My sheep hear My voice 2
by Ivan Ho 7 Jun 2022
Jesus is all knowing, nothing escapes His knowledge, nothing catches Him by surprise. So why, when the woman with the issue of blood touched His garment, Jesus asked her: Who touched My garment? Why did Jesus ask the blind man: What do you want Me to do for you? After all, It was pretty obvious that the blind man wanted to see. And why would Jesus say: Depart from me, I never knew you?
You see, Jesus is looking to communicate with man and that’s why He came from heaven to earth. Our relationship with God is not a one way top down relationship, but rather a mutual relationship made possible by Jesus. Everyone of us has a personal responsibility to seek after God, to actively hear His voice and to respond to Jesus as He speaks.
Jesus broke the barrier of sin between man and God by dying on the cross on our behalf so that our sins can be forgiven and wiped away, and we become reconciled with God. Just because Jesus paid the price for our sins does not necessarily mean we are automatically saved. Every person must respond to Jesus’s sacrificial, unconditional love in a personal way by repentance and accepting Jesus into his or her life. Each person must believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and confess Jesus as his Lord (Romans 10:9-10). If we do that, we become born again in Christ.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 KJV
Salvation is not a one off decision making experience. Imagine couples never talk to each other again after exchanging the wedding vows. Having been born again in Christ, we need to continue to actively seek after and follow Him. Jesus says: “My sheep know My voice, and they follow Me”.
13 Jun 2022
We all like sheep have gone astray
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:5-6 KJV
This is a well know scripture written by prophet Isaiah who prophesied about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, He took the chastisement of our peace upon Himself, by His stripes we are healed.
Jesus laid down His life not for Himself but for us because we are lost doing our own things, pursuing our own ways without God.
Everyone of us are sinners because we ALL like sheep have gone astray. Everyone of us has chosen our own ways, which is what iniquity means, and it is because of our iniquities that Jesus laid down His life for us.
Having our sins forgiven by our Lord Jesus doesn’t mean we are to continue to live like lost sheep, that we are to continue to insist in our own ways. Jesus laid down His life not just to remove our sins but also to bring us back to His way, so we will choose to follow Him as He leads us.
Following the ways of strangers and pursuing your own dreams apart from God totally contradicts what Jesus did on the cross for you. He comes to save you from being lost but if you fail to follow Jesus as Lord, you are just as lost as before you met Jesus. Repentance means forsaking our own ways and following Jesus as our Shepherd. We preach repentance and remission of sins, without repentance there is no remission of sins.
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24:46-48 KJV