“I am the good shepherd” (Jn 10:11). Beloved, our joy will be made complete when every child of God knows the good news of Christ, completely. Therefore we teach and we proclaim the good news of Christ to you. With that in mind, in John 10:1-21, Jesus speaks of the parable of the good shepherd. And in verses 11, 15 & 17 most translations represent Jesus laying down His life, which is indeed true—though the exact words chosen by the Holy Spirit convey a much deeper understanding. The word translated in these verses as “life” is ψυχη, which refers primarily to the soul (also inner life, breath). There is a separate word for life, ζωη, but that word is not used in these verses. Additionally, the verb used for “lay down” is τιθημι, which means literally “to place” (to place in a particular location). Thus Jesus placed His soul. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd places his soul in behalf of the sheep” (Jn 10:11). “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I place My soul in order that I may take it again” (Jn 10:17). If you understand the technical implications of Jesus placing His soul, you will also have a deeper understanding of the good news of Christ! You see Beloved, before Jesus was born, He was. Before Abraham was born, He was. Before Satan fell, He was. Before Adam & Eve, He was. Jesus ‘was’ what we call Yahweh. Or in His words, the great “I am, I am”. Also in His words, “I am the Alpha and the Omega—who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rv 1:8). Before the foundation of the world, Yahweh & God the Father predetermined that Yahweh would enter into the perfect & sinless body that God the Father would create and name His Son, Jesus, the Anointed One (aka. Christ). He would be the only One qualified to pay the price for sin. But before Yahweh would enter into the body of Jesus Christ, God would pass over sins for over 4,000 years while Satan the Accuser (Rv 12:10) furiously accused God of being unrighteous—why wasn’t God inflicting His righteous judgment on everyone else the way He had done so with Satan? How could a righteous God just pass over sins??? (Is 14:12-14, Lk 10:18, Rv 12:4 & 12:9). From Satan’s perspective, God looked to be unrighteous when He passed over the sins of Adam, Cain, and everyone else thereafter (Gn 1:1-4:15). But God, in His perfect wisdom & understanding was well aware of the fact that by choosing us in Christ, His righteousness would be in question—and He also knew that His plan for Jesus Christ to be born into this world could not be thwarted! And because He is God, He is apart from time—He created time, thus He could pay for sins 4,000 years after the fact. But for His plan to be fulfilled it would have to be kept a mystery to His prophets, to Israel, to the angels, and especially to Satan & his demons (otherwise Satan would have been Jesus’ bodyguard!)… Now, all of these things lead us to the beautiful moment in time when Yahweh actually placed His soul, Hebrews chapter 10—Because “The Law…can never…make perfect those who draw near” when He comes into the world, He says “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To Do Your Will, O God (Hb 10:1-7). What an amazing picture we have of the moment that God the Father created the body—what we would call the complete embryo, both sperm & egg. Then, Yahweh enters into the body of Jesus (9 months before Christmas), becoming the Son, the Anointed One, who was predicted to come throughout the Old Testament. Yes, God, while in heaven, had prepared a sinless embryo/body from dirt (same construct as Adam) and then Yahweh placed His soul into that body (up until then, Yahweh was not confined to a body; His soul was not “placed”). But according to God’s plan, written in the scroll of the book before the foundation of the world, it was now time for Yahweh to place His soul in a particular location, in behalf of the sheep. Once inside the body, the Holy Spirit swooped down to earth and placed His seed into Mary (fulfilling the promise given to Adam & Eve in Gn 3:15). Then 9 months later Jesus, the Anointed One, was born into this world—PRAISE GOD! And after that, it was the faith of Jesus Christ that empowered Jesus to fulfill God’s plan, dying on a cross, justifying God’s love & righteousness, and once and for all making God’s righteousness known. Though the sinless body of Jesus was just a man, Yahweh/God being inside that body made that man worth more than all men, which is why Jesus Christ is the satisfactory sacrifice & payment for sins. The result is—first & foremost, that God is righteous, and secondly, that He has the right to forgive sins & proclaim righteous the one who is out of the faith of Jesus (Rm 3:21-26). “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and we are” (1Jn 3:1). Beloved, Jesus Christ placed His soul—He died, He was raised, and then He was seated at the right hand of God—so that you could die, be raised, and then be seated at the right hand of God. Thus, if you are out of the faith of Jesus, celebrate and live by the faith of Jesus Christ Beloved! Celebrate Yahweh placing His soul, and celebrate the implications of Yahweh placing His soul—that you are complete in Christ, just as Jesus is complete. That you were circumcised in the circumcision of Christ, your flesh was cut off from your fallen spirit, and your fallen spirit was crucified with Christ, then God birthed you forth a new perfect, righteous & separate spirit, making you alive with Christ, having raised you with Christ. Celebrate the fact that your new spirit is seated at the right hand of God, which is why your life is hidden with Christ in God, and your citizenship is in heaven. Now Beloved, may the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you keep seeking & setting your mind on the things above. Blessings.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 02:55:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015