Sacrifice (5) Trick

One of the worst tricks of the enemy is to make people believe that God hates them and is out to get them. The spiritual powers of evil stir up guilt, because they can use it to make us afraid of God. They prefer that people run away from God, because that gives them more control on earth. The truth is that God loves all people on earth and wants to be friends with them. He is always seeking out those who have run away from him.

The Jews had misunderstood God completely. They thought that God hated sinners, that he could not come and meet with people until they kept all the rules. They were totally confused when Jesus went and sat amongst known sinners. They saw it as proof that he was not from God.

But they had got God wrong. Jesus came to correct their misunderstanding. Jesus demonstrated that God loves the world, that he sent his son to sit among sinners and speak to them. To help us understand God’s attitude to the people he had created, Jesus told the parable of the lost coins.

What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:8-10).

This parable is not about Jesus. It’s purpose is to help people understand God. He is always seeking out those who have hidden away from him because they are guilty. God is delighted when people have their guilt washed away by Jesus death on the cross and are able to be friends with him again.

God is not the problem. The problem has always been with us. Human guilt keeps us from God. We always flee from his presence. He is gracious and has always been reaching out to us. We cannot see his love until we understand that Jesus had dealt with our guilt.