Plain, Simple, Powerful — First Jesus

I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who He is; then Jesus and what He did—Jesus crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 (MSG)

“I AM” Changes Who I Am

Encountering Jesus as “I AM” changes who I am!

“I AM” The DOOR and the Good Shepherd

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3 (NIV)

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 23:1 (NIV)

Our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep. Hebrews 13:20 (NIV)

Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified Him. John 19:17–18 (NIV)

Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. John 5:1–9 (NIV)

Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the Gate for the sheep. All who have come before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the Gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:7–11 (NIV)

The House of Mercy

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda. John 5:2 (NIV)

1.         The Locked Door

2.         The Open Door

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. 1 Timothy 2:5–6 (NIV)

Do you want to get well?”John 5:6 (NIV)

Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”John 5:7 (NIV)

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” John 5:8 (ESV)

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.  Now that day was the Sabbath. John 5:9 (ESV)

“I AM” the Door

I AM the Door. To enter through Me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction. John 10:9 (TPT)

A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. John 10:10 (TPT)

I AM the Door… They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. John 10:9 (NLT)I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!

Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. Revelation 3:8 (ESV)

“I AM” The Good Shepherd

I AM the Good Shepherd. John 10:11 (ESV)

1.         He Knows Your Name

He calls His own sheep by name. John 10:3 (NIV).

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)

2.         He Leads You

When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. John 10:4 (NIV)

To follow the Shepherd is to walk on ground He has already conquered. Philip Keller

I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. Isaiah 45:2 (NIV)

3.         He Protects You

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd… sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees… He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. John 10:11–13 (NIV)

Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes… We are not ignorant of his devices Ephesians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV)

4.         He Lays Down His Life

I AM the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:11 (NIV)

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. John 10:18 (NIV)

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)

He who was the Shepherd of the sheep became a Lamb in the midst of the wolves, that He might by His death deliver the sheep from the jaws of the lion. — Charles H. Spurgeon

I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. Jn 10:18 (NIV)

He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. Col 2:15 (MSG).

By His death, He destroyed death. — Athanasius