(by David Pugh)
What a blessing to study together the great ‘I AM’ statements of Jesus! Jesus Christ makes such bold claims about Himself because He is nothing less than God-incarnate! He is the great I AM, the all-sufficient God.
This week we studied – Jesus is the Door.
In John 10:9-10, Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Notice he says in verse 9, if anyone enters through Me he will be SAVED. Jesus is the only way of salvation from sin and hell. This sounds reminiscent of John 14:6 “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” It’s narrow; it’s exclusive, but that’s where it starts. If you have not entered through Jesus, through His substitutionary atonement on the cross, you are under divine wrath. You need to be saved, rescued, and delivered from your sin! If you trust in Jesus by faith, Jesus says in John 10:27-28 “…I give eternal life to [My Sheep], and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
As a result of entering through Jesus, He says His sheep will go “in and out and find pasture” (v9). Jesus is the door through which ‘the sheep enter the safety of God’s fold and go out to the rich pasture of His blessing’. Jesus also says that He came “…that they may have life, and have it abundantly”(v10). The Greek word for “abundantly” describes something that goes far beyond what is necessary; something that is excessive.
What is excessive about the life Jesus gives? It’s means more than having infinite quantity of days to live, though that is true. Rather, the abundant, eternal life is about KNOWING GOD HIMSELF!
In John 17:3 Jesus defined eternal life like this. He was praying to his Father in heaven, and said: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.“
Eternal life is summed up in a personal, intimate knowledge of the God of the Universe and His Son Jesus! John Piper said it this way, “[Eternal life] is NOT like an inoculation against the disease of death, that works unconsciously like a spiritual antibiotic. It is a conscious experience of knowing and relating to God.” (emphasis mine)
Jesus is the door to knowing Himself and the Father – that’s abundant, excessive, eternal life! Paul was awestruck by this prospect when he described the “…the unfathomable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) and that in Christ “…are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
In Philippians 3:8-10, we see Paul’s heart to know Christ,
“I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”
Knowing Christ (v8), gaining Christ (v8), that I may know Him (v10), including His death, resurrection, and sufferings (which is a study in itself)…that’s what it all about.
Life in Jesus Christ is abundant and satisfying because it’s about knowing Him in both this present life and the life to come. Are you finding your satisfaction, Believer, in anything but Him? Spend time this week praising Jesus Christ as the door to knowing God because of His incarnation, death, and resurrection.
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Encouraging, convicting and Christ exalting recap of the recent Care Group lesson.
Very good. I am reminded that life only comes through and being in Jesus Christ. All there is, is death outside of Him (Ephesians 2:1-10). Good lesson Sunday brother.