2.1 God Comes Looking for Us
God Comes Looking for Us
Section 1 showed what we could not repair. The good news begins with what God did.
Anna
Joel
Sam
Mum
DadListen in · open the Bible · think for yourselfThe words from their last conversation stayed with the family:
The next evening, Dad opened the blue notebook and drew a line down the middle of a page.
Sam leaned across the table. "The left side sounds like bad news."
"It is honest news," Dad replied. "We cannot erase our guilt, free ourselves from sin, restore our relationship with God or give ourselves new life. If the story ended with us, we would have no hope."
"But it does not end with us," Anna said. "It says, 'But God.'"
Dad smiled. "Exactly. The good news begins with what God has done for us."
He opened Ephesians 2.
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ."
Ephesians 2:4-5
"Section 1 showed us what we could not repair," Mum said. "Now we are going to see what God did."
Why Did God Come Looking When People Hid from Him?
Anna opened her Bible to Genesis 3.
"Adam and Eve distrusted God and hid from Him," she said. "Why did God go looking for them?"
Before Dad answered, Mum smiled at Sam. "Do you remember breaking my plant pot when you were little?"
Sam covered his face. "I hoped everyone had forgotten that."
"You hid behind the bedroom curtain," Mum continued. "Your feet were still showing."
Joel laughed. "A brilliant hiding place."
"I called you because I loved you," Mum said. "That did not make the broken pot unimportant. You still had to come out, tell the truth and face what had happened. But love moved towards you while you were hiding."
Dad opened Genesis 3:9.
"Where are you?"
Genesis 3:9
"God already knew where Adam was," Sam said.
"Yes," Dad replied. "He was not asking for Adam's location. God was calling him out of hiding and into the truth."
"So grace means God moves towards people who have moved away from Him?" Joel asked.
"That is a good beginning," Dad said. "Grace is God's undeserved kindness to people who cannot rescue themselves. It does not pretend that sin is harmless. God takes the first step. He calls us out of hiding and provides the rescue we need."
God Did Not Abandon His World
"Why didn't God give up on humanity and start again?" Joel asked.
Dad paused. "Because God does not throw away what He has made, and He never forgets His promises. He is holy and opposes evil. He is also loving, merciful and faithful."
Even in Genesis 3, God gave hope. Evil would not have the final word. Genesis 3:15 is like the first glimmer of sunrise: one day, a descendant of the woman would defeat the deceiver, although the victory would involve suffering.
"Is that the beginning of the rescue story?" Sam asked.
"Yes. At this point, the promise is only a first glimmer. As the Bible's story continues, God's rescue becomes clearer."
Dad asked the children to help him trace the story.
"God called Abraham," Anna began, "and promised to bless all nations through his family."
"God rescued Israel from slavery," Joel added.
"He gave them His law," Sam said.
Mum continued, "And when God's people wandered, He sent prophets."
"The prophets promised a righteous King, a suffering Servant and a new covenant with new hearts," Dad said. "You can see this in Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 53 and Jeremiah 31:31-34."
Joel thought for a moment. "God's law was good. It showed people God's good way. But the law could not, by itself, change hearts that had turned away from Him."
"Exactly. We needed more than another instruction. We needed a faithful King who would obey where humanity had failed. We needed someone who could deal with guilt, defeat evil and give us new hearts."
The whole rescue story moves towards Jesus.
God came looking. God kept His promise. The rescue story was moving towards Jesus.
Part 1 complete. You may pause here. When you return, the family will ask the most important question so far: Who is Jesus, and why did He come?
God Came to Us in Jesus
"Could God have sent another prophet with better instructions?" Sam asked.
"Another message could tell us what to do," Dad replied. "It could not erase our guilt, free us from sin or give us life. Our Rescuer had to come to us."
John begins his Gospel by telling us that all things were made through the Word. Then he writes:
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
John 1:14
"The Word is Jesus?" Sam asked.
"Yes. The eternal Son, through whom the world was made, entered the world He had made. God did not rescue us from a safe distance."
"Did Jesus stop being God when He became human?" Joel asked.
"No. The eternal Son became truly human without ceasing to be divine. Jesus was not God pretending to be human. He shared our real human life."
Jesus experienced hunger, tiredness, sadness, temptation, rejection and physical pain. Yet He never sinned.
He "has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin."
Hebrews 4:15
Anna looked at the verse. "Why does it matter that Jesus is both divine and human?"
"Our rescue had to be God's own work," Dad said. "We also needed someone truly human who would obey where we had failed. Jesus is both God and man. Because He truly shares our humanity, He can stand for us. Because He is the divine Son, His rescue is God Himself acting for us."
"Is that why Jesus is called the Mediator?" Anna asked.
"Yes. A mediator brings separated people together. Jesus is the One who brings us to God."
"There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus."
1 Timothy 2:5
Jesus Came as the Promised King
"I usually hear the gospel explained as the way I can be forgiven and go to heaven," Joel said. "Is that wrong?"
"Forgiveness and eternal life are wonderfully true," Dad replied. "But the gospel is bigger than my private story. It announces who Jesus is and what God has done through Him."
Messiah means God's promised King. Jesus came as Israel's Messiah and the rightful King of all. He announced God's kingdom, welcomed outsiders, confronted evil and showed what God's good rule is like.
Where Adam chose disobedience, Jesus chose obedience.
Where Israel struggled to remain faithful, Jesus faithfully completed Israel's calling and brought God's promised blessing to the nations.
Where we try to rule ourselves, Jesus lived completely under His Father's will.
"So the good news is not only that Jesus can improve my life," Anna said. "It is the announcement that God's King has come."
"Yes," Dad replied. "The King has come to rescue His people, defeat evil and renew God's creation. When Jesus saves us, He brings our small stories into His much bigger rescue story."
Love Took the First Step
Joel turned a page in his Bible. "Did Jesus have to persuade an angry Father to love us?"
"No," Mum replied. "The Father did not begin loving us after Jesus died. The Father sent the Son because God already loved us."
"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son."
John 3:16
"And Jesus was not an unwilling stranger forced into the rescue," Dad added. "The Son loved us and willingly came to give Himself. The Father and Son were united in love and purpose."
God's rescue is the united work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son. The Son willingly came to save us. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to Jesus and gives new life. We will learn more about the Spirit when we study the new birth.
"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
"God did not wait for us to become good enough," Sam said.
"No," Dad replied. "Christ came while we were sinners. Grace does not mean that God pretends sin is unimportant. It means that in love, God does for us what we could never do for ourselves."
Hold On to This
The good news begins not with us trying to reach God, but with God coming to rescue us in His Son.
Look again at the blue notebook.
Which truth about God acting first is most meaningful to you?
A Simple Prayer
God, I did not begin the rescue story. You did. Thank You for moving towards people who had moved away from You. Thank You that the Son entered our human story. Help me understand who Jesus is and why He came. Show me the greatness of Your love and grace. Amen.
Joel looked again at Romans 5:8.
"I understand that Jesus came to rescue us," he said. "But how can one person's death deal with everyone else's sin?"
Dad closed the blue notebook. "That is not a small question. Tomorrow, we will answer it carefully."