ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
John 10: 10- The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Introduction
Our text is taken from the 4th Gospel. – The Gospel according to John. Not the Baptist and the forerunner of Christ and a voice crying in the
wilderness saying, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand”
(meaning it is coming and it is near or He is near). It’s not John Mark the cousin of Barnabas who wrote the Gospel of Mark. It is John, the brother of James of the sons of Zebedee. John the Elder, John the Revelator- John the disciple that Jesus loved. One of the sons of thunder from the inner-circle of Jesus. This Gospel was written around
A. D. 90 (Anno Domini and in the year of our Lord) about 60 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. The book was written to Christians in the province of Asia while John was a resident of Ephesus. In contrast to the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Gospel of Matthew’s main theme or purpose is to declare that Jesus is the King (Messiah). The Gospel of Mark’s theme or purpose is to declare Jesus as the Strong Servant, of God. The Gospel of Luke’s theme or purpose is to declare the good news that Jesus is the Son of Man (Savior of the World), of all mankind. The Gospel of John declares that Jesus is the Son of God, The Christ, the Source of Life to those who believe.
ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
Back in the day whenever Some-one would ask me or greet me with “what’s happening? Or what’s going on? Or what it be like? What it is? Today its wuzz up? My reply would be – It is what it is, – ain’t nothing but a thing – everything is on the one and I’m just living in my life. This was known as slanguage in my day, or talking out the side of your neck, which is sometimes referred to as double talk – today it’s called hip-hop. A way of saying a whole lot of nothing. A reply and utterance with no substance or content. To answer a question without giving any information. It may seem contradictory or redundant to say I’m living in my life, or to ask
ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
Jesus in our text today states that He came that we might have life, implying that we’re dead. Eph. 2:1 reads: And you he hath quickened (or made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins. Jesus also warns us that the thief wants to steal, kill, and destroy us. (Tell your neighbor you need a life, you need Jesus). The Gospel of John teaches that God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. It also teaches that God is Life, Love, and Light. This Gospel never loses sight of the fact that He who was in the beginning with God (His Life, Light, and Energy) was not only the Son of God, but the Hebrew Messiah. “The Christ”.
ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
Sounds like a rhetorical question, for if you’re present this morning and can hear me then you must be alive and living and therefore full of life. This may be more of an assumption than a reality or actuality. We look the part, we look like we are full of life. We look like a million dollars, we have fat bank accounts, income and money coming in; we’re wearing our gold and bling,bling jewelry, we’re wearing Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Louie Vaton, Sean Jean, Hilfiger, Gucci apparel and accessories. We drive our 40 and 50 thousand dollar Lincoln, Lexus, Cadillacs. We park these cars in the drive of our 150-200 thousand dollar homes. To the on-lookers, the have nots, the less fortunate, WE’RE LIVING THE LIFE!
Sheila E called it the “glamorous life”. TuPac Shakur called it “thug
life”. Luke 12:15 And He said unto them take heed, and beware of
covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things which he possesseth. Could we have an imitation of life? One of my all-time favorite movie is Imitation Of Life. Yeah, I cried like a baby. It was heart and wrenching, witnessing the revelation of true, unadulterated, unconditional love, of a mother for her child. When the young bi-racial woman’s eyes of understanding were enlightened, she realized that the love of men, and the love of the world, were no substitute for a mother’s love. A mother’s love is as close as you get to Agape Love in our human experience. Jesus promised to be a mother to the motherless . (Sometimes I feel like a Motherless child).
ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
It’s nothing wrong with having things. The error is in seeking these things. The love of money and the glamorous life that goes with it, has some of us lying and stealing, hooking and crooking, chipping, dipping, tipping, cheating in the next room, gambling, playing the lotto and bingo. Matthew 6:33 says, But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. You need Jesus. D. L. Hughley, a famous comedian uses this as his punch line, but it’s no joke. You need to seek Jesus, He is the Kingdom of God, and He has imputed His righteousness toward us. He has made it available, He has made room to include us in His righteousness. There is no kingdom without the King, Jesus is the King, and His domain is where He reigns. Does He reign in your life? If He does, then let not sin reign in you mortal bodies. I John 3:8 says, He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Jesus said why call ye me Lord and do not the things that I say.
ARE YOU LIVING THE LIFE?
The life of Love, Peace, and Joy. The apostle Paul said it is no more I that live, but it’s the Christ that lives inside. The anointing abides within. If the Annointed One abides or dwells within us, then Jesus must live through us. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Eternal life begins here and now, in the present. If you are saved you have eternal life right now. Abundant life is the quality of Eternal life in the present.