Skip to main content

How Does Jesus Care for His Sheep? by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     Last week we learned something about how a person is saved from John 10:27. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” From this, and earlier passages, we learn that they are given by the Father to the Son, they hear the voice of their Shepherd and awaken, they are known by their Shepherd, and they turn from their ways to follow him. But if this is how a person is saved, then what happens once they’re saved? What distinguishes them from those who are not Jesus’ sheep?
     Jesus answers in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” I see three effects of salvation here. First, Jesus gives his sheep eternal life. Jesus’ promise here relates to what he said in John 10:10. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In other words, Jesus came to lay down his life for the good of the sheep and the glory of his Father, and he has succeeded in doing so. He gives his own all that they need forever, so that they’ll live and be fully alive while they’re alive.
     Second, on the other side of the coin, Jesus promises that his sheep will never perish, or put another way, that they will never be destroyed. As Jesus said in verse 10, the thief comes to use the sheep for his own purposes, and when he’s done with them, he destroys them. Jesus, on the other hand, cares so much for his own that he laid down his life for them and took it back again. And having done so, he now protects them forever from those who would destroy them. Of course, he will allow his sheep to endure all sorts of trials and temptations, but he will not allow such things to destroy them, in fact, he’ll use such things to mature and sanctify them and bring them all the closer to the abundant life he has provided for them.
     Third, Jesus said that no one will be able to snatch his sheep out of his hand. In other words, Jesus’ sheep gain eternal life, eternal protection, and eternal security from him. This last promise relates to John 10:12 where Jesus said that the hired hand sees trouble coming, flees from the enemy, and leaves the sheep to be snatched and scattered. But Jesus is not like the hired hand, rather, when he sees trouble coming, he cares for his sheep, he protects the sheep, and he keeps the sheep from the evil plans of their foes. If anyone is stronger than Jesus, then they will be able to snatch his sheep from his hand. But since all things were created through him (John 1:3), no one is equal to him and no one can take his own from him. By the grace and strength of Jesus, his sheep gain eternal life, eternal protection, and eternal security in him.
     These promises are awe-inspiring for those who know and follow Jesus. That said, they do raise another question: how can Jesus make such astounding promises? We’ll look at that next week, but for now, let’s give thanks and praise to the Shepherd who cares so deeply for his sheep!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations on the Glory of Christ: He Sits at the Right Hand of God

By
In Hebrews 1:2-4, the author makes seven claims about Jesus that when taken together greatly exalt his glory. The seventh claim the author makes about the Son is that, having made purification for sins, he now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The words “he sat down” set the stage for chapter 7 where we’re taught that Jesus is both Priest and King. Prior to Jesus, no king offered his own sacrifices and no priest sat on the throne of David, for that wouldn’t be right. God had decreed that there should be a separation of powers between the priest and the king, but Jesus, unlike all before him, is worthy and able to fulfill both roles. So, on the one hand, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God after making purification for sins because the sacrifice he offered, namely himself, is sufficient. Other priests were always standing, as we see in chapter 10:11-14, because their work was never done. The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins, so the priests could...
Post a Comment
Read more