs or something like that. So, if you sin like I do on a daily basis, you are 1) not alone and 2) redeemed to God through accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior knowing that he died for your sins.
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Lost and Found
Just like the scribes and Pharisees who scoffed at many things Jesus did, we can get caught up serving the perceptions of others and even fall victim to assessing the actions of others based on our own beliefs. Now what does that mean? It means that just because others see it as wrong or just because we think it is wrong, it doesn't mean that God thinks it is wrong. How do we know what God thinks? We go to His word.
In Luke 15:2, The Pharisees and scribes were mocking what Jesus was doing. He ate with those who were lost. He ate with those who sinned. Pharisees stayed away from those that were seen as unholy. So, for Jesus to sit with these people, accept them as sinners and eat with them, was taking a shot at how the Pharisees lived and believed.
This is where Jesus comes into our own lives and shows us how we think and how we believe and act is not always in tune with what God wants from us. In verses 8-10, Jesus tells of the parable of the lost coin and a woman who celebrates finding her lost coin. She does not just say "Forget it. It's only one coin." She lights a lamp and looks for that coin until it is found and rejoices in its being found. Isn't that what God does with us? He looks for us until we are found. How many people do you know have a story to tell of how they were lost and then found which includes testimony of how "circumstances and coincidences" came to lead them to Christ? I know a few. I am one of them. I walked away from Jesus years ago and kept getting reminded of him time after time again by family members, classmates, and friends. God was sending messages to me through others in order to bring me a, a lost coin, back to his coin collection.
God cares for us and values us more than birds (Matthew 6:25-26). Since He values us that much, then how can anyone ever think that they don't matter. GOD LOVES YOU! He wants you in His family. Those coincidences are God speaking to you.
If you are lost, you can be found again.
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