Topic: God’s Love. The Easter Gift. He gave His life. Category: Love of God> Know God>
Bible Scripture: John 10:9-18.
Listen to the full sermon.
Jesus lived in a continual heart and mind condition of surrender to the Father’s will. He made an active choice that God’s desire was His desire. The Father’s desire is that no one should perish. So Jesus came from the Father’s heart, down to earth, to us.
Jesus was determined to finish the Father’s work for which He had been sent. He preached the good news that God’s kingdom had come down to earth in Himself. He declared His mission was to bring healing and salvation to a lost and dying world.
To open the way for eternal salvation and healing – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The destructive powers that death, evil and selfish desires had over humanity, needed to be broken. There was only one way for this to happen.
So let us continue our series, What Did Jesus Do? He gave His life.
As this was God’s plan in the beginning. Out of His great love He created the first man and woman in His own image. They were a reflection of Himself. His love, tenderness, nurturing, intimacy, provision, protection, blessing, power and authority. Out of adoration He honoured them and gave them His dominion, power and authority to rule and reign over His perfect world. That is to live forever with Him. Where they could eating freely from the tree of life, being one with only good, reproducing only good.
God knew that before He created, the first man and woman would choose to become one with both good and evil, instead of only good.
evil activated
As a result of eating of the tree of the knowledge of both good and evil instead of the tree of life, the first man and woman activated evil, death and the destructive forces of selfish desires into God’s once perfect world.
The reproducible good seed of humanity that God created was now corrupted. Humanity now reproduced both good and evil.
God’s once perfect world was damaged by evil. Violence, inequality, oppression, sickness and death continued to have power over humanity. Extreme weather patterns became more frequent, as the earth continually tried to restore equilibrium.
Yet knowing all this would happen as a result of humanities rebellion, God out of His great love still chose to create. What is even more remarkable, God knew that there was only one way to restore peace and harmony to His once perfect world.
That way was to come to earth as human, the perfect man of incorruptible seed, to give His life and take back the power that was given to evil, death and selfish desires. To totally defeat them and break their control and destructive force that they had over humanity. God knew He would have to give all of Himself. God the Father, Son and Spirit the three are one. So in that moment in human history the Father sent the Son, born of His Spirit to be the saviour for us.
So in His great love God came down into His own creation, as a baby, born of the Holy Spirit not of the corrupted seed of any man. He came to bring healing and salvation from the destructive forces of death, evil and the selfish desires of humanity.
he gave his life as the perfect human
The Son experienced the full human condition and yet remained perfect and innocent. He was the perfect sacrifice who would take back the power given to evil, death and selfish desires. He would defeat them all and make a public spectacle of them.
All this would occur in the sacrifice of His life by way of the cross and evidenced in His resurrection.
Jesus, God who became flesh and blood willingly gave His life for us. When He walked the earth as a man He revealed how His life and death was a willing sacrifice and the fulfilment of God’s perfect healing and salvation plan.
the son of God knew the anguish He would endure
John 10:9-18 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “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. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Jesus willingly gave His life for the sheep as this is the will of the Father, this is the will of the Son. The two are one. They both agreed before the creation of the world and knew the enormous sacrifice it will be for both of them. The Son of God forever in human form.
the Father and Son willingly gave all of themselves
In this text Jesus reveals the intimate relationship He has with the Father. He states, As the father knows Me, even so I know the Father and lay down My life for the sheep. Together they chose to create, Father, Son and Spirit, the three one God. They together chose to be our salvation, healer, deliverer and good shepherd.
Jesus sacrifices Himself for the sheep, the sheep being from every tribe and nation. He is the saviour of the world and gave His life for all humanity.
In stating, I lay down My life for the sheep, Jesus is demonstrating the intimate relationship we too can have with the Father through receiving Jesus as our saviour, king and in this context our good shepherd. That is accepting His sacrifice and everything associated with Him, by giving total allegiance to Him.
Jesus portrays the beautiful relationship we inherit and have when we receive Him and God’s sacrifice of Himself. We then live in the care, safety, love and intimacy with Him as our Good Shepherd and together with our good good Father in heaven.
God’s love is so great that he willingly sacrificed everything of Himself to bring healing and salvation. He is the all powerful, all knowing, all seeing One who created.
Jesus states that He has the power to lay down His life and take it up again. So what did Jesus do? He gave His life.
In Jesus’ humanity He was still the Son of God. The word who became flesh and dwelt amongst humanity. He was the one who spoke light into the darkness in the beginning. He knew the suffering, torture, betrayal, rejection and shame He was about to endure at the hand of the very ones He came to save. Yet He willingly gave His life.
Let us listen to the emotion and anguish Jesus knew He was going to experience.
the anguish He willingly endured
John 12:27-33 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
Jesus’ heart was deeply troubled, experiencing revulsion, horror and anxiety. Yet Jesus willingly became human, born of the Holy Spirit, lived, suffered and gave His life, so that we may believe and receive healing, salvation and freedom.
For it was for this very purpose that He had come. He was surrendered to the Father’s will, one in essence, vision and mission to set humanity free.
There was only one way, that was for Jesus’ to sacrifice Himself, as the perfect man of incorruptible seed.
Jesus’ knew the incredible agony, shame, rejection, ridicule and suffering He was about to endure for all humanity. He knew that His death would be a public execution by the way of the cross.
Crucifixion was the most brutal and painful death specifically designed by humanity to publicly humiliate, ridicule, shame, torture and slowly kill the slave or criminal. That is to destroy physically, emotionally and mentally.
despised and rejected an innocent man
Jesus was an innocent man, yet they falsely accused Him. He was despised, rejected and executed by the very ones He came to save. He was to die in the place of all humanity on the cross, defeating the curse of death, evil and selfish desires.
In His death on the cross, He would be lifted up for all the world to see. He willingly would endure all this so that we could believe and receive eternal life and once again be one with only good. Complete healing and salvation and everything associated with Jesus.
He willingly gave His life, to raise us up from our guilt and shame, to a position of honour, salvation and eternal life.
Knowing all this what did Jesus do? He gave His life.
The death of Jesus as a man was a real event in human history that cannot be denied. Let us listen to Luke’s account of what did Jesus do?
a real event in human history
Luke 23:32-46 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen o God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.
it is finished
Upon His human body that hung on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself all the damage, disease, death and evil that entered this world as a result of man’s offence. He broke the power of evil, death and selfish desires for all humanity.
Jesus sacrifice and death on the cross was no accident or tragedy, for it was for this very reason that He came. God has given all of Himself. So we come to know and experience Him. Be established in His truth and rooted in His love. To be able to receive and believe and live in the fullness of life now, in this world damaged by evil, and for all eternity.
So what did Jesus do? He gave His life.
Listen to: At The Cross Sermon categories: son of man> love of God> hope and healing> know God> truth> power> end times> experience God> life> success in life> kingdom>
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