GOD'S PROMISES #18

'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.'

This promise is intimately connected with the promise that identified Jesus as 'the gate'.

In some ancient sheep-folds there was no door or gate - only a doorway or gateway, an opening. At night the shepherd would sleep in this opening, becoming himself the 'gate' or 'door' that kept his sheep inside the fold and kept marauding animals outside the fold.

He literally laid his life on the line for the safety and security of his sheep.

Jesus Christ is such a shepherd. Not only is he the one and only entry point to spiritual life and salvation: he also laid down his life to gain and maintain that life and salvation for us.

Most people believe that spiritual life and salvation is obtained by our own efforts - by our performance of and adherence to particular moral codes or religious rituals.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, teaches otherwise, identifying spiritual life and salvation as a gift from God, dependent on God's grace, not our performance, given automatically to all who receive and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, made possible by his substitutionary bearing of the death penalty for our sin, and guaranteed by his resurrection from the dead.

Jesus, the good Shepherd, is calling you into his fold. Hear his voice. Listen to his voice. And follow him in ultimate spiritual safety and security.

Scriptures: John 10:11, 7; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 1:12; Romans 10:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24,25; John 10:14-16, 27-29.