Pastor Barry's "Chapter & Verse" Day 232

August 20;       John 10:17:       78/260(III);       ‘A Life Laid Down’

 John 10:17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

God the Father sent the Lord Jesus on a mission to rescue humanity from our sins.  He sent Jesus because of His great love for us and His desire that we would spend eternity with Him.  The Lord Jesus, as the Bible teaches, left deity in heaven and functioned on earth as a Man.  Relationally, Jesus remained the Son of God while He was on the earth and by prayer, Jesus and God the Father had intimate communication, with Jesus following the will of His Father.  The religious leaders hated Jesus and desired to kill Him for a long period of time. Jesus tells us in verse 18 that no one could take His life and that He laid His life down.  Regardless of the hatred and plans of the religious leaders, the Lord Jesus did not yield to the crucifixion until exactly the right time as determined by God the Father. No one had the power to kill Jesus, He laid down His life for us.  Think of the Father’s and Jesus’ love for us.  Before time began God the Father knew everything that would transpire and He knew what He and the Lord Jesus would do to redeem us from our sins.  There was nothing anyone could do that could alter that plan.  Once a crowd desired to throw Jesus off a cliff, He walked right through the midst of them.  When they came to arrest Him in Gethsemane, when Jesus identified Himself, His accusers fell to the ground.  Religion is a lie.  The devil thought when Jesus was crucified that he won.  Instead, satan fell right into the eternal plan of redemption.  Then the time came for our eternal salvation and Jesus laid His life down.