God Loves the Lost

  • Series: Year Of The Message
  • by: David Crosby 08/10/08

As it turns out, Jonah is not fond of the people who live in Ninevah. God wants him to go and preach to the wicked people of Ninevah, seeking their repentance, and Jonah just wants them all to die and go to hell.

When the people of Ninevah hear the message of Jonah, they believe God and repent from the king on down. They experience an amazing revival in this wicked city.

Jonah, God's prophet, is even more upset now than he was before. He is so angry he just wants to die.

The Book of Jonah is about God's love for all people including people that we consider hopeless, wicked, and fit only for burning. It is also about God's people who do not see other people like God sees them.

We are always glad when the grace of God proves to be greater than our personal failure. We may not be so glad when God's grace proves to be greater than the terrible sins of disgusting foreigners, and he chooses to show them mercy.

God's vision is broader than ours--and it is keener. He sees the people who remain outside the field of our vision. And he sees them more accurately than we do.

God also sees people through a lens of love while we see people through the lens of our own self-centeredness. God is superior to all, but he doesn't let that keep him from loving. We feel superior to all, and the lie of our own preeminence cuts us off from everyone we ought to love.