Against Marcion 4.32

Who looks for the lost sheep and the lost coin? Is it not the one who lost it? And who lost it? Is it not the one who had it? And who had it? Is it not the one to whom it belonged? If, then, man is the property of no one but the Creator, the one who had him is the one to whom he belonged; the one who lost him is the one who had him; the one who sought him is the one who lost him; the one who found him is the one who sought him; the one who rejoiced is the one who found him. So the point of both parables is empty with regard to one to whom neither the sheep nor the coin, that is, man, belongs. For he did not lose, because he did not have; nor seek, because he did not lose; nor find, because he did not seek; nor rejoice, because he did not find. And so to rejoice over a sinner's repentance, that is, over the recovery of the lost, belongs to him who declared long ago that he prefers the repentance of a sinner to his death.