Joh 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Life consists of many things, but abundant life consists of One Person.
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
Jesus made 3 claims in this scripture.
1. THE WAY
2. THE TRUTH
3. THE LIFE
THE WAY.
How was he the way. Well as my pastor once taught me recently, when you answer scripture with scripture no one can contest it because they would be argueing with the bible.
Act 4:2 ....they taught the people, even to announce through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no other One; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
so he claimed he was the way... because he was the one mediator...
1Ti 2:5 For God is one, and there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus,
so to be a mediator, he had to be the middle man. Adam did not have a middle man, but because of sin... well.... we needed a middle man because we are incapable of the communication after the fall in the garden.
TRUTH
How was Jesus the truth. Well we answer scripture with scripture again.
Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.
So Jesus was the word. Is the word the truth?
Scripture with scripture.
(Psa 119:43) And take not the Word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Your judgments.
(2Co 6:7) in the Word of Truth, in the power of God, through the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
(Eph 1:13) in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
(2Ti 2:15) Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
(Jas 1:18) Of His own will He brought us forth with the Word of truth, for us to be a certain firstfruit of His creatures.
THE LIFE
This is where I will focus today with some more teaching expounding the word of God so that we can all understand what the abundant life constitutes.
When Jesus says he is THE LIFE what does he mean?
John 10:10 answers that he has come that we would have life and have it more abundantly. If we are to have life and he is the life according to John 14:6 Then to have abundant life we hare to have HIM.
So if you don't have Jesus, you cannot live a truly abundant life.
So you might be saying... "I see a lot of people with plenty money that don't have Jesus and they are abundant"
Then you think the abundant life is about posessions and status. It's not. The rich young ruler found this out.:
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? None is good except One, God.
Luk 18:20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother.
Luk 18:21 And he said, I have kept all these from my youth up.
Luk 18:22 And when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, Yet you lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.
You see the last part the Jesus said was ... come follow me. Meaning give up all you have and follow me.
Luk 9:23 And He said to all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Luk 9:24 For whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whoever will lose his life for My sake, he shall save it.
Luk 9:25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses himself, or is cast away?
Now Christianity is submitting your whole life to Jesus and letting him take it over by the Spirit of God to fulfull the purpose of God in this world, ultimately for HIS KINGDOM.
Examine the Children of Israel and the Levitical Laws or Laws of Moses.
God could have stopped at the 10 Commandments in the Book of Exodus.... but he went further to explain how to deal with people in Business, Workers, Family, Friends and Life in General. Why?
The law can be broken down into two broad categories.
1. The Civil Law
(1) Servants and the Poor
(2) Punishments
(3) Marriage
(4) Sabbaths and Feasts
2. The Ceremonial Law
(1) Origin of Sacrifice
(2) The Levitical Ritual
(3) The Law Truly a Torah
He could have just given them the 10 commandments and the rules for the tabernacle and end there. But he wanted them to live a life that HE DESIGNED. In other words, live a life that Was in total submission to God.... and of course if the Israelites had followed the LAW.... they would have been alright and in Good standing with good because they were doing what he prescribed... but of course they diddn't.
We now know that the law was fulfilled by Jesus, not that it was abolished and to be never referenced, but Jesus has not taken the place of the Law and we live life in subject to HIM.
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
What we do is this:
Imagine a Pie chart with all the components of your daily life. You would have a portion for school, work, play, recreaction, cooking, sleeping, cleaning, eating, quality time, and well Church.
Each one of these would have a place, the FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with that is that you are ultimately in control of that life so the only thing that would have a different color would be the part with church... you would put that in RED. All the other compartments would be coloured by your control and lifestyle. That is not living the ABUNDANT LIFE... that is living YOUR LIFE.
The abundant life is like this.
Underneath each pie chart is the heart behind it. So underneath your pie chart would be YOU.
The abundant life however, UNDRENEATH THE PIE CHART IS JESUS.
What that means is that everything in your life is in subjection to the authoutity of God via his Holy Spirit.
So the School would be RED,
The work would be RED
The recreation would be RED
The Cooking would be RED
The quality time would be RED
Driving would be RED
Relationships would be RED
and not just church time.
The life of abundance that Jesus was speaking about was not doing things your own way while thinking about him on Sunday or Tuesday or int he Morning when you reading your daily bread.
The abundant life is doing all the things surrounding HIM.... with him as the center.. the foundation that nucleus the brain the engine room the kitchen.
So you may have the WAY... which is salvation.
You may have the TRUTH... which is the word of God
But you may not have the LIFE... which is the daily living in subjection to him.
