What It Means to Be Lost

In review of Luke 19:10 it says, “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

Bottom Line:

The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.

What this means to me:

Jesus, the Son of Man, came to look for and save those who are lost.

Understanding the true importance of Christmas is extremely important. If one doesn't understand the purpose of Christmas, they might as well skip the Christmas lights and decorations this year. They might as well forget about buying Christmas presents. And they might as well forget the Christmas dinner. Not knowing why we celebrate Christmas makes all the festivities pointless.

To find the purpose of Christmas, we need to fast forward beyond the manger, the Wise Men, and the shepherds. Jesus told us the reason he came to Earth on the first Christmas: “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them” (Luke 19:10 NCV).

Quite simply, Jesus came because people are lost without God. To be spiritually lost means to be separated from God, disconnected, and out of whack. Without Jesus, everybody in the world is lost; regardless of how much power, wealth, or fame they have.

This lostness has immense ramifications on a life. To know why Jesus came to Earth, we must understand what it means to be lost.

Without God, we've lost:

Our direction. We’re bound to have little understanding of where we should go and what we should do in this life.

His protection. We’re on our own when we’re not under the Lord’s protection. That’s a huge reason many people are stressed out. They’re trying to live under their own care and protection instead of God’s.

Our potential. We’ll never know half the gifts and talents we have if we’re not in a relationship with him.

Our happiness. We can have all the money and power in the world, but without God we will never have true joy.

Our home in Heaven. God allows us to rebel while we’re here on Earth, but there’s no rebellion in Heaven.

But being lost doesn't mean one has lost value to God. Even if someone doesn't have a relationship with Him, they still have immense value to Him. Lostness implies value. Whatever someone is willing to spend to recover something that’s lost shows how valuable that item is.

In the most famous verse in the Bible, Jesus clearly explains our value: “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The Good News is God loved us so much he sent his Son to Earth on the first Christmas to seek and save us. That’s the reason to celebrate!

In my quiet times, it’s easy for me to keep this perspective, however, when I get involved in the tasks of the day and the preparations, it’s easy to lose sight. I’m thinking the best way for me to keep this perspective is to do everything I do in honor of Christ. It is He that I serve. It’s important for me to remember that Christ came to seek and save those who are lost. My life should be about assisting Christ in this by being an example and introducing others to Him through my life.