To Seek and Save

I saw a bumpersticker recently that said, “Jesus is coming! (And boy is he angry).” Except angry was another word, which I don’t need to post here (but it rhymes with kissed). I was reminded of the sticker, when I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 18, this morning.
 

“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”

                                                                                                       – Matthew 18:11 

I think it is true that Jesus will one day return, and certain passages in the Bible reveal that His wrath will be poured out on everything that rebels against Him. But it is critically important that we understand God’s ultimate purpose in the world is not condemnation, judgment and punishment. His primary goal is to seek and to save that which is lost. 

This weekend I know I’m going to hear all about how the Green Bay Packers lost, this last Sunday. Something else newsworthy from Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, are his recent comments about his departure from Christianity, on an interview podcast with his girlfriend, Danica Patrick. In a clip released on Patrick’s YouTube channel, Rodgers says, “I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet, to a fiery hell. What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn most of His beautiful creation in a fiery hell at the end of all this?”

His question is valid. But it reveals his lack of knowledge about the whole of Scripture. God is just, and He will be no means clear the guilty. But He is also the fullness of love, grace, mercy, and compassion. 

This Sunday we are beginning a study in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy. It speaks a lot of law, and clearly communicates the consequences of not obeying God’s law. But it also reveals God’s grace, and desire to bless. A full understanding of the whole nature of God is necessary, or people—like Aaron Rodgers—will misunderstand God’s works.