Lost? Recover it!!
4 03 2007RECOVERING WHAT’S BEEN LOST
When Jesus went into the synagogue, the first thing He did was teach the people. Considering that the synagogues had been in operation for thousands of years, we could wonder what was left to teach? However, Jesus had plenty that the people needed to know. There is no premium on ignorance.
1 Corinthians 22
Education does not automatically equal wisdom. An education surrendered to God can certainly be of benefit. Above all, study the
Word - it is your source of life. Then give God your best, understanding that education is simply the progressive discovery of your own ignorance.
Even in studying the Word we must be careful to understand: Salvation is not in the Book, it is in Him - the author of the Book.
See Jesus through the Word, and having seen Jesus, you will see the Father.
Our faith stands in the power and wisdom of God. Refuse to be intimidated by the wisdom of the world. Look around you - it’s not
working! We speak as though it is a mystery. God’s wisdom is not a mystery to us, only to those who don’t know Him. Before the foundation of the world, God ordained His wisdom to benefit us. We have His mind. Our whole life must revolve around His Word.
Matthew 4.
The Gospel we preach is the Gospel of the Kingdom. It stands to reason, then, that the key to that Gospel is the King, Jesus.
A predominant feature of Gospel of the Kingdom deals with the reversal
of loss. When man fell in the Garden of Eden he lost everything:
Relationship with God
- The mind of God
- The ability to be and live in holiness.
- Health
- Prosperity
- The capacity to love and therefore relationship with each other.
However, God the Father sent Jesus His only begotten Son, the King of His Kingdom to deal with man’s sin problem, came and took our sin upon Himself, recovering all that was lost by Adam.
What then, is the anointing for? (vs 19) This verse wraps up the essence of Jesus’ mission. "The acceptable year of the Lord", the Year of Jubilee. It is the year of reversal of debt. Where the Gospel is preached, restoration is preached. We can live under the blessings of redemption instead of under the curse of the fall. The poor can regain their wealth, the broken-hearted regain the capacity to love and be loved. The sickly restored to health, and the blind regain their vision.
Luke 15.
The three parables in this chapter were all told to illustrate what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, and all three deal with the reversal of
loss.
The first story deals with one lost sheep. The Scribes and Pharisees, in their self-righteousness are unable to discern the
purpose of Jesus entertaining sinners! However, Jesus points out to them the Father is searching for and restoring what’s lost. The
Shepherd’s crook is not only to retrieve lost sheep but, to break the leg of delinquent sheep prone to wondering away and get lost - that’s why the shepherd is seen carrying the sheep on his shoulders!
The second story is about a woman who has lost a coin. This coin may have been part of the traditional dowry - a headdress of coins worn by a bride on her wedding day. That would of course make it of extreme value to her. On the other hand, it may just have been a drachma, equal in value to one day’s wages. The lost are like that coin. Even a Ten-cent piece lost on a sidewalk needs to be picked up and put back into the monetary system it was designed for. Whatever you have lost has value.
The third story is about lost relationship being restored. This is the one we should place our emphasis on - we so often stress our lives over lost possessions and blithely walk away from lost relationships. God is in the business of recovering and restoring lost relationships! We ought to do likewise!
Lift the quality of your life. God does not deal in worthlessness. Ours is a Gospel of joy - I have recovered what I lost!
John the Baptist is in prison - incarcerated for his stand for righteousness. Perhaps in a moment of doubt, he sends a message to
Jesus: " Are You He who is to come, or should we look for another?" Jesus’ answer is to heal the sick and cast out demons, and then tell the messengers "Go and tell John what you have seen". The evidence that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand is the restoration of what was lost.
Genesis 22:1. Abraham is our spiritual father - the father of the faith. When God tempted him, it was not a temptation to evil. He was "tempted" to go on an adventure of faith with God. Our response ought to be: "Let’s go, Lord!". (Understanding, of course, that the jungle gym in your backyard does not constitute an adventure!) If you set off on a journey with God you are going to find yourself in some unknown places, far from your comfort zones.
You cannot see with your eyes what is the substance of faith. When man fell, he fell out of eternity and into time; out of vision and into sight. That is why the just have to live by faith and not by sight. It is imperative that we are not moved by circumstance - those things that are obvious to the senses. If you are time and sight conscious, you are bound to sink into depression.
There is hearing and there is hearing. A heart that is tuned to God will be able to hear His voice and do all that He says.
The ‘is not’ will bring to naught what ‘is’. That takes vision. It takes a commitment to the Word of God and a refusal to be moved by circumstance. That is Kingdom living. Just as Abraham was chosen by Jehovah and called to a new and unfamiliar country, we have been chosen by God to follow Jesus into a new Kingdom.
(vs 4) When God called Abraham to the region of Moriah, it was a three-day journey. Abraham could see
with the eyes of faith the land he was going to. God wants us to live in timelessness with Him, where we can see the beginning from the end as He does.
(vs 5) Isaac was a young man of 21 yrs of age. He was fully aware of what was going on, but he went without argument. He was a child of faith, trusting in the faithfulness of God. Abraham says to his servants-"Wait here - we will return." He was fully confident that this son, the fulfillment of God’s promise, would still be with him when he returned. Now that’s an adventure of faith!
This chapter contains two stories, which on first glance seem to be separate incidences, but on closer study are completely interlocked - Jesus was painting a picture here, to reveal to us some Kingdom secrets.
(vs 41) Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet, begging him to come and heal his gravely ill daughter. (vs 43) On the way to the home of Jairus, the journey is interrupted when a woman pushes her way through the crowd and grabs hold of the hem of Jesus’ garment. Jesus feels virtue flow from him as she is instantly healed of a chronic condition. He then addresses the woman.
Remember that Jairus is standing next to Jesus at this point, watching all that is taking place. Jesus is busy preparing him for what
was to come.
(vs 50) By the time they arrive at Jairus’ house they are greeted with bad news - the child has died. Jesus immediately turns to Jairus and says, "Don’t be afraid. Just believe. (vs 51) Jesus removes everyone from the room except Peter, John, James, and the girl’s parents. The crowd is waiting outside. He raises the girl from the dead, and then commands everyone in the room, “Tell no one of this."
What were they not to tell? That the girl had been raised? That would be a ludicrous request, since she was about to walk out the door in full view of the waiting crowd. There was no way that that miracle could be kept secret, so Jesus must have been talking about something else that took place in the room. Something that was not to be revealed until the right time. There was a hidden truth in these stories.
If we look carefully at the words Jesus used in that room we find the key. He takes the child by the hand and says, "Talitha Kumi" Translated from the Greek, that simply means "Little girl, arise". To those that hear, that’s what happened. But to those that hear, there is a play on words hidden in the Scripture, giving us the clue to Kingdom truth. In the beginning of these events, when that woman crawled and elbowed her way through the jostling crowd to grab the hem
of Jesus’ garment, it was the same seamless garment they would be gambling for at Calvary. As was the Jewish custom, on the hem of his garment there would be a tassel, or in the Hebrew language, a ‘talith’. This talith was there as a symbol of the Law - of the Word of God. It was there as a constant and present reminder to the wearer of the garment that the Law of the covenant was always to take first place in his life.The woman with the issue of blood laid hold of that talith on the hem of Jesus’ garment. HER HEALING FLOWED WHEN SHE LAID HOLD OF GOD’S WORD.
Now, standing in this room, Jesus addresses the young girl, using the words, "Talitha Kumi". By custom, she would have been wrapped in a prayer shawl, which also would have the talith attached. When Jesus declared what He did, He was in effect saying, " Word, come forth!" He was calling forth the power of the covenant. God’s Word is His covenant with us. The Word made flesh, Jesus, will recover you!
Touch the Word. Lay hold of the promises. Touch God! Kingdom is primarily about the restoration of your relationship with God. Adam and Eve knew God intimately. They had knowledge of His heart. They walked in that relationship and all things were theirs. Since God and His Word are inseparable, and Jesus is the Word made flesh, we need to immerse our lives in His Word. Get rid of all the other tassels in your life!
Speak the mind of God. We are not of the spirit of this world, we are of the Spirit of God. God permits us to instruct Him by speaking His Word to Him. How can you if you have no idea of what His Word says? God has revealed Himself to us through His Word.
To live in His Kingdom you have to live by his Word. The most crucial issue of all that man lost in Eden is the loss of his knowledge
of God.
Seek that lost knowledge. Direct your energy towards knowing the heart and mind of God as they are revealed in His Word. Lay hold of Covenant. Lay hold of the promise. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and Kingdom living will be yours.
