Ps. 73: 25-26
Jesus is enough! I can not express this fact any more clearer, He is simply enough. We can turn to the plethora of options that are out there to fill us with their Spiritual junk foods and so called Spiritual supplement, but nothing fulfills like Christ does, because, Jesus is enough! In preparing this sermon, I felt led to use the 7 "I Am" statements of Christ as an example to prove that Jesus is enough!
As The Bread of Life, Christ offers and sustains Spiritual Life. As we seek bread to be nourished by being a staple in our diet in our life, we need Jesus as our staple of life Spiritually nourishing us as He had offered Himself at Calvary for Salvation's sake, Jesus sustains us Eternally and proves that Jesus is enough!
As The Light of the world, Christ offers Himself as the beacon and source of light in this dark, lost, and evil world. Just as a lighthouse is utilized to keep vessels from crashing into each other and into rocks, Christ Jesus shines Himself to us, all that are His to shed His light in the darkness, so we may walk in Him, because Jesus is enough!
As The Door of the sheep, Jesus protects His flocks just as shepherds for their flock. He is the door and there is no way in nor out unless we enter or exit by and in Him. Though we would never desire to exit, the point is that there is no other entrance to get to us, once we are Born Again, Jesus is The Door, and Jesus is enough!
As The Resurrection and Life, death is not the final word for those of us that are Born Again in Jesus. We know that we all are going to die, that is inevitable this side of Heaven, but once we are saved [Born Again], when we close our eyes for the last time on earth, when we open our eyes, we shall be resurrected and because of Jesus we move from death unto life Eternal and we can shout praise knowing that Jesus is enough!
As The Good Shepherd, Jesus is committed to caring and watching over the flock that are His. Shepherds love their flock. The communicate with them, love them by protecting them even to the point of placing themselves in harms way as far as placing their lives on the line. They would die for their flock and will protect and care for their flock as if they were the family member of the shepherd. Oh how beautiful this truth is that we have The Good Shepherd who loves and cares for us, His flock, and watches and guards us to keep us safe. My beloved, this alone proves, that Jesus is enough!
As The Way, Truth, and Life, Jesus is the source of all truth and knowledge of God. Jesus used the definite article to distinguish Himself as “the only way.” A way is a path or route, and the disciples had expressed their confusion about where He was going and how they could follow. As He had told them from the beginning, Jesus was again telling them (and us) “follow me.” There is no other path to heaven, no other way to the Father. Peter reiterated this same truth years later to the rulers in Jerusalem, saying about Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The exclusive nature of the only path to salvation is expressed in the words “I am the way.”The truth – Again Jesus used the definite article to emphasize Himself as “the only truth.” Psalm 119:142 says, “Your law is the truth.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded His listeners of several points of the Law, then said, “But I say unto you . . .” (Matthew 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44), thereby equating Himself with the Law of God as the authoritative standard of righteousness. In fact, Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17). Jesus, as the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1) is the source of all truth.
The life – Jesus had just been telling His disciples about His impending death, and now He was claiming to be the source of all life. In John 10:17–18, Jesus declared that He was going to lay down His life for His sheep, and then take it back again. He spoke of His authority over life and death as being granted to Him by the Father. In John 14:19, He gave the promise that “because I live, you also will live.” The deliverance He was about to provide was not a political or social deliverance (which most of the Jews were seeking), but a true deliverance from a life of bondage to sin and death to a life of freedom in eternity.
In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the great “I Am,” the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life. He was staking His claim as the very God of Creation, the Lord who blessed Abraham, and the Holy One who inhabits eternity. He did this so the disciples would be able to face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to the world. Of course, we know from Scripture that they still didn’t understand, and it took several visits from their risen Lord to shake them out of their disbelief. Once they understood the truth of His words, they became changed people, and the world has never been the same.
So how do we follow Him today? The same way the disciples did long ago. They heard the words of Jesus and believed them. They took His words and obeyed them. They confessed their sins to Jesus as their Lord and God. They believed that He died to take the punishment of their sins and rose from the dead to give them new life. They followed His example and command to tell others the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we follow Him in “the way,” we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven. Jesus is enough!
Jesus wanted His friends, not only those eleven, but those of all time, to know that He was not going to desert them, even though they would no longer enjoy His physical presence. His living energy—His spiritual reality—would continue to nourish and sustain them just as the roots and trunk of a grape vine produce the energy that nourishes and sustains its branches while they develop their fruit. Jesus wanted us to know that, even though we cannot see Him, we are as closely connected to Him as the branches of a vine are connected to its stem. Our desire to know and love Him and the energy to serve Him will keep flowing into and through us as long as we “abide” in Him.
Jesus went on to remove any misunderstanding about what He meant (John 15:4). He said that no branch can even live, let alone produce leaves and fruit, by itself. Cut off from the trunk, a branch is dead. Just as a vine’s branches rely on being connected to the trunk from which they receive their energy to bear fruit, Jesus’ disciples depend on being connected to Him for their spiritual life and the ability to serve Him effectively. The fruit we produce is that of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Our source of life and spiritual fruit is not in ourselves; it is outside us, in Christ Jesus. We can live, live rightly, and serve Him effectively only if we are rightly connected to Him in a faith/love relationship.
Then Jesus underscored His point even more strongly by saying, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This illustration of the vine and branches is no thoughtless generality or careless simile. It is absolute, stark reality. No believer can achieve anything of spiritual value independently of Christ Jesus. He also reminds us that there are some who are “in” Him who bear no fruit. But these are not, as some would suppose, true branches that just happen to be fruitless. All true branches bear fruit. Just as we know a healthy, living tree by the good fruit it produces, so do we recognize fruitless branches as having no connection to the True Vine. This is why Jesus tells us, “By their fruit you will know them” (Matthew 7:16–20). Those who do not produce good fruit are cut away and burned. The reference here is to apostates, those who profess to know Christ but whose relationship to Him is insincere. He neither called them nor elected them nor saved them nor sustains them. Eventually, the fruitless branches are identified as not belonging to the Vine and are removed for the sake of truth and the benefit of the other branches.
So, we depend on Jesus for everything, starting with our very life—“For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)—and including our reconciliation with God through Him (Romans 5:10). No one can serve God effectively until he is connected with Jesus Christ by faith. Jesus is our only connection with the God who gave life and who produces in us a fruitful life of righteousness and service. May we never forget, that no matter what, Jesus is enough!
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