COMMENTS ON THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTERS OF LUKE...PT 14 TEXT: LUKE 15 In the last part of this meditation, we mentioned Nehemiah, a type of Christ, how he wore a sad countenance before the king because of the ruin of Jerusalem. We shall come to talk more about that subsequently. However, our focus here shall be on some vital truth inherent in the chapter under consideration. There are five concepts that run through out this chapter: PERFECT AND SOVEREIGN OWNERSHIP... The first concept is that perfect and sovereign ownership: This is seen from the statements in verses 4(a&b), 8(a) and 11(a&b). The statements are: What man of you, having an hundred sheep..., Either what woman having ten pieces of silver... and And he said, A certain man had two sons... A careful observation of these three phrases, shows that the shepherd has 100 sheep, a complete number; the woman has 10 pieces of silvers and the father has two sons...these are complete figures and numbers. This use of perfect numbers is not in vain neither is it merely for the purpose of convenience. It is deliberate and inherently divine. This goes to show the picture of the state of things in Genesis 1&2 before the fall of man. Things were in their perfect state before the fall of man. GOD had firm grip on every thing until man was tempted. There was complete dominion and absolute ownership and completeness with God and by God. As it were, no sheep was lost; no silver piece was misplaced and no son went prodigal. There was complete calmness among the flock...all the silver pieces were comfortably sitted in the purse and the two sons took pleasure in remaining under the watch of the father. Nothing went and was amiss: because he made all things beutiful in His own time...He saw that all that He created were good. Dominion and authority resided with man according to His ordering...all things were ready and remained being -being ready...nothing lacking. So, When David cried out in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing..., he was actually re-echoing the state of things as it was from the beginning... man was right within the confine of Gods power and authority. This is the import of the specific numbers as it relate to the sheep, coins and the sons in these parables. In the nutshell, from the begining, God possessed every thing. We must accept that all humanity belongs to God without exception. He owns every thing...He is the original owner of all things. He is the shepherd, having hundred sheep the woman having ten pieces of silver and the man which had two sons... LOSE... Secondly, there is the concept of lose, this we have talked about in our previous comments on the chapter under consideration. The phrases: ...if she lose one piece...., ...if he lose one of them... and ...the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far... show this concept. That that which God had was lost to His enemy. SEARCH, RECOVERY AND CELEBRATION Again also we see the concept of searching for that which was lost. Look up the following phrases: ...go after that which is lost, until he find it? ...light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? Moreover, in these phrases, we see the concepts of finding that which was lost and the celebrations that follow. For the purpose of clarity, lets mention the above concepts in the order which they appeared and the implication thereof: #Absolute ownership #Lose #Search #Recovery #Celebration. The above ideas run through the passage under consideration. Observe this: our Lords life here on earth was guided deliberately by these concepts. He lived His life with the understanding that He was the owner of every thing and that the first man mortgaged ownership to the devil. Therefore, the earthly life and ministry of our Lord and saviour were permeated with these ideas. He looked for the lost; recovered them and celebrate whenever they were recovered. Celebration, to Him, was worthwhile only when the lost are recovered. Brothers and sisters, the Christian life is supposed to reflect all of these ideas. A saint should gauge his success in the light of these. Many are celebrating what is temporary and ephemeral. Whenever I go through the testimony bulletins of the church today, all I see are celebrations of new cars; new houses; new jobs, promotion and financial breakthrough. Hardly would one see testiomny about the salvation of souls. May God give us light! Amen! To be continued.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:52:00 +0000
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