JESUS SAID TO HIM, “TODAY SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE, BECAUSE THIS MAN, TOO, IS A SON OF ABRAHAM. FOR THE SON OF MAN CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE WHAT WAS LOST” (LUKE 19:8-10).
TODAY’S DEVOTION
It was not God’s purpose, however, to leave Heaven and come to the Earth to rule it directly. He chose instead to give rulership of this domain to beings specially created for it. God created human beings specifically for the purpose of dominating the Earth for Him and filling it with His nature, character, and culture. No other created beings in Heaven or on Earth were suited for the task. Only humans were fit to rule the Earth because that is the way God designed us.…
Unfortunately, in an act of treason and betrayal, the first two humans inadvertently surrendered their kingdom to one who greatly desired it but who was not qualified to rule it.…
Jesus Christ, the King’s Son, came to Earth to take it back. He came to regain what was lost. When Jesus announced the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 4:17, He was not bringing anything new to the Earth. He was bringing back what man had lost, and what the pretender had stolen.
(God’s Big Idea, Chapter Five)
CONSIDERATIONS
1. What happened that caused a demonic pretender to ascend the throne and the earthly realm to declare its independence from Heaven?
2. Zacchaeus was despised because of his unethical financial practices. How was his life changed after an encounter with Jesus? Compare Zacchaeus with a modern-day person fitting his description.
3. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Notice that Jesus said He came “to seek and to save what was lost,” rather than “who” was lost. Other versions of the Bible translate the phrase, “that which was lost.” How do you explain this distinction?
4. In Luke 19:10, Jesus was referring also to the Kingdom of Heaven itself, which had been lost, and which He came to seek and to save. In what ways has the Kingdom been found and redeemed?
5. In what ways has the Kingdom remained lost and unredeemed?
MEDITATION
People everywhere are looking desperately for the Kingdom, even if they don’t know it. This is why, when they encounter it—when they hear the message of the Kingdom—they, like Zacchaeus, find it irresistible. It is this attractive, magnetic quality of the Kingdom that Jesus had in mind when He said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matt. 11:12). Once people know about the Kingdom and understand it, they flock to it, desperate to enter. This is only natural. The Kingdom is what we were created for.
(God’s Big Idea, Chapter Five)
It is natural to want to be part of the Kingdom—why do some resist?