Lost and Found

Missions and Evangelism

2 Corinthians 4:3-6
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


Jesus came into this world to save us from being lost. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). We confess in the Canons of Dort (I.5), “Those who receive [the gospel] and embrace Jesus the Saviour with a true and living faith are delivered by Him from the wrath of God and from destruction, and are given eternal life.” I once was lost, but now am found!

In His parable about the prodigal son, Jesus paralleled being lost with being dead (Luke 15:24). Those who are not saved by Christ are dead in their sins (Eph 2:5). They are also blind (2 Corinthians 4:4). They cannot see the road to life and joy, instead travelling one that results in death and anguish. This is a horrible picture of what we once were. It is also a terrible portrait of what all unbelievers still are.

We have been given a mission to change that. We’ve been commanded to raise the dead to life, to find the lost and to open the eyes of the blind! In doing so, we are giving them ultimate joy and life.

Turning unbelievers into living, seeing Christians is doing exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 5:34. It is loving them and giving them the best gift they could ever receive.

Even if we were not commanded to turn people to Christ, we should be encouraged to do so as a result of our own salvation. It is impossible not to be thankful for all that Christ has provided us with and what He has rescued us from. As a result of this, we should be desperate for others to experience the same life and joy, at the same time warning them of what they will experience if they don’t repent.

What a mission we’ve been given. What a privilege! We have been chosen by God to do what only He can do: give sight to the blind, resurrect the dead and find the spiritually lost. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). God works through you to perform miracles, and so bring glory to His name.

How do we go about our evangelism? What do we do or say to them to change their life for Christ? To resurrect them from death to eternal life? For a resurrection to occur, Peter says they must be born again:

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-24).

This is what has happened to us. We were dead to sin, but God has purified our souls, has born us again, and thus we have had faith in God and His Word and obeyed it. So in order to experience this joy and life that God promises, we must be born again. But this is something only God can do. So what is our role in conversion?

Verse 23 says that we are born again “through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” So that, in turn, is what is needed in the lives of the dead. The word of God lives, and it sustains life forever!

Heidelberg Catechism LD 25 says the faith that makes us righteous comes “from the Holy Spirit, who works it in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel”. The Holy Spirit does the work, but He does it through the means of the word of God.

When we evangelise we must proclaim the gospel. The gospel is what has the power to change hearts, to resurrect people, and to open the eyes of the blind. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). 

What the world needs are people who go out and proclaim the gospel of salvation. Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (above) explains it really well. Verse 4 says that the ‘god of this age’ has blinded the minds of the world, so they cannot see the light of the gospel. That is the problem with the unbelievers around you. There is a barrier of darkness in their minds. 

But God, who said in the beginning, “Let there be light” has created light in our hearts and minds so we can see the gospel and the glory of God!

And again, we see our responsibility. Verse 5, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” The good news of Jesus Christ is needed in order to turn from the darkness and blindness of verse 4 to the light and sight of verse 6.

You are needed. God has called you. He has said, “I am sending you now to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18).

Will you reply like Isaiah: ““Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). 

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37).


How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
                                                     - Isaiah 52:7