Luk 15:1-10, 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Jesus taught sinners who gravitated toward His message but the Pharisees and the Scribes scorned Him for being around sinners. He spoke of 3 parables, I start with the 1st 2: the lost sheep in vs 4, and the lost coin in vs 8. For the lost sheep, the man left 99 to look for 1 sheep. In the 2nd, the woman sweeps her house searching for her lost coin. After each found the lost, they rejoiced. Furthermore, they called on others to rejoice with them vs 6 & 9.
It is important that we comprehend these 2 parables for their core message. In both parables, Jesus said there is joy in the presence of God over one sinner that repents. The question is, is heaven rejoicing over the sinner?, not exactly. Both parables say the man and the woman rejoiced and called on others saying, ”rejoice with me for I have found…”. Heaven reserves rejoicing over God who has found the lost sheep/coin. God calls on those in heaven to rejoice with, and over Him, for being so kind to save another wretched person deserving hell. The message is that of the Savior, not the saved. The saved are the beneficiary of a mighty Savior. This changes how I preach and how I pray for the lost family members, friends etc. The primary reason is to call on God that He may save. Thus, those in heaven and on earth may have a reason to rejoice over Him for salvation.