Jesus thought of you ahead of time, counted the cost and proceeded to take care of your needs.
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy. [1 Peter 1:13-16]
Jesus thought of you ahead of time, counted the cost and proceeded to take care of your needs.
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy. [1 Peter 1:13-16]
Have you ever felt like an afterthought? Like there was a whole plan made and you were just not considered. I know that in our relationships, um, that we, that we interact with people it's often fee. We often feel that way, that, that, that they've made their plans and they're doing their thing. And we may benefit. We may not, we may be included. We may not, but mainly it was about their plan and them, and they were taking care of it. And you just weren't considered now the danger of this for us, isn't just that that does actually happen in our lives. But the danger is that we begin to think that we benefited sort of extraneously from God's plan of salvation. I need that. I need to argue specifically with this because when we feel this way, the idea that we understand God as sorta like us, but just better. It's just not the way it is. Um, we're sort of like, God, but not as good, but he's not like us in the same way. And the reason I say that is essentially because he has no sin nature. So the differences in our lives simply are not ex, not explainable in the exact same way. When, when we're parents and we get mad at our kids and our kids do something, we, we sometimes over punish, we overreact. He doesn't do that. He doesn't overreact. And because of that, that's the spirit. The understanding of analogy is that it isn't, that he's like us only, just better morally or something like that. But he's like us without a sin nature. And because of that, this is the three ways in our text today that, that ex that this is explained, okay, Hey, um, I mean, I'm going to read, uh, John 10, 11 through 18 today. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd puts the sheep before himself sacrifices himself. If necessary, I hired, man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a Wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the Wolf. He's only in it for the money. The sheep don't matter to him. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me in the same way. The father knows me. And I know my, no, the father, I put my sheep. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself for, I also have additional sheep and another, other than those in this pen, I need to gather and bring them to. They also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock and one shepherd. This is why the father loves me because I freely laid down my life. So I am free to take it up again. No one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own free. Will I have the right to lay it down? And I have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from the father. Okay? So back here in the first section, when I read this, I'm the good shepherd. And I put myself to sacrifice and sacrifice himself. He puts himself to sacrifice for, for the sheep. A hired man is not really a shepherd. So what's the difference what's going on here. I need to make sure that you, you know, this, that, that there are some theologies where the pastor is an under shepherd, right? That he makes decisions and do all, does all this stuff. That is not the way I understand this. I know that some of you will have done that. And I have some authority and I'm the boss as Margene would call me. The boss is here, but I'm not the boss like an under shepherd. I actually am a sheep. Just like the other sheep, just like you guys. I'm not what he's talking about here. As a hired hand, what we're talking about here is the other religions going on that Jesus is different from those where they're in it for the money and the sheep are just the means to the money. Now, you felt this in your life where you've been used by somebody or somebody did it. And they were just after what you could do for them. And you didn't really matter. That is not what's going on here with the good shepherd Jesus, the good shepherd doesn't run for it. When things go bad, he doesn't take off. When things are unnecessarily difficult or when they're going wrong, he doesn't just flee and run for the Hills. Jesus is in it with you for the long haul and the whole time you were what he was there for. He's not like the other religions or just religion. In general. We make this distinction in our world today, you know, 50 years ago, they didn't make a difference between spirituality and religion. It was all lumped together. But now we talk about religion. And with this working definition, the things we do to get right with God or the methods we do to control God or something like that, religion in that definition does not work because it essentially set up for a spot where you can get God points by doing good stuff and earn favor, but you can't earn favor with him. You're his, and he loves you. And you have his favor. You're we're not earning God points here by being morally upright. We, we are in a relationship with God where he is pulling us into a God shaped life. That's first Peter, one 13, 14, right in that range. He anyway, a good shepherd lays down his life. A bad shepherd runs when danger comes, I need to make sure and tell you that the pastors that you've known in your life are not shepherds. They don't pretend to give you salvation. And if a pastor ever talked like he was the means to your salvation, then you need to run for the Hills. Not just because he's not only a bad shepherd or something like that. He's the Wolf anyway. Or she is. I'm the good shepherd. I know my own sheep. This is 0.2. So 0.1 was he's different from the others because he doesn't cut and run. When things get, go wrong. Number two, I know my own sheep and my sheep know me. I know I made a big deal about this last week. I am my Beloved's and my beloved are mine. This is the thing about relationship with Jesus is that we are actually in this, in a relationship that's give and take to and fro with Jesus. We're not separated from him. We're not just this. And he knows who he is. Look, it even talks about that. Jesus knew Judas, right from the beginning for who he was, he knows who are his. He's not let us stray. He didn't make a good decision on Judas. And then Judas turned out to be a bad Apple. Jesus knew who Judas was right from the beginning, right from the beginning, because he had a plan. He had a plan. So this is 0.1 is Jesus is different from the other plans of salvation because he doesn't cut and run. When things are going wrong. Number two, he's not in this for the religious purposes. And by the way, religion, a lot of world religions, the quality of the priest doesn't make any difference. Because as long as he does the, the rituals properly, it doesn't matter what type of person he is. But our priest matters what type person he is because Jesus is our high priest is the one that made a way through us not to make us good morally, but to rescue us from death. And here's 0.3 0.1. I'm going to go back. He's different from the others because he doesn't cut and run. When things go difficult, he doesn't use you for his purposes. He does things to protect us. He knows us. That's 0.2 and we know him and he's not deceived by any of this 0.3, he will overcome death justice. He said he would just, as he was supposed to do just as we needed him to do it, he will overcome death. He says this this way, I laid down my life. Nobody takes it from me. I am free to take it up again. Now look, if you go the way of a different religion and you get a guru or somebody like that, who's telling you how to do it. It doesn't matter what they call themselves. If they say that they're the way and you follow them and they're this human being and you're following them and they die. Your priest has died. He is no longer leading you anymore. Jesus, on the other hand, because he's so different from the others because he laid it down at himself and nobody took it. Even though it kind of looks like he allowed them to take his life. He conquered death and took it back up again. It says right here, I received this authority personally from the father. I lay down my life freely of my own will, but I also can pick it back up the gurus, the Roger niches of the world, when they, when their life is over, they're done and all their followers need a new guru because he was teaching them how to live on this side of death. Our Lord and savior Jesus is teaching us not only how to live on this sign of death, which is a really big deal, but he didn't come primarily to make us good moral creatures. We were dead and we needed life. And so he gave us that life and he conquered death so that when we're in the grave, we can get out of it. We're not locked up. It's not a prison. Literally one of my favorite comments to make right now is as soon as the cross, the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus happened cemeteries, Crips graves all now have exits, not just entrances. There's quite a difference. You know, we go in through the outdoor, that's the thing going on. Here we go, go through this thing. And we, the grave, which is our greatest fear, Jesus has different from those because he's laid his life down. He didn't cut and run. He didn't get defeated by it. And he knew who he was doing it for. Let me go back to this first thing, you, where he is very purpose in doing this. He had you in mind, he knew about you. He chose you and you were on purpose included. You are not an afterthought. You didn't just benefit. Oh, by the way, Jesus did this thing. And now the door's open. And you know, he didn't really know who's going to be saved. No, Jesus knows his people, whether which fold they're in, where they are, he knows all about them. And in the end, Jesus, people are Jesus people. Now I wish that our denominationalism would get a hold of this understanding just a little bit and say, well, those people, well, no, you know, I learned this lesson a long time ago. The main reason for denomination, and I'm a nationalism, isn't from our side so much that we agree and disagree. That's kind of the sociological way that had happened is that me and or somebody else disagreed to the point. And pretty soon we couldn't be near each other. And we had to argue because I thought something was more important than they did. And they thought something else was more important than I did. And then we couldn't do it together because we forgot that we needed each other. That's the sociological methodology that, that causes denominations to happen as minor disagreements become greater. But from God's perspective is that the role of denominations is to be home for multiple people who have different methodologies and different thought processes and everything. So even though sociologically, my disagreement might have caused a denomination happen. I'm just speaking down the lines of history. As you might say, God has made that work so that the people that can feel comfortable and learn about God in one setting, don't have to go to one where it doesn't work. God has turned a human error, a break in the condition because he's so different than us. He's turned this, this evil into a good thing for us because we're not afterthoughts. This goes back to something again. I said last week, and I want to make sure that, you know, this, that God didn't come up with a set of rules on commandments and then say, man, these are such good commandments. I just need some people to keep them. No people, you, you church are the reason that he creates a way to keep his people. And the wall was designed to keep his people, to give them a way to be on this earth, but also to keep his people so that they wouldn't go astray. But it also had these other purposes were gathered up all the sin and took it to the cross where Jesus could deal with it. That that was no afterthought. You and your life are not an afterthought. That he is so different because of this. He lays his life down. He knew it from the beginning. This is the plan. God be praised. He's a good shepherd. And he lays down his life for his sheep. He knows his sheep and he is not overcome by death. Sure. It is the three things. The mean Jesus has you on his mind and always has, and always has church. Jesus has always had you on his mind. Will you pray with me, Lord Jesus. I thank you for today. I thank you for your love and your care and the way that you have always been thinking about us. Thank you, Lord. Amen. As you go today, may you know this Lord who has a plan who has worked it out, who thought through at a time, he counted the cost for you ahead of time. May you know this Lord and lock and grace because of him, go on peace. People go in peace.