Jesus, the Soul Winner
Facilitated by Pastor Joedy
We can say that Jesus Christ is the Savior of Man, and the One who seeks the lost. In that regard, we should proclaim that He is, indeed, the Soul Winner. Later on we will see how the Apostle Paul shared how this was true, in accordance to His mission as stated in Acts 20:24.
We’re called to follow Him, and in our following Him, we get to know and align with His mission. We’ve been given a life of completeness, as mentioned in Colossians 2:10: “and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”
Here, fullness means completeness, and lacking nothing, but it also means we are growing.
We see in Philemon 6, a simple description on how we can be effective as people, and as Christians. It’s by acknowledging every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus – to know Him, and to make Him known.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”John 20:21
The word ‘As’ ought to be emphasized – It means ‘in the same way, or in the same manner.’ Discipleship, therefore, could mean for us to walk in the way of a sent one. We walk as Christ, who was sent, walked.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.Philippians 2:5-8
Don’t mistake this as us ‘copying’ Christ. Remember, it’s more of us yielding to the Life that is already in us. It’s more of us realizing and celebrating, ‘As Christ is, so are we in this world.’
Let’s see the 3 ‘S’s’ of a Sent One: He is Secure In Who He Is, He Is Sure About His Mission, and He Served With Love. Security has to do with Identity, Sureness involves knowing an Important Assignment, and Serving is always connected to the Interest, or the Best of/in others. Christ always had us in His mind.
Christ is Secure In His Identity. Who was He? Who IS He? Well, before He even started His ministry, it was already proclaimed: He is the Beloved Son of God. We remember His encounter with John the Baptist: Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”Matthew 3:13-17
Christ is Sure Of His Mission. He knew the Importance of His assignment. He revealed how His task is revealed to be in line with prophecy, as He shared in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
If we were to look into it in a little more detail, we can see that His assignment was to save people:
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Luke 19:10
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”Matthew 1:21
His assignment was also to give eternal life:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.John 5:24
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.1 John 5:11-12
Christ Served With Love, keeping the interests and the best for mankind close to Him. Oftentimes we think we know what’s best for ourselves, or we insist that we know what’s best for others… But who better than the Lord Jesus Christ to tell us what’s best for us?
Christ made it clear that He wanted what was best for us, and He did not hide how He wanted the Salvation of Man, and Restoration of God’s original intention for Man. He days: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Mark 10:42-45
His love was not one that was merely theoretical, but one of Action. And while He had the best for the entire human race in His mind, this did not stop Him from drilling down to each and every one of us, as individuals. For those who have a mind altered by being cast away and rejected, He quenched our thirst, just as He ministered to the outcast Samaritan woman in John 4:7-15:
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
He filled us with love, even when we were hated with intention, brought astray by the riches of this finite reality, or just downright corrupt. He demonstrated such a ridiculous love with Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke 19:1-10:
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
He was the kind provider for us when we were struggling with provisions, as Peter was, in Luke 5:1-11:
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
To the religious pharisee Saul, the zealous persecutor, He was the grace giver, as we see in 1 Timothy 1:12-17:
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.1 Timothy 1:12-17
We have been saved, and we see that a part of our salvation is that we have been sent, as Jesus Christ is sent. We are encouraged, as John encouraged the church: By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.1 John 4:17
We can see that Paul found his identity in Christ. He shared the following to the Philippians:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11
And in his walk in knowing Christ, he knew, as emphasized that we ought to know – we are beloved by God: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.Ephesians 5:1-3
Beyond his identity, Paul also found his Mission in Christ. Acts 9:1-9 details Paul’s conversion:
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 20:24 details Paul’s life mission:
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Finally, Acts 28:30-31 details Paul’s passion:
He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.Acts 28:30-31
Paul was served with love by Christ, and so he also served with love. In his Epistles to the various churches, we see how Paul either directly served, or promoted service, not for ourselves primarily, but for the interest or benefit of others:
We see how he served (and consequently, how we have been served by Christ) by way of empowering, or adding value. Again, he tells the Philippians of his confidence – “Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith” (Philippians 1:24-25 NKJV)
A good leader shows how great he is, and adds value to himself. Sound familiar?
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’
All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot.”
Isaiah 14:12-19
A great leader shows how great you are. He gives value to you:
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:7-18
Paul mentioned how Christ served us by way of investing into us, as a way of believing in us and imparting Himself towards us. This is how it should be for us, as we minister to others. “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.” Romans 15:29 NIV
Finally, Christ left a legacy through Paul, and He leaves a legacy for us to pass on, in the name of continuity. “Teach others, entrust to others” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Conclusion:
Why are we here today? Because of Jesus and His sent ones who found their completeness in Christ, important mission and served the interests of the Gospel of Grace, for the best benefit of Mankind: that is, to meet the most wonderful and loving Savior, Jesus Christ. A sent one is secure about who he is because He knows that he is loved, and serves not to prove anything but for others benefit.
Until the next post, God bless you.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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