Divine Shepherd
411
neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee.”
Isaiah 54:10
.
However much a shepherd may love his sheep, he loves his sons
and daughters more. Jesus is not only our shepherd; He is our “ever-
lasting Father.” And He says, “I know Mine own, and Mine own know
Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.”
John
10:14, 15
, R. V. What a statement is this!—the only-begotten Son,
He who is in the bosom of the Father, He whom God has declared to
be “the Man that is My fellow” (
Zechariah 13:7
),—the communion
between Him and the eternal God is taken to represent the communion
between Christ and His children on the earth!
Because we are the gift of His Father, and the reward of His work,
Jesus loves us. He loves us as His children. Reader, He loves you.
Heaven itself can bestow nothing greater, nothing better. Therefore
trust.
Jesus thought upon the souls all over the earth who were misled
by false shepherds. Those whom He longed to gather as the sheep of
His pasture were scattered among wolves, and He said, “Other sheep I
have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall
hear My voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.”
John
10:16
, R. V.
“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life,
that I might take it again.” That is, My Father has so loved you, that He
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even loves Me more for giving My life to redeem you. In becoming
your substitute and surety, by surrendering My life, by taking your
liabilities, your transgressions, I am endeared to My Father.
“I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it
from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again.” While as a member of the human
family He was mortal, as God He was the fountain of life for the world.
He could have withstood the advances of death, and refused to come
under its dominion; but voluntarily He laid down His life, that He
might bring life and immortality to light. He bore the sin of the world,
endured its curse, yielded up His life as a sacrifice, that men might
not eternally die. “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and
with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we