Understanding Your value

God Cares About You

(Luke 15:1-7)

The Bible are littered with images of sheep and the shepherd. They appear at critical times in the
story of God’s people, and there is hardly another motif as rich in content. In Gen. 48, as Jacob,
on his deathbed summarized his life, he declared that God had been his “shepherd all of his life to
this day.” Psalm 23 speaks of God as the Good Shepherd.

Jesus in John 10: 14-15 said, "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know
Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep"
Jesus describes both God and himself as one who knows his flock and whose flock knows him and
his voice.
Amidst all of the images of shepherds and sheep, there is one constant: you and I are always the
sheep.

God does Not Want to Lose Us

When you did lose something valuable or precious how did you feel?
what do you do in those situations? - You stopped everything and looked

The parable of the lost sheep describes God’s response when people are living their lives away
from him. God’s response when people are living in sin and lost.
As we shall see, God’s first response is not anger or frustration, but searching and saving.
And when he finds what he’s lost he feels joy.

The Bible uses different metaphors to highlight the kind of relationship God desires to have with
people.
 God is a Father and He wants us to be His children. This metaphor highlights His desire to
love and nurture us up to maturity.
 God is a King and He wants us to be His prince and princesses-sons and daughters. This
image shows God’s desire for us to have authority and rights to access His power.
 God is a Shepherd and He wants us to be His sheep. This metaphor illustrates God’s care
and regard for us as communal beings. God wants a family and we need a family.

Sinner- Deliberate Law Breaker

The Reason for this Parable

Jesus wanted to explain to His critics
i. That he places a huge value on man’s relationship with God.
ii. Why the dregs of society” and the irreligious were attracted to Him and He welcomed
them.
 iii. The parable teaches that even when one person is missing from God’s family it’s
extremely important to Him.
iv. People need to know God’s heart

The Pharisee and their Problem with Jesus

i. The word Pharisee means” separated one”. They were separatists who taught that salvation
comes through separation. Jesus’ behavior shamed them.
ii. The Pharisee’s problem with Jesus was,” Why are the dregs of society and irreligious
people attracted to You and You are welcoming of them?”
iii. The flawed thinking of the Pharisees was: Unholy people are not attracted to people
who are truly holy. And, holy people do not engage socially with unholy people. Jesus
then cannot be holy. He must be a fraud!

The sheep was lost.

The word lost had many meanings to first century shepherds including:
i. Separated from the flock and unable to reconnect without help.
ii. The sheep was no longer under the shepherd’s watchful eye.
iii. The lost sheep was unaware of its lost state.
iv. It may be grazing or lying still in unfamiliar places.
v. Injured and unable to reunite with the shepherd or the flock.
vi. The lost sheep was now susceptible to predators or thieves.
The lost don’t know they’re lost.
Why they are lost;
i. Some are lost due to fear.
ii. Some are lost due to hurt, injury and pain.
iii. Some are lost due to an incorrect image of God.

Blinded by Satan
A stray sheep usually lies down helplessly, and will not move, stand up or run. It becomes
immobile. “They have been blinded by Satan.”
They are laying down immobile, perhaps in drugs, or the pursuit of money, education, or good
works, etc.
Jesus said in John 12:40” He [Satan] has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they
can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn-and I [Jesus] would
heal them.”
Satan has blindfolded unbelievers’ eyes, evidenced by the way they prioritize life and what’s truly
valuable.
The common denominator among lost people is that they need your help to be found.
Ezekiel 34:1-2- ”The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds
of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds
of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?”

A shepherd’s care is spelled S.E.A.R.C.H.

Shepherds that don’t search, God considers them bad shepherds.

Ezekiel 34:11-12-”For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and
look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look
after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds
and darkness.”

We have to find the back door to peoples’ hearts because the front door is heavily guarded. Note:

The lost Coin

lost, sought, found.
i. Man is Lost like the Coin Was
ii. The coin was altogether ignorant of its being lost.
iii. The lost coin could do nothing to save itself.
You may lose your coin in the carpet, or on the floor, or in dirt, or in the mud. Regardless were
you lose it, it remains lost.
i. You may be educated or uneducated.
ii. You may be religious or never attend church.
iii. You may come from a wicked home or a good home.
Without Christ they are lost
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

What’s The Value of The Lost Coin

The coin retained the image of the emperor or king. ******Fallen Mankind still retains the image
of God.
The coin was lost but still claimed.
*The woman called the money, “my piece which was lost.”

When the Pharisees tempted Jesus by asking about taxes, his response was;
Matthew 22:20-21 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say
unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
When she lost its possession of the coin she did not lose her right to it; ****the coin did not
become somebody else’s when it slipped out of her hand and fell upon the floor.

Out of God’s sovereign and electing love He will bring them to salvation.

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out.

There is hope for the lost

The lost coin was sought by its owner personally.
Notice, she who lost the money lit a candle and swept the house, and sought diligently till she
found it.
The church is presented in scripture as a woman.
The woman represents the Holy Spirit working through the Church
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s
building.
She, the church, cannot delegate her work to anybody. *****The woman did not pay a servant
to sweep the house, but she swept it herself.

This seeking became a matter of very important concern with the woman.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost

The disciples need all these gifts of the Holy ghost to fulfill their mission of seeking and fishing.
Matthew 4:9, Mark 1;17 “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

If you believe in Jesus Christ, you can experience the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, …

The Lost (Prodigal) son

The main message of The Prodigal Son is that it doesn’t matter how far we stray from our Heavenly
Father or how much we squander the gifts he provides; he is always delighted when we turn back
to him. His unconditional love is waiting for us to return home where he greets us with open arms.
Every lost child (a sinner, meaning all of us) who is found (turns to God) is cause for the greatest
celebration.

John 12: 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk
while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know
where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become
children of light.”
John 8: 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 1: 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews
John 12: 37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not
believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our
message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” [h]
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” [i]
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees
they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who
sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world
as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not
come to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I
have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I
have spoken.
50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told
me to say.”