Born that Man No More May Die

Good evening, welcome, thank you for being here. Please open Bibles to John 10.

Writing papers, the need for a thesis statement. What is the thesis statement of your life?

Sometimes tend to make our lives about fleeting things. We find life to be meaningless, unsatisfactory, empty.

What do the angels make their chief aim of existence?

Charles Wesley (1739)- “Hark the Herald Angels sing, glory to the newborn King”

Hark- Listen, consider, pay attention.

The angels give glory to God, give glory to Jesus.

Revelation 4:8- “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Revelation 5:12- “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

What is the aim of the existence of these heavenly beings? To proclaim, worship, and give glory to God.

Westminster Shorter Catechism- What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Read John 10:9-11- 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 may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus has come to give life. God and sinners reconciled. Light and life to all He brings. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.

Not just any life. Abundant life. Eternal life. Abundant = beyond measure.

Two things to notice concerning this abundant life:

Abundant life is costly.

Contrasts being made. What does the thief do? Steal, kill, destroy. What does the Shepherd do? Provide pasture.

Echoes of Psalm 23- Lead me beside still waters, paths of righteousness. Lying down in green pastures.

In order to give this sort of life, something must first be done. Too many threats, both inside and outside of the sheep pen.

Predators outside of the pen (and seeking to find their way in), and there is the foolishness of the sheep themselves.

Predators- those who would have us take our eyes away from Jesus. This can be literally anything, even those good gifts given to us by God that we find ways to misuse.

Foolishness- We wander. My goodness do we wander. We cannot walk the straight line because we don’t have it in us.

We must be saved from predators and from our own foolishness, or sinfulness.

Jesus lays down His life. But notice the wording- for the sheep. For His people.

Something at the heart of His actions here- His character as a shepherd and His undying love for His Church.

The goodness of Jesus, His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, His affection for His people drives Him to be born, to live, to die and to rise.

Abundant life is the purpose of the incarnation.

From Manger to the Temple, from the Jordan River to the wilderness, from Galilee to Jerusalem, from Gethsemane to Golgotha, from the tomb to the ascension- Everything aimed at the securing of eternal life for the family of God.

We celebrate the incarnation, the birth of our God who has taken on flesh, knowing what is to come of His life.

Matthew 1:21- She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

When Jesus says that life abundant, life eternal, is given, we find the purpose of the incarnation.

Christmas is no small event. It is not something by which we ought to be merely entertained.

The birth of Christ changes the very fabric of nature, of existence. God becomes man. Jesus is born. Salvation and eternal life are made possible.

Don’t pass too quickly over these statements. Hark. Listen. Pay Attention. Consider. Glory to the newborn King.

What has been the thesis of your life? What will it be from here on out?