Recently I listened to a sermon on John 10:14 – 18, a passage we looked at some time ago when we were covering the seven “I AM” statements Jesus declared of himself. What caught the focus of my attention was not on what was being covered, but the verse that was skipped. That was verse 16 which reads, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (ESV).
Sheep refer to those who have eternal life as opposed to goats who will depart into eternal punishment. The sheep in this fold would most likely refer to the Jewish believers and those not of this fold being Gentiles. Thus both Jewish and Gentile believers would make up one flock under one shepherd, our savior Jesus Christ.
As I thought about these other sheep that were omitted from the sermon I began to think of when a person becomes a sheep. As a person grows in spiritual understanding before spiritual birth, is that person a sheep? That is a valid question because many don’t think a child is human until after birth. I think that is absurd. A person is human from the point of conception. Is there a spiritual conception point before spiritual birth and if so are these not also sheep that we are to find? It is so exciting to share with people during the gestation period and then be present when God chooses the time to cause the spiritual birth.
No comments:
Post a Comment