Children who have not left already from the previous time who are going to Children's Church, y'all can go. The rest of us, let's open up our Bibles. So we are in the Gospel of John today to close our time in our Advent series. So we are at John chapter 10. So if you would open up your Bibles with me to John chapter 10. We're gonna read verse one. and then verses seven to 11, but our focus is gonna be on 10 to 11, but those other verses kinda help set the context. So John chapter 10, verses one and then seven to 11. If you don't have a Bible, I would encourage you to go over to the resource table and pick one up so you can follow along with us as we consider God's word together. So here's the word of God, John chapter 10, verse one. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. And then go down to verse seven. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to 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 comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Let's pray. Father, as we open up the wonderful pages of scripture, we pray that you would teach us of this new life that we have in Christ, the abundant nature of it. Help us to grasp, help us to meditate and reflect of the just remarkable riches we have in Jesus Christ. We pray in his precious name, amen. All right, by a show of hands, who here enjoys giving and receiving gifts at Christmas? Raise your hand. We got a few of us, a few of us. Who here finds it difficult to buy gifts for people? A lot of you guys, yeah. Growing up, I'll admit, I loved and continue to love Christmas time. My parents were divorced. I did not like that. But the benefit of being in a household where I had divorced parents is I got to experience Christmas two times with competing parents. And I would always play it up. I was young and manipulative. And I would make sure to know that mom knew what dad was probably going to get me. And dad knew what mom. And I felt like they were vying for my love and affection with gifts. And at that age, I was OK with that. Let's see who wins each Christmas. So I remember, I was spoiled. Rarely did I not get what I wanted. I would always get the new Nintendo game that was out at that time. I was really into fake wrestling. Spoiler alert, a lot of that wrestling on TV, like Hulk Hogan's fake. But I had action figures. So I had a pretty extensive collection. I remember the one Christmas gift that really stood out for me is I got the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier. So I was one of the few kids in school that got that. It was a giant plastic made It was like seven feet long, like it took up a living room when you would assemble it, and I got that. So yeah, I loved it. So you transition now to adulthood, still like the time, but it comes with a lot more stress and effort. trying to look for gifts for kids, family members, all the while knowing that I don't have unlimited resources. As a kid, I never thought about asking for something, and I wonder if that's too much to ask for. But as an adult, there's some things I just can't buy, no matter how much my child might want it. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I like receiving gifts. However, when people ask for things to buy for me, now it's become much more practical. Like, I really could use this, and I don't want to spend my own money, so could you buy me this for Christmas? And I think what we see is giving and receiving is stressful. We have limited resources, we have different tastes. It's sometimes difficult to find the gift. Sometimes we don't get what we want, sometimes we get what we don't want. Sometimes we're left just unsatisfied and disappointed by the Christmas season, by this celebration, by the whole process. And I think as we wrap up our Advent series today, as we answer that question yet again, why Christmas? Why did Jesus come? Today we're gonna see the answer. He came to give us life, not just any kind of life, but far more than you can imagine. He came to give us abundant, eternal life. So we're gonna spend our time today answering that question concerning the wonderful gift of eternal life. If you're a note taker, we're gonna ask three questions related to that wonderful gift of eternal life. Number one, we're gonna ask, what do we know? What do you and I naturally know? What are our current circumstances before Christ came into the equation in our lives? What was life like living in a fallen, broken world as fallen and broken sinners? What did it look like? Second question we're gonna ask is where will we go? Aware of our situation, Jesus came to provide us with hope, he came to provide us with a future, and although we start off in a horrible predicament, that's not the end of the story. He came to give us life, and he came to give it abundantly, the gift of eternal life. But then we're left with the last question. How can this be so? Because this newfound hope, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't, it's not predictable from a human vantage point. This change in our circumstance was costly. It was made possible only because Jesus was willing to go to the cross and lay down his life. He was willing to humble himself and take on flesh and dwell among us. And he's the reason why we have a reason to celebrate in the first place. And that's what we're gonna conclude our time with. So let's begin, first question, what do we know? And he goes, we unpack the reason of Jesus coming in to this world, becoming a baby, living a perfect life, dying on the cross for our sin, conquering death, ascended to heaven to give us this eternal life. We need to understand the context of John 10 very briefly. Context of John 10, Jesus is telling an analogy of sheep. shepherds, thieves. It's real simple. You and I, believers in Jesus Christ, are the sheep. Jesus is the shepherd. And then the thieves are those who come in amongst God's people to hurt them. Whether it looks like it's intended or not, the end of the day, their goal is to hurt, to steal, to kill, to destroy. So with that in mind, let's begin. What do we know? We know that we face dangers. He goes on and says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. So Jesus again said, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come in before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to me. I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture, but the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. As we face dangers, we need to understand that sheep are vulnerable. Do you hear that? Sheep are vulnerable. All right, I need some participation. What are some animals that you are afraid of? Give me some. Snakes. snakes, spiders, grizzly bears, great white shark. I mean, let's just go all over the map on animals. Any other ones? Lions, tigers, bears, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, mountain lions, wolves, The weird thing is, I didn't hear a single person say sheep. I am terrified of sheep. I remember when I was a child, we opened up that book, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and I was like, I didn't sleep for days. No, why is that? Because sheep are, they're cute, they're fluffy, they're not the most intelligent animals. Now I probably could look for this online, I chose not to, but I've never seen a muscular striated sheep. like with a gun in its whatever paws or you know what I mean, hooves. Like no, they're a weak, vulnerable animal. And isn't it ironic that God, of all the different language and imagery and analogies he could use, refers to you and I as sheep. We need to understand that we're vulnerable. Number 1717, who shall go out before them and come in before them? Who shall lead them out and bring them in? That the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. But he's implying that they're sheep. I think that's a self-awareness that we need to come to understanding, that we are vulnerable. There's danger of us being misled. There's the possibility of us being abused and manipulated. We desperately need a shepherd to care for us. Newsflash, you are not as strong as you might think you are. Well, do you see how weak and vulnerable you are? Are you humbled by that? Because it's not simply that the sheep are vulnerable, We have enemies. And the stealers are vicious, not the Pittsburgh stealers. I'm not giving any ode to the stealers on that. Stealers in the context of our passage. So, because I already saw the one kid look up and like, amen, start raising his hand. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Listen to the warning. They come to steal, to kill, to destroy. The context I would argue specifically in this passage is referencing the Pharisees. that their intention was never good, was always self-serving, was always antagonistic to the gospel. But one of the things we always see at this time of the year is we're constantly being reminded and warned of scam artists. During this season, why? Because people will come alongside and say, hey, we're raising funds for this charity or this or that, and they take advantage of you and I because it's in the season of giving We feel good about Christmas time, like I would love to help these innocent children who live in poverty or whatever, and that money never actually goes to them. It's these scam artists, and they're dangerous, they're intense, they're not good. And that's what it's like spiritually for us, that we have people out there in this world that have no good motives or intentions. And it's not just out in this world, it's often even in the church. Matthew 23, 15, he warns, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. That's the danger, they sneak in amongst this sheep. Paul refers to them as wolves in the book of Acts. They don't care about the well-being of the sheep. They only care about themselves. And that is the danger that we face. But it's not just simply because of these people amongst the church and even outside of the church. At the end of the day, who are they working for? Satan, it's the work of the evil one. 1 Peter 5.8, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion. He's not coming in necessarily like a lamb, like a sheep. He's coming to destroy, to devour. Now if we were to end our time on this, Merry Christmas, right? Little discouraging that we live in this scary world. I know as a parent, as I look at young children, it's sometimes intimidating and frightening to think that my children are raised up in this world of constant opposition and antagonism to the gospel and we're so vulnerable. Or you look on the lookout for the thieves, the dangers. Because we not only face dangers, we feel death. He goes on and says, I came that they may have life. Man, if the only problem was the opposition we face from fellow men, it wouldn't be great, it wouldn't be ideal, but it wouldn't be so bad comparatively. You see, the bigger issue, according to scripture, is the state of our soul apart from Christ. The thieves are just trying to keep us where we already are. Jesus came to give us life because you and I, guess what? Here's a newsflash. We don't have life apart from Christ. On our own, life is something that we do not have because we don't have it. Genesis 2. God gives very clear warning and instruction to Adam. Genesis 2.16, he says, you may eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. And for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. In the Hebrew, it actually uses the term for death twice. Die, die. And it wasn't like a misprint. It wasn't, oh, he repeated the word. No, it was an emphasis that death enters into the world the moment you disobey this command. And it's not just physical death, though that was reality. It's safe to assume Adam and Eve would have never physically died if they had not sinned based upon scripture. But they did. They sinned. So death entered and eventually Adam and Eve did die, did breathe their last. But worse than all of that, there is a spiritual death that now entered the world for all humanity moving forward apart from Jesus Christ. Now, if you were, let's say over the course of the next couple days, you're somewhere out in public and you come along and find somebody passed out on the ground, you go up to the person and say, hey, excuse me, sir, excuse me, ma'am, and there is no response. They are unresponsive. What would we typically do? Hopefully probably call 911, and hopefully you don't just call 911. You try to engage that person to see what's going on. You're gonna check for vitals. You're gonna check and see if they're breathing. Can you get a pulse? And then if you have been trained, you might actually start giving them CPR. That's what we do when we come across somebody who is unresponsive. What the Bible teaches is that you and I are not simply just unresponsive people spiritually, we are dead people. There is zero pulse. There is zero breathing. There is zero brain activity. There is nothing going on. You are dead. And here is a shocking, bold, scandalous statement. I am in a gym full of people, and I guarantee for a fact, if we were to do some spiritual checking for vitals, there's some dead people amongst us. Like, Joe, they don't look dead. They're breathing. Hey, they might even have sang a little bit ago. But according to the Bible, if you are not alive in Jesus Christ, you are spiritually dead. You give the illusion that you're alive because you're physically alive. You're walking, breathing, eating, all of that stuff. You got a job. You might have a family. You might celebrate Christmas and stuff. But at the end of the day, because of sin, because of the fall, you have no vitals. Romans 5.12 says this. Just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. And that is the condition of us apart from Christ. That, friends, is your history if you're a believer here today. You might forget it, you might kind of put it back in the Rolodex of your memories and you try to forget it, but that's who you were before Jesus. You were dead, you weren't bringing anything to the table. You had no vital signs. God had to come along and breathe new life into you. David said it well, I was sinful even in the womb. Are you alive today or are you still dead in your sins? Because not only do we not have life, we can't revive life in ourselves. I mean, what if you become unresponsive? Can you administer CPR to yourself? No, I mean, you might see yourself going in that direction, and if you're maybe having a heart attack, you might take aspirin, because that's one of the things they always say to do that might prevent from things going bad. You might, if you're choking, you might try to thrust your sternum area kind of into a chair or something to try to get you to spit out. But like the end of the day, if you are, unresponsive, you can't do anything. And like I said, we're not just unresponsive, we're dead. How many dead people do you know that do anything? I mean, if we drive down the street, go to one of the cemeteries, are we gonna see, are the dead people cleaning up the cemetery on Christmas Day? Like, no, that is not possible. And that's who we are, that's the state of our ability apart from Christ. Ephesians 2.1, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among who you once lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. That does not mean that you and I were as bad as we could possibly be. It doesn't mean that in the grand scheme of life we were the worst sinners imaginable, but we were slaves to sin, No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't break the chains. We couldn't rescue ourselves from the death. That was the trajectory of our life. We were alienated from God, eventual physical death is coming our way, and then after death, wrath and condemnation. And that's what awaits all men apart from Jesus. Now your journey to that destination might be different. You might have wealth and success and live in a bigger house and go to really cool vacations and do all that stuff. You might have the love and support of a family and friends. You might be on the flip side of that. You might be poor, you might have very little. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme, if that is your destination, it doesn't matter how you got there, that is what awaits man. Well, do you see your need outside of self? Do you worry about what awaits you? So we ask the question, what do we know? We face dangers, we feel death. Well, where will we go? That's the backdrop to the amazing gift of eternal life, that hope and future that were nonexistent now are reality for us because of Jesus. Well, first of all, we get to experience life. Listen to what he says. I came that they might have life, where we knew nothing but death, We now have the hope of life, and like I said, eternal life. Our culture, our society is obsessed with finding the fountain of youth. Some people literally, they believe that you're gonna find some water like we read in fictional stories that's gonna be able to let us live forever, but don't we practically strive that? And I'm not saying it's bad to try to live long and be healthy, but we're kind of consumed as a culture, like aging is bad, and we don't wanna get older, We just want to continue in those younger years for as long as possible. Well, Jesus is aware of that reality, and he came to bring us life. John 1-4, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1 John 5-11, this is the testimony. God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Whoever has a son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. And that's why Jesus came. I mean, that's the good news, friends, that we have a life that never ends. We have a life that is not ceasing. John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have what? everlasting or eternal life forever and ever. Amen. Do you have that eternal life? Do you long for the fulfillment of that eternal life? But not only is it eternal life, it is eternally secure life. The same passage Jesus assures us of this a few verses later, verse 27 of chapter 10. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Isn't it good news to know that we can't lose something, we can't misplace something, that somebody can't take it. As I get older, and I know not all older people have this problem, so I'm not, yeah, I don't wanna alienate the older people in the congregation, but the older I get, the more often I misplace stuff. The more often, maybe it's just me, my memory is going, but even specifically, where I parked the car at places, I'm like, I swear I parked it here. And if I'm with one of my kids, they're like, dude, it's right there. But this week, it happened. I walked out. I usually park behind the Y. And I walked out, and I turned, and I knew I had parked my car. And I look, and my car is physically, I cannot see it where it was. So I'm thinking through lots of stuff. One, my car is old. If you're stealing that car, good for you. Like, I don't know if this is, like, a warm-up stealing. Like, I'm gonna break into this car as, like, a practice run, and then I'm gonna actually take a car that somebody would value and want, but there it is. I cannot see it. And I, like, I start panicking a little bit, and then I'm, like, then I start thinking. I'm, like, where did I park? Like, did I park somewhere else? Then I'm, like, did I get dropped off? And I've been thinking through all these things. I'm, like, and then I start walking a little bit closer in the direction. It was behind the car beside it. So it was there, did not misplace it. I just physically, my line of sight, it was perfectly behind the car beside that. Guess what? That's never going to happen for you and I with eternal life. We can't lose it, we can't misplace it, it can't be taken from us. We'll never be snatched out of the Father's hand. It is a gift, Romans 8, 38, for I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor present things, or things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's security, friends. That's certainty, that's assurance, that is hope, that I can go to bed tonight, you and I can go to bed tonight. If we do not wake up in the middle of the night, we know when we awake, it might not be physically here on this world, but we will be in the presence of Almighty God. What a relief. What a burden reliever knowing that my place for eternity is safe and secure, and it has very little to do with what I've done, what I've accomplished, my ability, my strength. It has everything to do with what Jesus has done, is doing, and will continue to be. Well, do you feel safe today? You feel secure. Because not only do we experience eternal life, we get to have an extravagant life. I came that they may have life and might have it abundantly. It is a current reality that he's speaking of. I think that's part of our danger. I think we do a poor job as Christians, as churches, as pastors, of kind of equating eternal life as everything that is something future. It's about getting into heaven. That's eternal life. That's what we're looking for. And it's more than that. It's not just a future reality. I've known people who've had children or they've had a trust fund and normally a trust fund, you can't have access to it until a certain age. So let's say they put the age as 25. So you might have an immense amount of wealth awaiting you when you turn 25, but when you're 24 and a half, it's as if you don't have that trust fund. It's there, it's untouchable, it's something. And I think sometimes when we start talking about eternal life, it's like that trust fund that when we die, we have access to the fund. And that's not what the Bible teaches at all, that our life in Jesus Christ is a present reality. It's also a future reality as we'll look at it a little bit. But it's amazing, Ephesians 1, three to five. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. I mean, think of some of the present realities. You and I, we are now his children. So we have a heavenly father that is watching over us, that's protected. We have access to him in prayer. I mean, think about it. The very one who spoke creation into existence and said, let there be light, and there would be light. He's listening to little old you. in Northwest Ohio, when you're driving in the car and not even speaking audibly, saying, God, I'm really struggling right now. I'm really worried about my child. I don't know how we're gonna pay the bills. We have that kind of access to God. We have power through the Holy Spirit, that we're not living this life now in our own strength. We have God who's living and dwelling inside of us and empowering us. So when you and I have those successes and victories, especially in the spiritual realm, and we say no to sin and yes to righteousness, it's because the Spirit is working in us. That is a present experience of the eternal life that we have in Christ. We have his word. And his word, even like right now, it seems really ridiculous that we have a guy doing a monologue for 40 minutes and you're sitting there attentively. It's not because of me, it's not because of my wit or what, it's because we believe that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. And as we preach the word with the power of the Holy Spirit at work, God is communicating to us. And that is a present reality. We have family now. I mean, look around the room. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have people like, now everybody doesn't look the same. Everybody's got different histories. Some of the family members maybe is like that cousin that you're not a big fan of, but hey, we're family. But the reality is we have family. Now we have community because of Jesus and we have peace. No guilt or shame because of our sin. I mean, those are present realities that we have in Christ. Heaven is part of the blessing of Jesus in our eternal life, but it's not the end all and be all only. It's not just that, that this life we don't get to experience anything. Are you currently blessed as a believer? Do you take that for granted? But not only is it a current reality, it is beyond reality. I mean, think about it. I mean, I'm underselling this because words don't do justice. I'm always annoyed when I'll ask somebody, especially in Ohio, hey, is it cold outside? Because I haven't been outside. And they're like, oh, it's kind of cold. And then I go outside and almost die. Like, understatement, well, I said it was cold. Like, you didn't say it was, you said, yeah, it's kind of cold. Like, you didn't tell me it was five degrees. Like, my breath was taken the moment I stepped out. Like, I had a little water on my face, now I have ice on it. Like, no, that's an understatement. Friends, the abundant nature to the life we have in Jesus, that is an understatement. Because at the end of the day, here's the shocker of everything when we talk about eternal life. We get Jesus. Think about that. We get Jesus. Ezekiel 34 verse 13. "'I will bring them into their own land. "'I will feed them on the mountain of Israel, "'by the ravines and in all the inhabited places "'of the country. "'I will feed them with good pasture, "'and on the mountain heights of Israel "'shall be their grazing field. "'They shall lie down in good grazing land, "'and on rich pasture they shall feed "'on the mountain of Israel. "'I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, "'and I myself will make them lie down,' "'declares the Lord God.'" That is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Words don't do justice, it's more than your best life now. That's the garbage, that is the false teaching that is often taking place in the church, where God wants you rich, God wants you healthy, God wants your best life now, and it's very earthly, very transient, and that's not it, no. When he talks about abundant life though, the language is one of, it's excessive. It's extraordinary. It is overflowing. It is copious. It is so rich, it's overwhelming. So imagine, I think what would illustrate this is on Christmas morning, so Wednesday, if you have a two-story house, you walk down the steps, and as you get to the steps, every single step has presents. Like you literally are stepping on presents to get down, and you get down to your next level, and the whole level, every step, there are presents everywhere. Immediately, husbands are looking at your wife like, what did you do? We're bankrupt now. And they look at you like, what did I do? What did you do? I didn't do this. And like, you're just kind of overwhelmed. And all of a sudden you look on your front yard and there's presents everywhere. It would be so excessive, so extravagant. Like, did we win the lottery? Like, what just happened? Friends, that doesn't even do justice to what we're talking about in Jesus Christ. That we're known by God, that we have life with him. We're never going to be bored with Jesus in heaven. Eternity into eternity, we're not gonna be like, this is so old. I wish I still had Netflix. Like, it's not gonna happen. Revelation 21 three, behold the dwelling place of God will be with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. That is our end game, that is the destination. Why are you longing for that day? Are you too attached to this world? Are you down planning how great that day will be? So what do we know? We face dangers, we feel death. Where will we go? We experience life. We don't just experience life, we experience extravagant life. But this newfound hope was not without cost. How can this be so? Because we have the good shepherd. He goes on in verse 11. I am the good shepherd. Before we talk about his goodness, I think we need to understand that he is intentionally using language as good and shepherd to compare himself to those who have come before him because they only knew bad shepherds. Not just the dangers of the thief and robber element of the Pharisees. Some of these people wore two hats, they were also shepherds, they were rulers, they were religious leaders of God's people, and they were bad as shepherds. I have watched so much basketball in the last couple of days. Not like on TV, like my kids play, I coach, and if there are any referees or officials in here, I'm sorry. But there are a lot of bad referees, just bad. calling fouls that aren't foul, not calling fouls that are clearly fouls. When I hear a kid smacked across the gymnasium in a room of three, 400 people plus, and I see a huge red hand print on the kid's arm from 70 yards, and there's not a foul, something is wrong. So a lot of bad. So when we see a good official, it's like, wow, this was amazing. I hardly paid attention to the refs that game. And that was the bad shepherds. They were awful. Ezekiel 34 10. Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding their sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be food for them. And that was the problem that God's people had. They had these bad shepherds that were only concerned about feeding themselves. 2 Corinthians 11, for such men are false apostles, they're deceitful workmen, they disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. And I think some of you, unfortunately, have experienced bad shepherds. You've been in church contexts over the years where the shepherds were not concerned about you, they were not concerned about your well-being, they were concerned about using you as a means to an end, and I apologize that you've had to experience that. I hope and pray that never happens here at Covenant. But do you see how God's leaders can be so corrupted? But with the bad shepherd, we have what? We have a good shepherd. And it's not just in quality. So I'll often get like emails at certain times of the year. Toledo has some rankings, like the Toledo's best, best nonprofit, best this or that, like will you vote for us? And it's like the idea like, so here's this business and there's like, who's the best of it? And I think sometimes we hear the good shepherd, he's like, all right, so we got the bad shepherd. So Jesus is like, no, it's beyond like quality in the sense of he's better. It's character. It's Exodus 34, six, the Lord, the Lord God, he is merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth. Where it says he's the good shepherd, the Hebrew translation, it could be he is the beautiful shepherd. He's the excellent shepherd. It's his character, it's also his work. It's moral purity and goodness. It's the opposite of the Pharisees. John 10, 12, he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and flees. The wolf snatches them and scares them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. But Jesus is not a hired hand. He cares immensely for the sheep and he will, as we'll see, he'll lay down his life for the sheep. And notice what it says, he is the, the article. He is not one of many good shepherds. No, he is the only good shepherd. He feeds his sheep. He knows his sheep, he leads his sheep, he protects his sheep. Sheep don't have to worry because they have him. They're in good hands. And that is our reality in Christ. All thankful for you, of your good shepherd. I mean, many of us know Psalm 23 by heart. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he'll make me lie down in green pastures. Are you finding comfort under his care? He's praised today. I'm not delusional to think everybody's in a good mood, it's Christmas time. There's some of us here who just have had a long year and this is a rough season. But understand this, you have not only a good shepherd, you have the good shepherd. And not only is he the good shepherd, he also made the great sacrifice. It says the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Now, here's where the shepherd imagery kind of breaks down, and Jesus is not asking us to completely, everything is one-to-one, because what happens if a shepherd dies? the sheep instantly are probably gonna be dying too because they have zero protection. So when we start seeing the idea of him laying down his life for the sheep, we need to start expanding the imagery beyond shepherd. It's in theological terms what we looked at elsewhere, it's substitutionary atonement. That he has to die in our place, that his death is dying for us who deserve to die. I mean it's really and I know this is not a great perfect parallel but it's the equivalent of you and I murdering somebody. gun is in our hand, he comes along, he takes the gun out of our hand, he wipes the prints clean, he puts the gun in his hand, police come, now he's over the dead body, and you and I are nowhere to be found, and he takes the fall on our behalf. Like I said, not a perfect one-to-one, but it's that kind of substitutionary, that he's treated as a sinner, though he's not a sinner. He's treated as someone who has been disobedient to God who deserves wrath and condemnation, though he was not that person. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, that in him might become the righteousness of God. We deserve the wrath and condemnation that he experienced on the cross. Hebrews 9, 6, by it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So he took our place and he did it willfully. He left the glories of heaven to die for us. That's why you and I can have hope, we can have assurance this Christmas. Will you see the cost of your salvation? Are you filled with gratitude and all? Because not only do we experience life because of his death, we experience love because of his display. Because if you really ponder what we have considered, we're left asking why. Why would Jesus die for us? Why would Jesus come to this earth for us? Why would he leave heaven for us? Because you and I know who us is. You and I, if we're really being honest, if we're really being transparent and vulnerable, we see the person, the man or the woman or the child we are when we look in the mirror, we see the imperfections, we see the sin, and it just seems so wrong and so unfair. And why did he do it? Because the Bible is very clear, because he loves us. He loves us. I mean, that's a concept for us that's difficult. Like, we're hesitant to even tell people we love them. What if they don't reciprocate it? I mean, think of that. Married people, do you remember back in the day when you were dating? And you're kind of having that war of like, is it too early to say I love them? And like, what if I say it? And you'll see it in movies where the person will say, I love you. First time, it's real romantic. And the person responds, thank you. Like not what you wanna hear. And I think, so like the idea of love and saying I love you, it's intimidating, it's a daunting task. Well Jesus isn't afraid to put that out there. He loves us so much. He loves us. I'll show you, I love you. I will lay down my life for you. John 15, 12. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love is none than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. This is the display of divine love. Now friends, we've said I love you to people who ended up not loving us. We've said I love you to people who loved us for a season and then walked away from us. But the truth is, Jesus is here for the long haul, and he loves us, he loved us in the past, he loves us today, he loves us in the future. And it's not because we're lovable. It's not because we deserve it. Ephesians 2.4, God, love those two words, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. Or are you loved today? Do you feel loved by Jesus Christ? Because if you're in Christ, you are, friends. You might be longing for a love of your life. You might be longing to have a child that you can love. You might be longing for a reconciliation of a relationship where there was love once. And those are things that are okay to be praying for and desiring. But know this, and please understand this, you are loved by God in a way far beyond our comprehension. I remember this story, I was told this story about 30 years ago, and this story has been in my mind and my heart for years. It's a tale of a very rich, very wealthy man who had one child. That was it. His wife had died at a younger age, and he never remarried. So his life was his son. It was just the two of them. And they were so wealthy, they had a hobby together. And the hobby was collecting art. And they collect art from all around the world. And since dad was The sky was kind of the limit of what paintings and various artworks that he could get. Like, there was very little to no limitation. It was just a matter of finding them, having them for sale, and be able to buy them. So he had collected an amazing, one of the most impressive private art collections in the whole wide world. I mean, he had the Picassos and the Van Goghs and the Monets, and you name the artist, he probably had it. Well, at some point, the son ends up enlisting in the military because the nation that they lived in went to war. So there was a war going on. And as you kind of anticipate what ends up happening, his son ends up going missing in action. A couple days later, he finds out that his son was killed in battle. He heard stories that his son had rescued somebody who was, he was getting them to a medic and he was killed. in the midst of the rescue and he died. So there's the father. Close relationship with his only child, never remarried. So every time he walked in that house, his possessions, like the paintings and everything, they were very emotional to him. Because he sees all these things that were, that was his relationship with his son. It was tough and it was difficult. Rest of the summer passed into the fall, and then on Christmas morning, this guy shows up at his house. He's got a wrapped gift. He gives the gift to him. It was the man that he rescued. Think about that. Think about, as the father, the guy that is alive because of your son. So he opens up the package, and it's a painting of his son. Like, how remarkable is that? It was good. It wasn't like, the dude was a military, he's a soldier, he was not Picasso. But it looked like his son and it became instantly, now mind you, he's got Picasso and Manet and Van Gogh. He moves, whatever was above the fireplace, puts the painting there. That comes, like, most prized possession. Well, over the course of the next year, the dad gets sick and he ends up passing. So now you've got this private art collection that's gonna go up for auction. So all of these people around the world, they hear about it, they've known about this art collection. He's a very well-known person within the art community. So they all are just salivating on that day. But weirdly, the man decided that it would be Christmas morning. when this auction would be to coincide with the painting of the sun. They don't know any of the backstory on this. So they show up in spite of the fact that it's on Christmas morning, they show up at this auction for this amazing art collection. But to their surprise, guess what the first auction to bid is? The painting of the sun, the painting of the sun. And they're like looking at it, they're frustrated. He starts off, who will open the bidding with $100? Crickets. Not a single person is willing to bet or to bid on this painting. And they're like angry. They're like, let's get done with this. Bring on the real stuff. Why are we dealing with this? And then a person in the back who is a friend of the dad who was not wealthy said, I have 10 bucks with me. Is that enough? So sure enough, He says, all right, going once, going twice, $10, nobody bids, gone. Gavel falls. The room is excited, why? Because it's time. Now we're gonna get to the good stuff, but here is the shocker. The auctioner. He says, it's over. Thank you for coming. The auction's done. And he's like, everybody's losing. Can you imagine all these art people? They're losing their mind. They're like, we traveled around the world and you did one piece and it's over? And he said, I mean, there's millions of dollars of art here, and we don't get a chance at any of them. And it's very simple, he said, according to the will of the Father, whoever took the son gets it all. Isn't that the Christmas story? I mean, that's why we wanted to close with the abundant life part, because I think too many of us, we don't appreciate that we get it all. We're so narrow minded in this world. We're so focused on the things of this world. And like, it's kind of a reluctant thing for us that I get to go to heaven. And that's pretty cool. I'd rather not go to hell. But that's kind of the it. That's the extent of the gospel to us. And friends, we are missing the point. We have the sun. We get it all. We get it all. So I just want to encourage us, whatever you get or don't get Christmas morning, whatever excitements you have, whatever disappointments you face. I want you to know this. If you have the Son, you get it all. Let's pray. Father, we come before you. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you, Lord, even for your grace and mercy for how even in an Advent season, when we may even be doing devotionals and constantly trying to Keep Jesus at the center. This world is just so good in such a frustrating way at getting our focus off of you and onto ourselves and onto gifts and onto celebrations and onto all of that stuff. But we thank you that you are slow to anger. You're abounding in love and faithfulness. And that God, at the end of the day, because of Jesus, we get it all. And we can't wait till we experience the fullness of that in eternity with you, but until that day, we pray that we would be a people who live for and appreciate all that you've done. We ask this in Christ's name, amen. Let's stand as we respond with a song.