Page 19 - Fundamentals 7 ebook 1-16-19_Neat

Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” 1 John
4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John
4:14, “And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has
sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” That’s the goal; to
be the Savior of the world. That’s the end; that’s the destiny.

But what about His journey? We say in Micah 5:2, that it’s
Bethlehem, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrata, too little to be
among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to
be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the
days of eternity.” He went to Bethlehem but that wasn’t His
goal. That’s part of the journey. He was nine months in Mary’s
womb but he didn’t stay there. He went to Bethlehem but he
didn’t stay there. You might say his goal was Nazareth. That
was his boyhood town. He didn’t stay there very long.
Remember how they tried to throw Him over the cliff?

The Father sent the Son into the wilderness to be tempted. That
was only forty days. That’s part of the journey but it’s not the
goal. Luke 4:14&15, “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the
power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the
surrounding district. And He began teaching in their
synagogues and was praised by all.” You might say that His
goal was Galilee. That’s where He did His teaching and where
He let the Father do His miracles. That wasn’t His destination.
That was three and a half years. Well, you might say that His
destination was the cross. He came to save the world.

Listen to Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost.” When we talk about His goal,
I don’t want to take the cross, His death, His resurrection and
just say, “That’s part of the journey.” In Gethsemane He sweat
drops of blood. There I think He became sin for us. On the
cross He shed His life’s blood. He took what we deserved. He
crushed eternity into three hours. And when He rose again from
the dead, that was part of His journey. “The wages of sin is
death.” If one sin was not forgiven He would still be dead.