Good morning, family.
Morning, good morning. Thank you, Joe, for that wonderful word.
Let’s just commit this time to the Lord.
Heavenly Father, we just thank You so much that Your Word is living, and just like in the times of Joshua, You are wanting to speak to Your children right now.
And so, as I present Your Word, let it just present itself, Lord. As Joe encouraged, Your Word does not return void, and we can have confidence in that. Your heart wants to be expressed, and we know that You will.
And so, I’m Your vessel for You to use for this next thirty minutes and forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.
You know, it’s wonderful because the burden that’s been on my heart is all about body life: how we should be living in the very body of Christ itself.
And Joe’s message was a very good example, examining the life of Joshua and then seeing how all these blessings in our lives are actually meant for one another.
And so, if you guys can turn with me to John 10. That’s where our story will begin today, because the burden on my heart is the abundant life that Christ has given to us.
This story from John 10 is very fascinating because it’s sandwiched right between Jesus healing a blind man and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
In the first couple of verses, John 10:1-6, Jesus is speaking to these Pharisees because in the previous section, Jesus went ahead and healed this blind man. The Pharisees were like, “Oh, what’s going on? This is happening on the Sabbath. This cannot be.”
So they summoned the blind man, and after talking with him, they basically kicked him out of the synagogue. Jesus later went and found the blind man and conversed with him: “Yeah, I’m the One who healed you.” The blind man was rejoicing with joy.
The Pharisees were around there, and Jesus started to speak to them. That’s where it begins in this first part of John 10, where Jesus gives them a picture of a sheepfold, which represents the people of God. There is a group of sheep, a fence, and a door.
Jesus says to the Pharisees and these Jews that there is one true Shepherd who comes through the door itself. Then there will be some who try to come in other ways that are not the door. Those are the thieves and robbers.
They did not understand at all. He was kind of speaking of them in some way. But let’s start reading from John 10:7-11.
Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
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.”
Some things that we learn from that brief reading, as Jesus is expounding more to these Pharisees, are that He Himself is the door. So not only is He the Shepherd, but He is also the door. All who come through the door of Christ will be saved, and you are His sheep. You are entering into His people.
Those many who came before Jesus, who claimed to be the door and claimed to be the way, are the thieves and robbers who come to steal, kill, and destroy.
We also learn that Jesus is the good Shepherd. He goes on to explain this more in the following verses, but for time’s sake, we can just know that He is the good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep.
And once again, the burden on my heart today is this: Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly.
And so, what is this abundant life, right? We might often think that Christ came so that we can have eternal life, yes. But as Joe was mentioning earlier, He gives us all these blessings so that we can live for God and live for one another.
This abundant life is something we’re going to be diving into today. If you guys can turn with me to Philippians 1:21-24.
What is this abundant life?
This letter to the Philippians, written by Paul, is very interesting because he was imprisoned at the time. But he testifies to these Philippian believers that his chains have actually turned out to be a great blessing, and that the whole palace guard had come to know that the reason for those chains was because of Christ. What a testimony that is.
Because of that, a lot of the saints, Paul writes, were actually emboldened to share the gospel even more. Sometimes we might think it would be the opposite, where if we see a great brother or sister of ours who is persecuted, we may think that we’ll go run and hide. But no. It actually has the opposite effect. When we see someone who is that bold for the Lord, it encourages us as well.
And so Paul writes in Philippians 1:21-24:
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
So Paul is basically saying, “I really want to go and be with the Lord now. I don’t mind if I die, because that’s a far better thing. But if I do remain, it is for your sake.”
The question we’re trying to answer is, what is this abundant life that the Lord has given us? I think Paul does very well to explain in verse 21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” There is a hint that living is Christ Himself.
Please turn with me to Galatians 2:20-21. This was actually shared last week, which is pretty wonderful—how the Holy Spirit works.
We know that Paul has established that to live is Christ, and I think this is the second part that gives us more of an answer to what this abundant life is.
The context of this section is that Paul establishes that the law has brought judgment and death, and because of that, Christ has brought us new life.
And so, I’ll start reading at verse 20.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
He’s talking about the law. That does not give you any righteousness at all, but it is faith in Christ that does.
And so, the second part that gives us a hint into what this abundant life is, is that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
When you combine those two—“to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” and “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”—I think it becomes very clear that when Christ was speaking in John 10 about giving life, and life abundantly, He was talking about giving His very own life to us.
He has come so that we can have Christ living through us: to live as Christ. I am the one who does not live by my own self anymore, but it is Christ who lives in me.
The Bible does so wonderfully in explaining so many aspects of what this means. But I do have a couple of verses picked out just to give us a simple glimpse into more of this body life, more of this real life that God wants us to live.
We can go all our days professing to be followers of Christ, but if there is not that real life that Christ has given us, it means nothing.
And so, please turn with me to Philippians 2:1-11.
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.Let this mind