How do you react when you hear it said that through Jesus, we can know “Life in all its fullness”? What do those words even mean? How can we take them seriously or engage with them when we live in such a messy and chaotic world? In fact, how can we believe that knowing “life in all its fullness” is really ever going to be possible in the midst of our own lives as we face so many conflicting pressures, expectations and viewpoints?
These are important questions for us to be free to, and willing to explore. At the heart of our Christian faith rests our belief in Jesus as Lord and Saviour over every single aspect of our lives, not just the bit that brings us together on a Sunday morning where, on the whole, we can give the impression that we are enjoying “life in all its fullness” all of the time, simply because we can “pull it off” as we drink coffee together, sing our worship songs, pray, and listen to the sermon.
Knowing “life in all its fullness” in the way that Jesus meant it is transforming. It doesn’t move us out of the messiness of life and instead place us in some kind of religious bubble where nothing can ever hurt us. Instead, when we are able to fully understand what Jesus was intending for us to take from his words, we can know and see through his example how our faith and trust in him enables us to get the most out of life as it is now, as well as see the light of his hope for the future.
Another way I’ve heard this expressed before goes like this: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain”.
Knowing “life in all its fullness” will enable us to live fully as God intended as we integrate everything with His ways. We celebrated Jesus coming into the world at Christmas and now we need to live out the wonder of that during the year ahead. We need to be the people God has always intended for us to be as we learn, or re-learn, how to embrace “life in all its fullness” in Jesus’ name.
As we explore John 10 (plus other supporting passages), then move into the latter chapters of John’s gospel around Easter, we will have a fresh opportunity to respond to all that the Lord is showing us, and so be transformed in His name.
Genesis 1:31; Jeremiah 29:11; Luke 4:14-21; James 1:2-8. Sometimes the answer to something doesn’t bother us too much, but there are plenty of other times when it does, and we’re desperate to know, we’re longing for an answer. We need to know, we need to understand, we need to work things out in our minds […]
John 21. Do we ever believe, or do other people tell us, that because of something we’ve done we can never be forgiven or restored? Surely that’s how Peter must have felt? He had declared in the hearing of his friends and his Lord that, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I […]
John 20: 19-31; Luke 24:13-49. Some of the disciples were quicker than others to believe and embrace the glory of Jesus’ resurrection. What made the difference was their personal encounters with their risen Lord and Saviour. Once they had experienced Jesus personally, faith was strengthened through the ways in which Jesus proved Himself to be […]
John 20; Luke 24:1-12. Today we get to look again at “life in all its fullness” through our risen Lord! Hope is renewed for those who thought they had lost Jesus forever, and proven to be true for those who had doubted. “Life in all its fullness” is no longer out of reach for ANYONE. […]
John 19. It seems at first that Jesus is hold onto full control of the situation – Pilate really didn’t want to hand Jesus over to be crucified. Jesus confirms His sovereignty – not as a king in the sense that those around were thinking, but as King for all people through His sovereignty as […]
John 13. John 18. The move from Jesus setting an example to His disciples of the fullness of love, faithfulness, and being self-giving (John 13), to all that happened in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18), is a huge shift. It takes us through a claim of loyalty, prediction of denial, and on to the […]
John 12: 12-19. As Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to begin His final journey to the cross, there were divided opinions in the crowd. These ranged from those who were genuinely welcoming their Messiah for who He truly was, to those who were anticipating more of a regular / earthly perspective of His kingship, and on […]
John 12: 1-11 Whilst Jesus was being honoured at the home of Lazarus, Mary recognised His greatness with sheer extravagance. Perhaps Judas was right to ask if the money could have been better spent on helping the poor, but Mary wanted to give the best that she could to her Lord. How do we compare? […]
John 10: 22 – 42. What will it take for us to see “life in all its fullness” being offered to us by Jesus as our Lord and Saviour? Those who have been listening to Jesus are still asking, “When are you finally going to tell us if you really are the Christ?”. That must […]
John 10: 14-18. We tend to be more willing to listen, and so will happily pay more attention, when we know that the voice we are hearing carries some level of authority. Not “authority” in terms of enforcing rules, so much as “authority” in terms of the voice of a person who we can easily […]