I Am The Good Shepherd, The Good Shepherd Sacrifices His Life For The Sheep

JOHN 10:11-12

“”I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10:11-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.10.11-12.nkjv

Whilst the hired hand tends the sheep for money, the shepherd does it out of love. He is the owner of his sheep and is committed to them. 

Jesus is not simply doing a job which His Father gave Him to do, He is God; He and the Father are One (10:30), and is totally committed to redeeming His people, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Again I tell you, Jesus is not simply doing a job, He is committed to saving His people, even to the point that He laid down His own life to make a way where there was no way. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

No other person, past or present can save you, nor can any other god.

No other religious organisation deals with the problem of sin or even tries and rely’s solely on God’s grace; they put aside the rule of justice.

But while it is true that God’s grace is enough, grace does not override justice, if it did, Jesus would not of needed to pay the debt of sin.

Many say that nice people will not be condemned.

But Jesus said, ““He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.””

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus is the light, for “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Furthermore, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

My beloved, when Jesus entered the world, the Word (God) became flesh, that is the man Jesus Christ and He said, “I am He (JOHN 18:6).

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ””

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

My beloved, do not be fooled, those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ, shall be denied, for Jesus said, ““Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭32‬-‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

My beloved, one cannot buy, purchase, or earn salvation. Neither will his good deeds or church attendance secure his place in paradise.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Only through relationship with Christ can you come to know Him well enough to believe and trust in Him.

Only through faith can you be saved (see ROMANS 10:9-10; MATHEW 19:25-26; HEBREWS 7:25; PHILIPPIANS 3-4-11).

Faith is not a complicated process, yet opens the door to positive change in one’s daily life. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Not because of who you are or what you have done, but because of who Jesus is and what He has done.

Through Him, sin no longer has a hold on you, nor does I’ll health, poverty, addiction, lack, or any kind of curse or demonic powers, because as a believer, you have authority over all these things through Christ, even death has lost its sting.

Jesus blood paid the price of salvation, but one must apply His blood to his own life by faith alone.

For “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It all sounds too easy, “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If you don’t make the effort to know Christ today, it may be too late tomorrow. Jesus said, ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:21-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Make the effort to spend quality time with Jesus and get to know Him well, then you can be confident that He will know you on the day Jesus Christ returns.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Truly I tell you, ““Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.