A Savior For Sinners

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” - Luke 19:10

--

Christ did not come into the world merely to live among men, or to teach them, or to set them an example, though He did all this. His main errand was the salvation of the lost. He came not that the righteous might admire Him, but that sinners might be saved by Him. He is the Shepherd who goes after the sheep until He finds it. The lost coin is sought until it is recovered. The prodigal is watched for until He returns. Our Lord’s life, death, resurrection, and intercession are all for this one end — the saving of sinners.

The incarnation was the first step in that glorious pursuit. He came forth from the ivory palaces and was born in a manger, not for the sake of those who think themselves wise and good, but for those who know themselves guilty and undone. He came to lift the beggar from the dunghill and set him among princes. The physician lives not for the healthy but for the sick. The deliverer lives not for the secure but for the enslaved. So Christ lives for sinners. He came not to be applauded by men but to be despised and rejected of men in order that men might be accepted of God.

And He continues His work still. He saves today as truly as when He wept over Jerusalem. He receives sinners now with the same readiness as when He received them in the days of His flesh. His heart has not changed. In heaven He is the same Jesus who sought the lost on earth. Until the last of His redeemed is gathered in, His purpose shall not fail. Hell shall never boast that its gates have withstood the power of His grace. For this He was born, and for this He died — to bring lost sinners home to God.

(Taken from Charles Spurgeon's sermon "The Mission of the Son of Man")