Jesus Christ is Life John 1:4

All right, well, good morning Welcome to faith Bible Church. We're glad you're here and hello to our church family at home this morning as well we wish you were here, but The Lord is everywhere.

And so we're all part of his family. So We're together in spirit. So this morning

Besides being blessed by the Lord's Day. I wanted to reiterate last week

Well first first announcement the ladies Bible study is on the 20th. So ladies

Come out to that Bart's birthday and We'd like to just so that's on the 20th we also announced last week that we've

We're presenting gentlemen, Il Jin Cho for the position of pastor if this is

He's in from Illinois, Chicago. He's a seminary student and a church

Bible teacher and really a sweet young man and So we we're gonna bring him out on Resurrection Sunday that weekend

Fly him in Thursday And then they'll be in the area to get a sense of things be here fellowshipping with us on Sunday.

He'll be preaching Also that morning we're gonna gather ahead of the service at 930 just to have some refreshments and to have an opportunity to get a little closer to Il Jin and To meet him and his wife

Lauren So that'll be a sweet time. I'm sure So remember that this is you know, they're looking they're checking things out

Likewise, we are also interested in them We're all pursuing the

Lord's will and Through it all and this may not be the Lord's will but it might be so we're making

Ourselves available. We're being faithful to what God has set before us and we need to do that, so we're blessed that God has

Brought this man before us. And so just let's continue to keep them in prayer

Keep our church in prayer and this is a collective effort here This is not just the elders and and that's it

It's you the congregation that that there will they're involved in this and that will

And if it comes to fruition, there's needs to be some stepping up to as far as responsibility goes

So just keep that in mind. So And so I wanted to read

A verse before we go to the Lord in prayer. This is from 1st

Thessalonians 5 16 rejoice always Pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

You know, sometimes we ask what's the Lord's will well His revealed word will is right here

We have it right in front of us. It's in our hands and So Let's remember that that we need to give thanks and rejoice always and that's what we we want to do this morning

So would you join with me in prayer? Lord God, we thank you for this gathering this morning father that We are weak vessels

Lord, but In our weakness you are made strong. And so Lord we call upon you to guide us to shepherd us

To lead us in our service this morning. We pray for pastor John as he shares from the word father and The heart that you have given him and the commitment to to share the gospel message the good news father

We're so grateful and Lord so strengthen him father. Thank you for the musicians and that faithfully every week

Share their gifts with us Lord strengthen them guide us them as well also in our in our worship this morning

May we set aside those things that encumber us father that we would look to you the great and mighty

Glorious God that you are because you are why we are here today father. It's not because of ourselves

We need to set our selves aside and put you on On the throne father where you belong and so Lord we thank you that we can commit our time to you this morning

Just creating us a clean heart father and renew our spirits father through this time

Lord we commit it to your care in Christ's name. We pray. Amen Good morning, everyone let's stand and sing and Worship his majesty our

Lord our King Jesus Christ our Lord This is my father's world

Thank You David Open your Bibles and go to the Gospel of John Gospel of John chapter 1 and We return this morning to this mini series we're doing

Leading up to Resurrection Sunday, you know, it's right around the corner So we're gonna have

Palm Sunday coming which is a day that we remember Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem where they were they were laying palm branches down.

He Wrote in directly and fulfillment of prophecy on the back of a young foal

Just many many things happened that last week and then of course Good Friday He goes to the cross and obedience to his father's will he's buried three days later

He raises again, so we have Palm Sunday coming up and then Resurrection Sunday I'm sure ilgen is going to be preaching a message on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, right without the resurrection.

There is no Christianity So we're looking forward to that so this is kind of a real fitting lead -in up until Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday if you think about it

What more wonderful? subject Can we be studying in God's Word than Jesus Christ?

Amen, I mean what more wonderful look at verse 14 John chapter 1 the

Word became flesh and dwelt among us and We beheld his glory

The glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth

What a more wonderful subject Than Jesus Christ the only begotten

Son of God. I want to read verses 1 through 14

Believe it or not. We're only looking at one verse today The sermon title if you have the notes is

Jesus Christ is life But I'm going to get our minds fixed again on this passage where we'll be the next few weeks

John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the Word and The Word was with God and the

Word was God He was in the beginning with God All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made in him was life and The life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it

There was a man sent from God whose name was John This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light

That all through him might believe He was not that light But he was sent to bear witness of that light

That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him

He came to his own and his own did not receive him But as many as received him

To them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name

Who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God and The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as Of the only begotten of the

Father full of grace and truth John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom

I said he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and Of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace

May God add his blessing To the reading of his word. Let's go to the Lord in prayer

Father we thank you this morning for for Christian fellowship for corporate worship

Being together on the Lord's Day Starting our week father

God worshiping you as a church family as brothers and sisters in Christ We're so thankful for that God And Lord, we do commit the preaching of your word to your care

We do ask father God that you might be pleased By the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to understand your word to to Plant it as a seed in our heart that has been prepared before you

God Lord that you might be exalted that Christ might be exalted that the gospel would be clear that our

Understanding of you would be enriched and full and and and just father God Seeing you

As we haven't seen you before We commit this time to you God. We commit this time in the preaching of the

Word of God the living Word of God In Jesus name. Amen So we've seen looking back that God's holy inspired sufficient without error authoritative

Scripture clearly teaches that when Jesus Christ came to the earth. He was 100 % human he was a man and The Holy Scriptures also teach us from Genesis all the way to Revelation that Jesus is also

God 100 % God and Theologians refer to this mystery.

They came up with a fantastic word You got to go to seminary to learn it or Google it

They came up with this big word 50 cent word Hypostatic Union remember that it'll be on the test next week

So the hypostatic Union this person in the flesh 100 %

God and 100 % man at the same time and This morning we will examine consider how

Jesus is life The opening verses of the

Gospel of John are so important. They're foundational to why God the Holy Spirit Directed and guided the

Apostle John to write it They're also foundational to the clear and overall purpose of that.

John wrote this gospel. We read it last week It's in John 20 verse 30 Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ the Son of God and That by believing You may have listened carefully.

You may have life in his name now verse 4 John 1 in him was life and The life was a light of men

So not only was and is and always will be Jesus Christ the

Son of God Not only was he fully man during his time on the earth born of a woman and Not only has

God more fully revealed himself and spoken through Jesus Christ in verse 4 we learned that in him in Christ was life

Now if you've ever been to any kind of college level English class composition literature studied literature

At the beginning of any well -written or important work of literature and even music the writer or the composer will often declare a theme and then allow that theme to recur again and again throughout the book or the musical composition

Sometimes an author will do this through a visual image You ready the catcher -in -the -rye

What do you think the book is about? The catcher -in -the -rye How about this one?

I mean, this is gonna be a tough one ready. This is college level the grapes of wrath

You think it might be about wrath The Holy Bible, ah

Now sometimes you see the same thing in music you listen to Beethoven or Mozart or Any of those great composers, right

Sometimes it's done by means of a word or a concept and this is what we have here in verse 4 here

We have the introduction to two of the great themes of this gospel one is that Jesus was life and Secondly next week

Jesus was and is the light so he's both the life and the light and these two words in these two concepts occur in a variety of ways and So frequently that we need to take time to examine them

So today I want to consider and study the significance of Jesus Christ being the life

And that is why if you have the sermon notes at the very top simple title Jesus Christ is life

Today we'll look at the claim that Jesus is the life of the world and Then God willing next week.

We'll look at this claim that Jesus is the light of the world Jesus Christ is the life

What is the significance of this truth? What does it mean for us and the rest of the world?

I want to dig into some of the answers to these questions and one of the first things we want to understand is to see how a

Prominent theme this idea and the truth that Jesus is the life how it is in this gospel

See when you read the Gospel of John Dave has been studying it listening to more than just me and Any careful reader will of this gospel will see that the word life is an important one for John often speaks of life in connection with Jesus Christ and The eternal life that he offered to mankind to some extent the gospel both ends begins and ends with this theme he declares in him was life and the life was the light of men

Then when you get to chapter 20 verse 31, these things have been written That you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ listen carefully and that in him right in Him that believing that Jesus is a

Christ you may have what? life Look at John 14 6

Jesus says I Am the way the truth and the what life

No one comes to the Father but through me chapter 5 verse 40

Chapter 5 verse 40 But you are not willing to come to me

That you may have life chapter 10 verse 28 My sheep hear my voice verse 27 and I know them and they follow me and here it is

I give them eternal life and They shall never

Perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand Verse 10 same chapter the thief does not come

Except to steal and to kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and That they may have life more abundantly

So without going to all 50 References or so 35 nouns at least 15 verb forms of the word life

Since this word is so significant. Let's better understand how it's used and its significance listen its significance to the gospel and To our understanding of Jesus Christ because that's what this is all about right

Jesus is a hundred percent God He's a hundred percent man and he is now what life

So this word Occurs, like I said some 35 times in a noun form 15 times in the verb.

What does John mean? What is he referring to when he repeatedly uses the word life?

first of all This one is kind of interesting first of all when John uses the word life that Jesus is back in chapter 1

When he says over and over That in him was life He's referring to the fact that Jesus Christ gives physical life physical life

What is the significance of this repeated word life in this gospel? And what does it mean that?

Jesus is the source of life or that he is the life and in answer to this first question

John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is referring to physical life now physical life is the life that takes us back to the opening pages of the book of Genesis and Therefore to the role listen the role of the

Lord Jesus Christ in giving life to all living things in the world back in Genesis 1

It can be challenging To wrap our minds around all that the

Bible teaches on this truth about the role of Jesus Christ in giving life to all things Because the

Bible does teach listen the Bible does teach that our physical life does come from the triune

God through Jesus Christ There are three persons in the

Godhead all three persons have a distinct role

God the Father has given physical life through Jesus Christ Because when

John says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God He's going back to the very first verse of God's Word.

This is the reference look in the beginning God created the heavens and the worth now listen

Follow this. It's so amazing John says in the beginning was what the

Word and the Word was with God and The Word was

God now watch this Verse 3 Genesis 1

Then God What said? Let there be light and See back in John 1

John says the same thing. Look what he says in verse 3 All things were made through him and without him

Nothing was made that was made Can you get a hold of that in other words through the

Word through Jesus all things were made through him and Without him nothing

That was made was made So Jesus Christ was is and always will be

God and God is most glorified in his Son and what these verses are talking about here in John 1 and in Genesis 1 is

Jesus's role in creation So instantly with these words our mind should go to the life

That went forth out of God to bring life to in adamant matter at the beginning of the creation of the world

God just spoke and It happened So one truth about Jesus that John is saying here is that our physical life comes from God through Jesus Christ Now It's important so I want to go back again to Genesis hold your place in John and let me show you something else because I went many years as a

Christian obviously reading Genesis 1 and God said let there be light and I was always thinking what

God the Father right? I wasn't making this distinction. I Wasn't looking to understand the deity of Jesus Christ the fact that he is

God But take a look at this because it just keeps building Verse 7

Genesis 2 The Lord God Formed a man out of the dust of the ground and Breathed into his nostrils

The breath of life and the man became a living being Now all the terms in this verse from Genesis are important and for one we're told here

That God formed man From the dust of the earth

Now often in Scripture when God does a work in human history

He uses common substances or common people So that the glory might be to his name and not man's you understand

Peter was a common fisherman Matthew was a tax gatherer the most hated go through the disciples and See we see this principle in his choice of people like Abraham Moses who could barely talk slow of speech

David Remember David and Goliath Do you remember what's this little boy gonna do and David like?

What are you talking about this giant over here? He he's mocking the God of Israel. Remember that What's he gonna do against Goliath and then even

Goliath? What are you doing sending this little boy to me, right? This is

God We can't say it's all gonna point to his glory. It is just I mean if you don't get goose pimples right now

May I sorry? How about John the

Baptist? What kind of nutcase runs around the wilderness in burlap and eats locusts and honey you want some locusts for lunch?

No, thanks. I'll take in and out first Corinthians chapter 1

Listen carefully for consider your calling brethren That there were not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble But God has chosen the foolish things of this world

To shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of this world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of this world the murderers the adulterers

He's chosen them the prisoners The base things of the world the despised

God has chosen and the things that are not that he may nullify the things that are So that no man may boast before the

Lord You see we have the same principle in the opening verses of the Bible when

God formed man What did he use did he use gold silver uranium?

No, what did he use? dirt Dirt dust

The most common substance But God did what?

He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and this dirt

This dust became a living being so even though we may be fearfully and wonderfully made

That's what the psalmist says in Psalm 139 nevertheless The glory is God's and there's nothing in us which about which man can boast

Here's what one well -known scholar said about this truth So low is the dust

That Job uses the word 20 times To describe the littleness of man in his misery.

It is to dust That all bodies return in death Dust that exalts itself is hateful

But dust that acknowledges its dustiness finds favor in the sight of the

Lord The fact that God in Christ made life out of dust is a humble and remarkable truth

Have you thought about this What are we? Now secondly, there's another important point in verse 7 and that is the word breath

It is the breath of Almighty God in Christ Jesus that makes dust what?

live and breathe The breath of God makes the dust what is

God's breath It is that which goes forth out of his mouth

It is his spirit the Holy Spirit and it is associated with his spoken word

In in English the words breath spirit and word are unrelated, but this is not true in the

Hebrew language Which is what the Old Testament most of the Old Testament is written in there's parts of Daniel that are written in Aramaic, but the same

Hebrew word That is translated spirit is translated breath and what is more significant in Hebrew Thought the breath of God or the breath of man

Listen the breath of God or the breath of man in Hebrew thought and culture for thousands of years

The breath of man is associated with the person's spoken words as a man speaks

We know by means of it Now put this all together when you think about the physical life given to Jesus Christ When we put these ideas together when we find that God brought forth life in man by speaking the word of life

Which God has already identified with Jesus Christ in such a way that the spirit of life

Which is his Holy Spirit passes into man and causes him to breathe in other words these terms provide an illustration of the role of each member of the

Trinity in in Creation look at verse 26 chapter 1 By the way, don't argue this with a

Jehovah Witness when they come knocking on your door Okay, you're not going to convince them in anything else

The only thing that convinces any cult is the gospel they need to hear the gospel not why

God is a Trinity But look at verse 26 God said let us

Make man in our image according to our likeness See that so you have the building of the doctrine of the

Trinity over in 1st

Corinthians 15 As we head back to the New Testament The significance of man's created nature is seen most clearly

When he is contrasted with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1st Corinthians 15

Which is a great chapter on resurrection 1st Corinthians 15 verse 45

So it is written the first man Adam became a living being the last

Adam Became what a life -giving spirit

So back to the Gospel of John, I don't have time to go to all the other verses in Colossians Where I mean

I do this in science when I teach science because you know the scientists they can look at an atom and they Know that there's three parts right?

electrons Protons neutrons you understand and then they have this huge thing in Switzerland called the large haldron

Collider and they smash protons together and they they're looking for things smaller than the size of a proton and They found them.

There's all kinds of things when they smash the when you smash two rocks together. Do you get the same two rocks? No, they do this like it as fast as it can be.

It's in a vacuum tube It's very I forget the the my the the feet off the top of my head

Anyway, the point is in Colossians. It says Jesus holds everything together I mean right now if Jesus wasn't holding everything together, we would have the biggest atomic blast you've ever seen and it'd be the end of the world

So first of all when it comes to Jesus Christ being life, there is a physical life We can't fully or totally explain this truth

But Jesus was the creative agent in in creation yet each part of the

Trinity had a role in Okay, number two Jesus Christ is the one who not only gives physical life.

He also gives spiritual life so the physical life that all human beings have is only the beginning of our understanding of what

John Intends in verse 4 in him was life Not only the physical life But also the spiritual life and this is the groundwork for the spiritual

Interpretation of the word that he unfolds in this gospel. See John is speaking of physical life here

But as he goes on through the book, he transitions to spiritual life

One reason why he tells Nicodemus you must be what born again Not physically.

What was Nicodemus thinking? Come on. He's like us. You mean I got to go back into my mom How can

I go back into my mother's womb? I'm 45 years old How can I go back in my mother's womb and be born again?

Jesus is like you don't get it You don't get it. That's me. I don't get it.

Hit me over the head with a baseball bat The point is just as Jesus is a source of physical life

So he is a source of spiritual life that a believer receives when they by grace through faith receive him now

Here's where this really begins to get traction We have to realize

That apart from the spiritual life that Jesus Christ gives

Every man woman boy or girl born since Adam and Eve Listen are spiritually dead now this

Aspect of the condition of man apart from saving faith. We read over it, but too often

It's it's not fully appreciated or it's partially understood The Bible is very clear

That unbelievers are dead in their trespasses and sin

Unbelievers are as unresponsive to God listen as the dust was

Before God breathed life into it. Do you understand what can dust do?

Well, you might kick it around Right go to Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians chapter 2 Really appreciate the spiritual life that Jesus gives you have to understand that apart from saving faith

Every man woman boy or girl born since the fall since Adam and Eve are dead

Look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 And you he made alive who were dead in Trespasses and sins by the way in the

Greek You want to guess what dead means? Not breathing not living

How what do we mean by dead? Ready for the cemetery. Isn't that what we mean?

I Mean, we got some dead weeds. We are grateful. We have some dead weeds roundup kills them. Guess what?

They have no more life, right? And you were made alive who were dead in Trespasses and sin in which you once walked according to the course of this world

According to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience

Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh

Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath just as the others

By the way, you want a little fuller understanding of what's going on in the world today. I Had a conversation just in the past two weeks with somebody and they were like, this is a

Christian they were shocked There's only two kinds of people in the world

According to God's Word. There's only two kinds of people in the world There's not white black Chinese Taiwanese African, there's only two kinds of people children of God or children of the devil

Children of wrath or children of love spiritually dead or spiritually alive. That's what's going on in this world.

Look at what it says We were this way verse 3 We were fulfilling right the desires of the flesh.

We were by nature children of wrath But look at this but God Who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us

Even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ for by grace you have been saved and Raised us up together and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus What a past what a condition

What is everyone's condition apart from saving faith? Everyone is as dead as the dirt under our feet dead in their sin.

They might be breathing Their heart might be pumping blood, but according to God in their relationship with God they're dead and This is one of the miracles of salvation in our natural state.

We can't do anything to improve ourselves spiritually Apart from Christ No one has breathed one breath towards God nor had one

Spiritual heartbeat man is dead in their sin

Man is spiritually dead in his sin So he needs a new life and this is why

Jesus said to Nicodemus you must be born again I don't care that you're a Pharisee.

I don't care that you have kept the law. What did he say to the rich young ruler? You've lacked one thing.

Oh You're doing all good stuff. Whack one thing being born agains means receiving a new life from God through the

Lord Jesus Christ by faith in him and where people Listen, this is where people get hung up and confused

When the Bible says that all men are dead spiritually It's not

Suggesting that everybody is in the same. Listen to me same state of corruption and This can be a real point of misunderstanding when we talk about being spiritually dead when the

Bible declares in no uncertain terms That all men are dead spiritually It's not saying that every single man woman boy or girl is in the same condition of corruption

There are good people in the world that are not saved But they're spiritually dead

Understand they're spiritually dead if they die It doesn't matter how good they are if they die they go to hell not heaven

They're morally good mother Teresa Amazing woman did many things

They can be morally good and They can be better in the sense of the murderer or the adulterer or that that that serial killer that sits on death row and We see this in God's Word remember

Jairus He comes to Jesus because his little girl is sick She'd been dead for just a few minutes when the

Lord reached her father's house, but she was dead she was lifeless No doubt a sweet young girl in the eyes of her beloved parents

And even though there wasn't the corruption that there might have been in years later. What was she? Dead In the same way

Everyone born since Adam are all genuinely dead apart from the life -giving

Spirit of Jesus Christ There might be degrees of corruption. There's many many good people.

I Anybody when you give them the gospel Talk to anybody

I Mean do this Pray that God gives you an opportunity to share the gospel this week and ask the person.

Do you consider yourself a good person? Ask them What what did ninety nine point nine nine nine nine nine nine percent of people say unless they're in prison for murdering a hundred people?

I'm a good person and Then what I love to say next well, you mind if I give you a test

Sure good. Okay. Have you ever told a lie? Seriously try it pray that God give you a chance to share the gospel this week

That God brings an unbeliever into your life and you can say well do you consider? Yes. Well, have you ever told a lie and They'll go well

Yeah Everybody has What's that make you

No, no, they're not gonna say that they're gonna say human Just like everybody else try it

I've done it 50 times or more Human no, no.

No What's that make you? Just like everybody else then I say, okay if I told you a lie, what would you call me?

Liar and then the light comes on boy

I could go down that rabbit trail Where does spiritual life come from?

It comes from Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the life of the world Because we were guilty of sin

God sent Jesus to be the propitiation of our sin by bearing them on his own body on the cross

Because we were dead in our sins God sent Jesus Christ to give us new life

So God in Jesus Christ gives man physical life and he also gives man what

Spiritual life. Okay, and then finally if you're following in your notes

Jesus Christ also gives eternal life and we can camp here Seriously, we could camp here for the next 45 minutes easily and I'll try to Try to squeeze it down eternal life

For one the the life that God gives through Jesus Christ is

Not merely an earthly life or a life that that that can be lost listen

But eternal life that can never be lost So the life we see we receive from God in the moment of our belief in Jesus Christ is the same life

That we will be living with God for all eternity in What we could call

Unending millions of years. What is eternal life? Eternal life is life without what an end

There's no period at the end of the sentence if it could be lost which believe it or not.

There are Christians and Bible colleges and theologians that actually teach

That you can lose this eternal life which by definition is what?

eternal you mean It's eternal, but it's not Ask I mean, it's hysterical

If it could be lost what? It can't be eternal

Amen, can I have at least one? Amen? God said

He didn't say it's gonna last a million years He said it's eternal

If God said that he was going to give us 1 ,000 years then the life could not be lost before the end of a thousand years if he said it's a hundred years then

What God says stands, but he says it's eternal life. We thank God That he has given us not merely a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years

He's given us what eternal everlasting life in Jesus Christ first John 5 first John 5 11

Fantastic verse Mark it in your Bible if you're a Bible marker This is the testimony

That God has given us eternal life and this life is in his

Son so number one Eternal life forever back in John John chapter 10 now

The second truth is that God has not only given us eternal life that no one can take from us

He also has given us a life that is meant to be abundant even in our present

Circumstances look at chapter 10 John chapter 10 verse 10 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 so with verses like these and others we learn that Christians are meant to live lives of joy and Exuberance So much so that their life is a light pointing to the life

This is not an abundant life is not a million dollars in the bank

That's what some people think in fact if you turn on Christian television That's what you're taught

The abundant life is a life of material financial blessing such that you can give money to the guy so he can buy a jet

Let me show you what the abundant life is psalm 23 psalm 23 no, you might have a 1970

Nova with a broken muffler and still have an abundant life Amen, do you understand that you might have a one -bedroom apartment?

You might like for me I Had a room at the YMCA and then

I graduated to a room in a house By a lady that was 73 years old that rented out a room and it had a bathroom.

I couldn't even cook in my place. I Had an abundant life. Amen It wasn't the

Hyatt Regency. Let me tell you Look at verse 1 the

Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He light leads me beside the still waters He restores my soul

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake That's the abundant life

Do you see anything in there about having a big 401k please or a late model

BMW or fancy leather furniture beloved

Jesus Christ is life He is the originator of physical life.

He is the giver of spiritual life and eternal life When God opens our eyes to our condition

We know that we were once sheep that were lost We even begin to understand how we were dead in our trespasses and sin

But now in Christ by grace through faith we can know that the abundant life is ours

Whenever we will leave our wandering and lie down in the company of our

Shepherd You know a sheep

Will not eat or drink when lying down Many people don't know this

If you look carefully He makes me to lie down in green pastures. I Hope that this brings special meaning to you

Because the sheep will not eat when they're lying down if they're lying down even in the greenest of pastures and Even with the most tender morsel of grass right by their mouth

They will not eat it Instead if they're hungry They get up on their feet

They bend over and they begin to eat what they could have eaten while they were lying down So when the psalm tells us that the

Lord Jesus Christ our shepherd and That he makes us to lie down Listen He makes us to lie down in green pastures

It means he is able to satisfy us so fully

That we would not want anything else there's no yearning He's made us to lie down in green pastures the joys of living out the abundant life of Christ They're the joys of increasingly finding him to be the bread of life

That satisfies our hunger and the water of life That quenches our deepest thirst

Before David comes to lead us in a closing hymn. Would you look at Psalm 23? would you take just a moment of quiet prayer and Look at those three verses

Even the fourth verse and then I'll close us in prayer, but use this time

To ask the Lord to help you to understand the fullness of life we have in Christ Make sure you have it you really know that you have it and Spend a few moments in prayer and then

I will close us in prayer Heavenly Father We come to you so thankful for your word, you know the needs of Everyone's heart here this morning

You know exactly where each of us are in our relationship with you

There's no secrets You know every thought and intention of our heart, you know what we treasure most

We thank you that you are the Good Shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep God I pray is a interim under shepherd here

For this church family God for those that For whatever reason are not able to be here today for those that are watching by video

God For those of us that are here Lord, you know, our hearts are prone to wander

Lord I feel it, but you're the

Good Shepherd May you use your word today

God if we've been wandering in our love and devotion for you if we're concerned about something in our life or Worried or anxious or afraid

God that the Good Shepherd might indeed Truly do what you tell us you will do

You lead us beside the still waters you make us to lie down in green pastures

May we truly God hunger and thirst for righteousness. May we truly God hunger and thirst for your word for Jesus Who gives life we pray in Jesus name.

Amen David let's stand and sing our closing song because he lives