Lesson 1078

(Lesson 1078)(08-28-14) John 10:7-15

"Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 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. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep."

As was foretold from the beginning in the book of Genesis,Today's lesson establishes Jesus as the ONLY means by which one can be eternally redeemed from the wrath of God that was brought upon us by inherent "sin", the disobedience of Adam.

Jesus is, and always has been, the foretold, "tree of life".

In the beginning, before the disobedience of Adam, God made only one rule that Adam was to follow: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

The "sin" that was brought upon us through the fall of Adam, as is clearly stated in the quote from Genesis, is the ability to recognize the difference between "good" and "evil". Had Adam not eaten the fruit, we would be today just as animals, in the sense that among them, there is no good or bad. Animals cannot sin because they have no idea what "sin" is, they have no sense of what is the "good" or "bad" thing to do.

Had Adam not eaten of that fruit there could be no sin in the world today.

God, in His infinite wisdom, also offered a means by which mankind could redeem himself from the condemnation that was brought upon us by the fall of Adam: "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, TO KNOW GOOD AND EVIL: and now, LEST HE PUT FORTH HIS HAND, AND TAKE ALSO OF THE TREE OF LIFE, AND EAT, AND LIVE FOR EVER:" (Genesis 3:22)

There were angels set to the east of Eden to keep mankind away from the tree of life until the glorious day of the coming of Christ and chance for eternal redemption: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24)

From this we see that just as quickly as Adam disobeyed God, God in His loving grace provided us with a redeemer, the "tree of life", Jesus Christ. He also placed guarding angels so that no man could come to the tree before He was sent to the world.

The promise that God would provide His own sacrifice for sin was mentioned in Genesis 22:7-8;"And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF A LAMB for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."

Just as Jesus makes very clear in today's lesson, He is the ONLY means by which we can be restored to the presence of God and avoid eternal damnation in the hell that is prepared for the lost.~