Live Life Loved By The Shepherd (Full Sermon)
God desires for believers to live the good life, experiencing prosperity, health, and peace. The core revelation that unlocks this abundant existence is recognizing Jesus not just as Savior, but as the Good Shepherd.
The days of sickness for the church will be over when they truly experience the Lord as their Shepherd. Man was created to enjoy life, and God’s plan was never for man to live in stress, sickness, decay, or death. The thief (the devil) comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came so that His followers might have life, and have it more abundantly.
The Abundant Life Defined by Rest and Love
Abundant life is not based on material possessions like money, cars, or houses. Instead, it is defined by an inner reality where, despite bleak external circumstances or challenges, one can say, “it’s good to be alive“.
God intended for man to be loved and taken care of like a sheep, not to be his own master. Attempting to lead life independently often results in stress, burnout, and emotional breakdown. The ultimate quality of life is found in resting in the Good Shepherd, knowing He is:
- Taller and can see further.
- Perfectly loving and incapable of making mistakes.
- Taking care of the long haul.
The life of a believer is meant to be lived loved, allowing one to do their work loved, rest loved, and plan with the knowledge of being perfectly loved by the Shepherd.
Healing, Disease, and the Finished Work of the Cross
Divine Healing Belongs to Believers. The Lord wants your body to be in robust health and your spirit to be free from guilt and condemnation.
The existence of death, disease, and decay stems from the original sin of Adam, which brought these things upon mankind, and is not God’s desire.
Jesus showed the Father’s will by going about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. When Jesus wept at Lazarus’s funeral, it demonstrated that death was never His Father’s plan.
The sources emphatically state that God hates sin, and He also hates sickness and disease.
- Substitutionary Atonement: At the cross, Jesus bore both our sins and our diseases.
- Grace vs. Law: The Law demands “an eye for an eye, a stripe for a stripe”. Grace declares, however, that while our sins wounded God’s Son, God gave us His health, so “by his stripes we are healed”. This healing reference in Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2 cannot be spiritualized; it refers to physical healing.
When fighting symptoms, believers are encouraged to deny the disease’s right to hurt them and declare, “by his stripes I am healed,” resting in the fact that Jesus already took the sickness away.
Righteousness, Grace, and the Power of the Shepherd
The church Reformation rediscovered the truth that the righteous will live by faith. God is always progressing the revelation of truth.
The revelation of the Shepherd is strongly tied to healing and living free from lack. Peter links healing to returning to the Shepherd, stating: “by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls“.
The Greek translation of “have now returned” is passive, meaning you have been brought back by the Holy Spirit and the Shepherd’s initiative, not by your own effort. Salvation and rest are nothing more than consenting to be saved and consenting to be loved.
The quality of Shepherding one receives determines the outcome of life. True, anointed shepherding focuses on feeding the flock, not beating them. What is being fed is the revelation of The Lord Our Righteousness.
When people feed on grace and the revelation of Christ’s righteousness, three things occur:
- They will fear no more.
- They will not be dismayed (discouraged).
- Nor shall they be lacking (no lack for health, supply, or favor).
Conversely, removing grace (the Hebrew letter Hey) from the word for “shepherd” or “feed” (raha) leaves the word for evil (ra), which leads to feeding on addictions and bondages.
Prospering in Proportion to the Soul
The Apostle John prays for believers: “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers“.
This is interpreted as God’s desire for one’s physical health and general prosperity to be in direct proportion (kathos in Greek) to the prosperity of their soul. A prospering soul comes from walking in the truth, which is synonymous with believing the gospel of grace.
Key insights on Prosperity and Health:
- The Spiritual Realm is Real: All supply and blessings are found in the invisible, eternal heavenly realm. The visible earth is temporal, but the unseen is eternal.
- Prayer is Essential: Although health and prosperity are God’s will, the Bible shows that prayer is necessary for these heavenly supplies to manifest on earth.
- Health is Active: While general prosperity is often received passively, health is categorized as active in the Greek, meaning it requires deliberate action, specifically prayer, to happen consistently.
It is important to pray for divine health—a robust, aggressive health independent of natural means like diet or exercise—for oneself and loved ones.