John 10:10b
I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 15:5-6 NKJV
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Jesus declared that he came that we may have life and life abundantly. This life is the God kind of life that is eternal. Jesus is also telling us in these verses that he is the only source of this abundant life. We live in a generation where many have believed the lie that there are many ways to God. Jesus boldly proclaimed that he is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can get to the Father except they come through him.
To experience this abundant life begins with having faith in the complete work of Jesus on the cross and making him Lord and Saviour over your life. But that is just the starting point. Jesus tells us that he is the vine, and we are the branches and unless we stay connected to him then we will wither and die. He says a part from him, we can do nothing.
To abide in him means that his word also has to abide, stay in us. We must allow the word of God to saturate our hearts and minds because the word is what brings about a transformation in our lives.
When we truly love the Lord, then we will walk in obedience to his word. Walking in obedience ensures that his word abides in us as we abide in him, and the result of that is fruitfulness.
Out of the 7 I am statements of Jesus, three time he repeats that he is the life.
I am the bread of life, meaning that it is only he that sustains this abundant life that he gives us.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. This tells us that he is the only way, there is no other, there is only one truth and that is him, and he is life. Without the way and the truth, you cannot attain the life.
I am the resurrection and the life. Because we were dead in sin, it is only through Jesus and what he did for us that we can be resurrected and given this God king of life that is eternal with no end.
All in all, Jesus is at the focal point of abundant life because he is the source and sustainer of it.
Reflections:
Are you connected to the true vine and is he your source of sustenance?
Does his word abide in you? Obedience is better than sacrifice!
