ICS Daily Devotions
The Good Shepherd Gave His Life for the Sheep
John 10:11 (NKJV) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Life is precious. There may be those who are willing to donate an organ or part of an organ to another. More often than not, we hear of people breaking their promises, walking away from commitments, unable to continue to commit to love because it is no longer convenient or there are no more advantages in the relationship or for various other reasons. We seldom hear of sacrificial love especially when someone is willing to lay down his life for another.
Many question the goodness of God when they are suffering. It is understandable because stress will bring out the best or the worst in a person. However, knowing the goodness of God helps us in our suffering because it brings comfort, peace and warmth through His love for us. We may not know or understand why certain things happen but it helps us rest in His love and to trust the heart of God.
Sometimes it can be confusing when reading the Old and the New Testaments. We wonder whether if there are any consistencies about God. Do we have an angry God in the Old Testament and a loving God in the New Testament? God’s attributes remain the same regardless whether it is the Old or New Testament. He is definitely a holy, just and righteous God. The original sin issue committed by Adam and Eve separated us from God. For God, there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. In the Old Testament, there was an annual sacrificial system, on the Day of Atonement, that could only take away sin temporarily. This was because the blood of animal sacrifices was only able to cover sin but it could not take way sin forever. The law and the sacrificial system pushed us to seek the grace of God and this could only be found in Jesus Christ.
Fortunately, the annual sacrifices were a foreshadow of the good thing to come and God in His love, prepared a body for His only begotten Son to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin that would satisfy His wrath and judgment towards the sin issue that separated us from God.
Hebrews 10:5-7 (NKJV) Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’”
Even though we read in the Old Testament about the strict requirements of an unblemished lamb, God took no pleasure in the sacrifices of animals. Jesus is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. He was sinless when He was ministering and living on earth. It is the will of God for Jesus, the Good Shepherd to lay down His life for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (emphasis added)
Sermon Series: Who Is Shepherding You?
