If someone asked you, “What is God’s greatest concern?” how would you answer? You might say holiness. Or perhaps prayer, worship, righteousness, or even building the Church. All of these matter deeply to God. Yet when you read the Gospels carefully, you discover something surprising. Beneath every miracle, every conversation, and every journey, you find one recurring theme: God’s unwavering concern for the lost.
Jesus’ life and ministry show us that God is deeply concerned about bringing lost people back into a relationship with Himself. He spent much of His time pursuing people whom others had written off. Again and again, He sought out the lost, welcomed them, and invited them into a restored relationship with God.
The parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son all emphasize God’s passionate concern for the lost. This concern is so central that Jesus described His entire mission with these words: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). So the question is, why is God so concerned about the lost?
To answer that question, we first need to understand who the lost are.
Who Are the Lost?
When people hear the word lost, some immediately think of criminals, prostitutes, immoral people, or those living far from God. But Jesus had a much broader definition. In His eyes, a person is lost because they are separated from God, not simply because they have committed obvious sins. Luke 15 introduces us to two different kinds of lost people.
The Far Lost
The younger son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son represents those who have wandered far from God (Luke 15:11–24). He rejected his father, left home, wasted everything he had, and eventually found himself hungry, broken, and alone.
His lostness was obvious. Many people today identify with this son. They know they have made mistakes. They know they need forgiveness. They know they need God.
The Near Lost
The older brother is different. He never left home. He worked hard. He was outwardly obedient but inwardly distant. Although he was physically close to his father, his heart was far away. When his brother returned, he became angry instead of joyful. He did not understand his father’s compassionate love for his wayward brother, and therefore could not share his father’s joy when that broken relationship was restored. The parable portrayed him as resentful. He became angry and refused to go in (Luke 15:28).
Jesus told this story because the religious leaders were criticizing Him for welcoming sinners (Luke 15:1–2). They believed God cared more about rule-keeping than restoring people. The older brother represents those who may know Scripture, live morally respectable lives, attend church, or faithfully practice their religion, yet fail to live in alignment with God.
Like the older brother, they may be close to the father’s house but far from the father’s heart. Their outward devotion masks an inward distance from God, showing that they, too, are lost.
God’s Heart Is to Restore, Not Reject
Luke 15 contains three powerful stories: a shepherd searching for one lost sheep, a woman carefully looking for one lost coin, and a father joyfully welcoming home his lost son. Although each story is different, they all reveal the same truth about God’s heart. God does not give up on people who are lost. He seeks them and longs to bring them back into a relationship with Himself. These parables show us a God who takes the initiative, not one who waits passively for people to find their way back.
Jesus concludes the parables by saying that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7, 10). Think about that. Heaven celebrates every time someone who was separated from God returns to Him. That tells us something important about God’s heart. He is not looking for opportunities to condemn people; He is working to restore them. His greatest desire is not to drive people away because of their past, but to welcome them home to a new life.
Why Is God So Passionate About Restoring People?
God’s heart is to build a family. The Bible begins with humanity living in close fellowship with God as one family, but sin shattered that relationship. From that moment on, the story of the Bible is the story of a loving Father reaching out to bring people back to Himself. This is the thread that runs through the entire Bible and reaches its fullest expression in Jesus Christ.
Jesus did not come merely to establish a new religion or give people a better moral code. He came to make reconciliation with God possible. That is why He spent so much time with tax collectors, sinners, and social outcasts. It wasn’t because He approved of their sinful lifestyles, but because He loved them too much to leave them separated from the Father. Everything Jesus said and did pointed people back to God.
God Is the Master Evangelist
Many believers think evangelism begins with us. The Bible tells a different story. Evangelism begins with God. Long before anyone starts looking for Him, God is already at work in their life. Throughout the Gospels, we see Him taking the initiative again and again. Jesus sought out Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus truly understood who He was (Luke 19:1–10). He called His disciples before they ever imagined following Him. He intentionally met the Samaritan woman at the well before she realized her deepest need was for the living water only He could give (John 4).
Jesus made this truth even clearer when He said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). God is always the One who makes the first move. He prepares hearts, creates opportunities, and draws people to Himself. He is the One working behind the scenes long before we arrive. This changes the way we think about evangelism. God’s work does not begin with us. He is already at work. Our role is simply to join Him in what He is already doing.
The Book of Acts Shows God at Work
We often refer to it as The Acts of the Apostles. However, as you read the book carefully, you’d realize that The Acts of the Holy Spirit seems more fitting. The apostles preached, travelled, and planted churches, but it was God who directed the mission every step of the way. The Holy Spirit empowered them to preach, guided them where to go, and prepared people’s hearts to receive the gospel. He is the one who makes the harvest possible. The book repeatedly reminds us that the success of the mission did not depend on human ability but on God’s active presence and leadership.
This pattern appears throughout Acts. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, and about three thousand people responded to the gospel (Acts 2). The Spirit directed Philip to the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26–40), Jesus personally confronted Saul and transformed him into Paul (Acts 9), and God gave matching visions to Peter and Cornelius so the gospel would reach the Gentiles (Acts 10).
Later, the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Paul into missionary work (Acts 13:2) and even prevented Paul from entering certain regions, redirecting him to Macedonia instead (Acts 16:6–10). Again and again, God does the groundwork—opening doors, arranging divine appointments, preparing hearts, and leading His people exactly where they need to be. The apostles were faithful servants, but God was the One directing the mission. He is the executive director.
God is doing the same, even today. In recent times, there have been numerous well-documented testimonies of people who describe being drawn to Christ through remarkable circumstances before ever meeting a Christian. In many parts of the Muslim world, including Iran and other countries where access to the gospel is limited, many have shared accounts of dreams or visions of Jesus that prompted them to seek Him, read the Scriptures, or connect with other believers. These testimonies echo the pattern we see throughout the Book of Acts.
Do You Share God’s Heart for the Lost?
If God is the One seeking the lost, what is left for us to do? Well, the answer is simple: We join Him. Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17).
The mission belongs to God. We are invited to participate in it. We are called to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). A witness simply tells others what he has seen and experienced. It is God who transforms hearts through the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to faithfully represent Christ, share the good news, pray for people, love them, and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.
This truth frees us from both fear and pride. We are not responsible for saving people. That work belongs to God. Our role is simply to be willing partners in His mission. This changes the way we see evangelism. Instead of feeling pressured to produce results, we can faithfully point people to Christ and trust God to do what only He can do.
If God’s greatest passion is restoring people to Himself, then our greatest passion should be the same. When our hearts begin to reflect His heart, evangelism no longer feels like a duty to be performed; it becomes a privilege to be embraced. We stop asking, “How can I convince people?” and begin asking, “Lord, where are You already at work, and how can I join You?”
This is exactly how Jesus lived. He said, “…the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19). Jesus’ ministry was never about carrying out His own agenda; it was about joining the Father in what the Father was already doing. As His followers, we are called to live the same way.
Evangelism is joining God in His ministry of reconciliation. We each have a different role to play. Some are called to preach, others to teach or disciple. Some serve through prayer, encouragement, writing, acts of generosity, hospitality, or by going where God sends them. As we faithfully serve in the ways He has gifted us, every conversation about Jesus, every act of love, every prayer for someone who is far from God, and every faithful witness becomes part of God’s ongoing work of restoring people to Himself.
