The Abundant Life

John 10:1-18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” INTRODUCTION If someone were to give you fifty million dollars, what would you spend it on? What are the first three things you’d buy? Would you save any of it and, if so, for what? Let’s try a different angle. If you were given one year to do whatever you wanted, all expenses paid, what would you do (or not do)? Where would you go? What would you eat? Who would you take? One more. If you were able to ensure any ten things for your grandchild, what would be on your list (looks, health, education, spouse, kids, character, religion, finances)? In John 10:10, Jesus said that He came so that His people might “have life and have it abundantly.” The key questions, of course, are what did He mean by an abundant life and how do we get it? What exactly constitutes such a life and where does it come from? Your answers to each of the questions above go a long way toward giving your definition, but how does it compare to Jesus’ definition? This morning, we’re going to consider (1) what Jesus meant by an abundant life, (2) in order to help us compare it to our operating understanding, (3) in order to help us recalibrate our lives wherever we find a discrepancy, (4) in order to live the abundant life Jesus came to bring. To those ends, we’ll consider what John says in our passage this morning about the abundant life, what he says about it in broader brush strokes throughout his entire Gospel, and in broadest brush strokes what the entire Bible says about the abundant life. In light of all of that, I’ll highlight a few things the abundant life isn’t. And then, finally, I’ll close with a few thoughts on how we get from wherever our lives are now to a more abundant life. Let’s pray that God would accomplish these things, through these mean