“We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!”
Hebrews 12:2 (TPT)
God created you in order to enjoy you, and if you were taken from Him, He will not easily give up this source of His joy. The Gospel from man’s perspective is good news. Jesus restores our relationship with God through His work on the cross. But the Gospel from God’s perspective is equally magnificent. God is not willing to forever forfeit relationship with the ones whom He has enjoyed from the beginning. He is simply not willing to be left forever without the ones He enjoys. If anything happens that threatens to block relationship with you, He is determined to remove the barrier no matter what it costs Him.
The entire Bible can be viewed in three parts: God is a Father who wanted a family (Genesis 1-2), God lost His kids (Genesis 3), and God wants His kids back (Genesis 3-Revelation 22).
In Genesis 3, while Adam is hiding from God and attempting to cover his sin, God is coming toward Adam with a plan already in place to restore relationship! God wants His kids back!
God is a Father who loves His kids so much that if one of us gets kidnapped, He will do everything in His power to get us back. Most parents would be willing to lose their lives if that’s what it took to find and rescue a kidnapped child. The parents of a kidnapped child are tormented day and night until the child is found. There is much rejoicing when a kidnapped child is found safe, rescued, and returned to his parents.
The recovery of a lost child and the subsequent rejoicing when the child is found is exactly the subject of Luke chapter 15. The father in this parable can’t wait to rejoice when his lost son is found.
God is not aloof, bored, or detached when He considers His relationship with you. He is not content to sit around in a comfortable house, indifferent to your return. Jesus left heaven’s comfort zone with one passionate, determined mission: to rescue lots of “sons.” He considered you and me so valuable that He chose to die rather than live without us! On the way to the cross, even though He was enduring massive mistreatment and dishonor, He focused instead on “the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2), which is you and I! God redeemed you because He enjoys you!
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