John 10:7
Thoughts from Crystal Garnett
Dive Deeper
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:7
Behind the Scenes
This passage is a stark warning to Jesus’ disciples. For so long the Nation of Israel had waited for their Messiah. Many such “messiahs” had come before, but they were just false prophets.
This Messiah, Jesus, looked as though he had succumbed to the same fate as all the other “messiahs” that had come before. But no! Jesus, while he had died under the penalty of “blasphemy”, proved his deity by defeating death and rising on the third day!
Isaiah said 600 years before Jesus was born of the virgin Mary in Isaiah 53:4-5,
“However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.”
You see, this was the reason that God came into the world as a human, still God, but in the flesh as a perfect human being. He came to make the perfect atonement because we could not atone for ourselves.
Jesus warns us in John 10:1 that there will be those who try and steal us away by “some other way.” Soon after Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection people came to try and steel away the hearts and minds of those who were following Jesus. There were the legalists who were calling these disciples of Jesus into following the works of the old law. There were antinomianism who thought that because Jesus paid the penalty for sin there was no longer a moral standard that God wanted us to follow. Finally, Gnosticism taught that everything physical was evil and therefore God did not come in the flesh nor rise in a physical body, but only spiritual.
Make it Real
I wish I could say this was a struggle only familiar to the early Church, but I find myself facing these exact same struggles all the time. While I know that I cannot appeal to God through my works for salvation I still try and appeal to God, to earn my sonship through living a “good” life and doing “good” things. And then on the other hand I find myself excusing sin in my life because “it’s not about works.” And finally, I find myself battling false teachings and other religions, that Jesus isn’t who He says He is, particularly in the hearts and minds of my students.
Here’s the thing, Jesus says something quite striking in John 10:4-5,
“When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Did you catch that? Those who follow Jesus know His voice! And those who know His voice flee from the stranger’s voice, the voice destruction and death. (Verse 10)
The Christian life is not about law, nor is it about self gratification (just keep sinning), but rather abiding.
Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” – John 15:4
Do you know Jesus’s voice? Can you pick out a counterfeit? I guess the first question is, have you trusted in Jesus as your perfect sacrifice? Do you understand that you cannot earn your way into a relationship with God? It’s not just about going to heaven. Your creator actually wants a relationship with you. If not, that is the first step into knowing truth.
If you have chosen to follow Jesus, are you making the daily choice to actually follow Him; I mean listen to his voice, get to know Him and go where He tells you to go? This only happens when you make an effort to get to know your Heavenly Father. It is imperative that we spend time with God, in His word, spend time in prayer and in community with other disciples. Being a Christian isn’t about having once said the “prayer”, but rather a commitment to an eternal relationship with a Father who loves you.
Jesus doesn’t want you to waist eternity on a moment, but rather live today for eternity. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10
Eternity starts today!
If you have questions about what having a relationship with God looks like or you made the decision to commit to an eternal relationship with Jesus I encourage you to email office@acfak.org to speak with a staff member at ACF.
Jesse Garnett
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Heavenly Father, we recognize how insufficient we are in our own strength and that the only strength we have comes from you. Only You are good. I pray that today You would open our ears to hear Your voice. I ask that those who have never heard You would hear and understand You for the first time. I ask for a thirst to know You that is greater than anything else we desire in this world. I pray that as we know You more the lies of this world would be more and more obvious and less appealing. I ask for the strength to live my life for You more than myself and trust that in You is abundant life! Jesus, I ask that you would make yourself known in my life that You would be glorified. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!