The Lord's condition provides our position - the Father loves the believer

 

John 10:16 "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.

 

When He says, “I have” He uses the present active indicative of the verb echo, which means to keep on having and always having.

 

It is the first indication of the principle of eternal security. When the shepherd says “Other sheep I have” it is present linear aktionsart - I keep on having them, there never will be a time when I won’t have them.

           

“not of this fold” - this fold refers to the dispensation of Israel.

           

“them also” - believers of the Church Age; “I must bring” is literally, “It is necessary for me to lead.” The Greek word dei should be translated, “it is necessary.”  “To lead” - to lead into green pastures.

 

This is a part of Christ’s calling and election by God the Father.

 

Through the plan of the Father, which the Lord will fulfil completely, it is necessary for Him to provide you, as a believer, with eternal security and it is necessary for Him to lead you to green pastures.

 

Green pastures is a reference to all the tremendous doctrines of the Church Age which will bring the beyond comprehension blessings of Church Age election.

 

He will never quit on you, He will always be your beautiful Shepherd, He will always love you having full knowledge of you, His salvation is eternally secure, and He will always lead you towards ultimate prosperity.

 

The question is, by our own volitionself-determination, will we follow Him?

 

God graciously provides information regarding that plan whereby he can function as a priest, and as an ambassador, so he can become spiritually self-sustaining, and becoming self-sustaining he can represent the Lord in full time Christian service.

 

In other words, just because there is a change of dispensation it doesn’t cancel out green pastures. The Lord provided doctrine for believers in the previous dispensation; He provides doctrine for believers in this dispensation. The difference is that the pastures in the CA are greener and more bountiful by far.

 

Then He goes on to say, “they shall hear my voice” - the word hear sometimes means to listen and sometimes it means to hear and obey. Here the word means to hear and obey.

 

The word is akouo, future middle indicative.

 

Middle voice (the voice of benefit): emphasis on positive volition at the point of gospel hearing. They themselves shall hear and they shall be benefited by entering the plan of God.

 

The indicative mood means the reality of the principle. Jesus is stating a principle for the future, a principle which is true for the Church Age.

 

Jesus Christ is the starting point and the foundation for an amazing future of which you never thought could be remotely possible, and while that will mean eternity in a resurrection body, it also means a future in time that only a positive believer will experience.

 

Don’t entertain for too long in your mind what you think the details of your future will be. I can guarantee you that it will not be what you think it will be, but rather beyond what you think it will be.  

 

Then next is the equal privilege and equal opportunity of positional truth in the Church Age.

           

He says, “there shall be one fold” - a reference to positional truth, the fact that at the moment a person believes in Christ God the Holy Spirit takes him and enters him into union with the Shepherd.

 

The one fold refers to union with the Lord Jesus Christpositional truth.

           

And finally, there is only “one shepherd” - Jesus Christ is the only saviour. He is the head of the Church and that never changes.

 

So we conclude the prophecy of you and me as believers in the Church Age in verse 16.

 

John 10:16 "And I have [keep on having] other sheep [of the same kind], which are not of this fold [not of the house of Israel]; I must bring [it is necessary for Me to lead] them also [to the green pastures of election in Christ], and they shall hear My voice [positive volition at gospel hearing]; and they shall become one flock [EPEO] with one shepherd [JC is always the head of the Church].

 

You gotta love it when Christ mentions you in His message. And not only here are you mentioned, but Christ prays for you in John 17.

 

Faith in the word of God makes all the difference between an abundant life of peace and a miserable life of fear.

 

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

 

The present active indicative of agapaomeans that the Father keeps on loving the humanity of Christ, He never changes.

           

And then He tells us why. Why will the Father forever love the humanity of Jesus Christ?

 

Jesus Christ as a member of the human race is going to operate within the framework or the guidelines of a plan. God’s plan designed for Him in eternity past.

 

But Jesus Christ knew doctrine and He operates within the plan of the Father constantly, so therefore the love of the Father could be poured out upon Him constantly.

 

Therefore, Jesus is the only human in all of human history where the Father’s love depended on His decisions.

 

The Father loves any member of the human race continuously based on one decision to believe on Jesus Christ as Savior.

 

The Father’s love for Christ depended upon every decision that He would make. Laying down His life would mean absolutely nothing if He committed one sin. And sinless right up to the moment that first nail was to be driven through Him, He still could have stopped it all. God the Father’s love of Him depended on that decision as well. One sin while hanging on the cross would have stopped the Father’s love. One rejection of any one sin as it was being poured upon Him would have stopped the Father’s love.

 

But not one negative decision was ever made by Christ and His laying down of His life therefore became a spiritual reality, and for this, the Father loves Him.

 

Christ’s impeccability and spiritual death made it possible for the Justice of God to reject every sin in the human race and never have to look at it again.

 

There was no one who was going to die for Christ’s sins and so if Christ committed one, God would have looked upon that sin, and would have continued to look at all of our sins.

 

But the sinless, voluntary substitute for the human race satisfied completely the Justice of the Father and for that reason the Father loves Him and will always love you.

 

Here is the cement of your relationship as a child of God with your Father. Try to put a monetary value or a materialistic value on that!