As we continue the “I Am” series, we have reflected to this point, Jesus Himself, is the Bread of Life (6:35), Light of the world (8:12) the Gate of the sheep (10:7), and now we’ll dive into Jesus being our Good Shepherd (10:11,14).
Testimony: I remember as a kid growing up I was bullied in the 2nd grade. There was this one bully named Justin, he was in the 3rd grade. After class would dismiss in the afternoon, I would have to make a 1 mile walk home. Each day my friend Noah and I would walk home together, well on this particular day we were within 400m of our houses. We’d always have to pass by Justin’s house on the way to mine because we lived in a cul-de-sac neighborhood. I remember walking down our neighborhood at about 2:45pm trying to make it home by 3pm to watch some of my favorite cartoons like G.I.-Joe, He-Man, Thunder Cats,...I know, I know, what do you know about these classics? Right as I was about to pass “Johnny’s house from Cobra Kai” is what I like to reference Justin as, guess what Justin walks out his front door and starts walking towards us. It was this perfect timing on his part, as if he was some animal sensing his prey. Oh boy, I felt nerves and butterflies running in me as he was walking towards us. I was hoping he would just somehow psyche us out and make an instant stop to check his mailbox or something, BUT Nooo of course not, he’s walking towards us. All sudden it was Justin and I face to face. I don’t recall much of any conversation other than getting pushed and eventually punched in the stomach. I remember a combination of emotion as I fell to the ground, both crying and gasping for air. Then Justin ran back into his house and my friend Noah tried to console me and help me eventually get home. I remember feeling upset. Not because of getting bullied itself, but because I had feelings of fear, not having any confidence in myself, and being defenseless not knowing how to defend myself when an intruder over steps his boundaries onto me. See I needed a protector, someone who could help me find my identity, someone who come alongside me and not abandon me, someone who help take a stand against the “bullies of this world”. Quick Overview The book of John was written to the early Christians around 85-95 AD. John’s eyewitness account of Jesus’ life reflects Jesus’ deity as both God and Man. The other three Gospels portray Jesus as the King in Matthew, the Servant in Mark, the Son of Man in Luke, and in unity with the other Gospels,John portrays Jesus as the Son of God. John also describes the many dialogues Jesus had with His opposition. Jesus was ridiculed and hated to the point of death, claiming amongst the Jewish leaders/teachers that he would exclaim Himself as The Divine “I Am…”, seven times. This angered the Jews and charged Jesus with blasphemy. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their false teaching, adding works and traditions as a means of salvation to God whereas Jesus states He is the Way, Truth, Life, and salvation is granted to those who believe in Him alone. (John 14:6;20:31) After Jesus’ resurrection and ascensionback to Heaven, heretical teachings were encircling among the early Christians and the Church. The Gospel of John is to reject the heretical teachings such as one group taught that Jesus was not really God. They said that he was just a man. They believed that the Holy Spirit entered him at His baptism. But before he died, the Holy Spirit left him. Another group taught that Jesus was not really a man. They said that he did not have a physical body. They believed that he was a spirit. And they believed that he only seemed to be human. Both these groups were wrong. Let’s continue to listen and read God’s Word on Jesus’ divinity as the Son of God and our Good Shepherd. Read Passage: John 10:11-21 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.12The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 19The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” 21But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” In this world we will face many obstacles, trials, and various afflictions. From John 16:33, Jesus says, in the world you will have trouble, but take courage! I have overcome the world. I’m going to show you Why Christ is our Good Shepherd and Defender in this world. When we KNOW CHRIST as our Good Shepherd we have a:
When we have NO CHRIST, we have no:
Testimony Conclusion So what happened after my bully encounter, I eventually started to take martial art lessons. I learned how to defend myself. More than anything it gave me confidence in myself and to take a stand against anyone who would try to cross any physical boundaries with me again. Through this, I grew up playing other sports with gave me a physical presence in strength. Let’s just say that when you outgrow someone by 3-4 inches and you have 30-40 more pounds of muscle, you don’t get picked on anymore. More than being able to defend myself we need to be reminded our one true Defense and Defender in this world. “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD.” Over 2000 years ago God sent His Son Jesus Christ on earth to live as one of us, to be with God’s most intimate creation, mankind. While Jesus lived on earth He was both God and Man. Jesus lived a perfect life and was sinless which you and I could not live. The 10 commandments presented in the Old Testament was not to be considered as means of works or achievement to attain God’s grace and salvation, but it was reflection to bring mankind into humility and repentance in the heart to show that man is need of God’s grace and provision, that man cannot earn on his own merit. We as man are undeserving and are bound to separation from God in Hell. However, by God’s grace, love, and mercy, God does not desire for man to be separated from Him but for everyone to come to repentance. God demonstrated His love for us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, who took the cross on our behalf. Jesus was the wages for our sin, the final atonement; He was the Righteous for us, the unrighteous, to bring us to God. Jesus reconciled us to God because He was put to death in the body but was raised on the 3rd day by the Spirit to conquer both death and sin for mankind for all eternity. This was to God’s glory and for man to believe that we are justified by putting our faith in Jesus Christ alone. Man cannot do anything more or less, it has been done through the redemption and shedding of Christ’s blood. Man is given the opportunity to put their hope, trust, and faith in Jesus, acknowledge one’s own sin and depravity, believing Jesus died for our sins, confessing with your mouth Jesus is Lord because your heart believes and is justified and your mouth confesses and are saved. Therefore, man is indwelled with the Holy Spirit, has a new life in Christ, and God the Father calls you His child. The old is gone and the new has come. May this encourage you to know why Jesus is THE GOOD SHEPHERD who loves His sheep, cares for them, knows each one of us by name, and is willing to lay down his life for us. Thank you God! Reflection:
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I Am the Door of the Sheep. John 10:7
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. -John 10:1-10 Let’s look at John 10:7-8 a little bit closer. Jesus tells us that He is the door of the sheep and that everyone who came before Him are thieves and robbers, yet the sheep did not listen to them. From what I can tell from hearing the testimony of other believer’s testimony and even in the noticing of my own personal testimony, that the human experience of the believer is that we have been saved through hearing and believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we are continually being saved from our past sin, ideologies and worldviews in which we once followed before our faith in Jesus Christ. Those who came before Jesus as Jesus talks about in John 10:8; our ideologies and worldviews in which we once followed could be considered as thieves and robbers of our souls. The concept of a struggle, the things in which we once indulged ourselves in yet through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are enlightened to the truth of the Gospel through the Scriptures that those things are not God’s intended design. Through this understanding we know that we should turn away from those things and to pursue the things of God for the sake of our joy and for our vibrancy of our relationship with God. Yet, from our human experience we sometimes and often are aware that these things continue to call us. Even though these things still call us, God has given us the grace and the power through the Holy Spirit to not pick up that phone call anymore. My prayer today, is that if you are believer in Jesus Christ, to continually remember that Jesus is the door and for you to enter the sheepfold by any other way is the way of a thief and a robber. This sheepfold that we are talking about is eternal life and the kingdom of God and door to this sheepfold is through Jesus Christ. We can consider the way of the thief and the robber is anyone who would claim to tell you that there are many paths to God and salvation. Another way in which we can try to climb the fence another way is by going around God by getting what we want instead of trusting in God’s good timing and or God’s goodness in telling us no. For the believer in Jesus Christ, it could look like us putting our worth, identity, and purposes in anything other than God. Our responses to circumstances can often be an indicator of whether or not we have elevated something to a place where God has never intended something to be. God’s ideal of my life is found having meaning only if I am able to find my joy and purposes in knowing God and being about His mission. Instead it could be, I’m single and I’m ready to get nervous around anyone I find attractive. It could be, my life only has meaning if my political or social cause is making progress and ascending in influence or power. It could be, if only I can have control and mastery over my life in this certain area.[1] If only the Cowboys would win the super bowl. The list can go on. The grace of God is that He sees us and He has compassion upon us. If we have placed our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our sins, past, present, and future are forgiven. God is gracious to reveal these things to us that are still robbing us of the joy in which God wants us to experience which is only to be found in Him. God is also gracious in breaking our legs from underneath us for us to see where we have placed the weight of savior on anything else but Jesus Christ. The call is for us to continually repent and to trust in the Gospel until glory. The call is for us to remember the blood of the new covenant of Jesus Christ and His promises. The call is for us to delight ourselves in the Lord. The call is to sing to the Lord. The call is for us to know Him and to make Him known. The call is to enter the sheepfold through the door being called by the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ. [1] Taken from the teaching of Tim Keller’s Idolatry Questionnaire work. John 8:12
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, " I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." what is the biblical definition of the Light and Darkness ? the light represents Jesus, the holy god, Goodness, it signifies god's divine presence, favor and salvation. Darkness represents sin. darkness is the "natural state" of the human mind: selfish and hostile to authority. darkness evokes everything that is anti-god. Jesus came to push back the darkness in our lives. not to condemn us but to love us. "Jesus straightened up and asked her, "woman, where are they? has no one condemned you?" "no one sir," she said. "then neither do i condemn you," Jesus declared. "go now and leave your life of sin." john 8:10-11. Jesus warned us about the darkness in this world, but he also encouraged us of his victory over it. much like the victory we could have once we broke free of the sin(s) in our lives. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. in this world you will have trouble. but take heart!! i have overcome the world." john 16:33 how has Jesus pushed back darkness from our lives..... for me darkness, was a state of mind. this was the battleground satan had waged war on me. i remember what it felt like to live in that pit of darkness. i was living in deep state of depression. everything in my life that i had worked so hard for was gone. i hit rock bottom. I thought i was alone and i felt i could not crawl out of pit i was buried in. I finally realized i could not do this alone and needed help. it was at this point i realized who my true friends were. they encouraged and supported me through godly council and prayer. i started attending this church and also enrolled in the regeneration program. Over time the light in my lift grew stronger and brighter. when i started to lose my way again, i didn't beat myself up about it. i just leaned on the "light" (the word, the godly people in my life. my family in other words the "lights" Jesus placed in my life!) I realized that those who follow Christ, in truth, may stumble into darkness, but they will never perpetually "walk" in it. So why do we fall.....(into darkness) So we can learn to pick ourselves up. sometimes we are so caught up in our sin(s) and the darkness that follows that we feel that Jesus is not with us... we feel like he has abandoned us in our time of need. it's easy to be blinded by our shame and guilt. we don't realizing that Jesus has been with us the whole time. its only when we start to let go of those things that we start to see the light in the distance.. the more we draw closer to Jesus the bigger and brighter the light becomes. then we will see that Jesus never left our side, we just allowed our sins to block out his light. We learn that Jesus light will drive out all the darkness and his light will pick us up. |
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