John 10:26-30 English Standard Version

26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

The Lamb of God becomes the shepherd.

This is a hard saying if you are not called.

• Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
• Isaiah 43:7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Revelation 13:8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

It is sad to see the truth expressed alongside an extreme negative. The “it” that is worshipped here in 13:8 is the beast. Those that worship the beast will not find their names written in the book of life of the Lamb of God.

Those names that are included in that book can take comfort in this one issue; the book is sealed and no one can take your name out of the book. No one but the Lamb can open that book and read those names.

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Those descriptions are tied to the lineage and identity of Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God.

Reading and believing what is written about Jesus from the very foundations of the world will help us to understand that the only way we can hear Him calling us is by faith.

Don’t you want to hear Him calling you by name?

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

When we spoke of the blood of the lamp that marked the houses where death would pass them over, it was not clear to Israel at that time what that signified. John’s pronunciation that Jesus was the Lamb of God held the secret of how God planned to overcome the pronouncement of death because of sin. To the people of that time, looking for the Messiah, they had no idea it was going to be His blood sacrifice that would make null and void that death sentence.

There are those who still deny that sacrifice.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

White has always been seen as a symbol of purity.

Revelation 7:14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

It is the Blood of the Lamb of God that turned the color of those robes white.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Let us be clear on this point, it is God who has clothed us in robes of righteousness. We cannot dress ourselves. Here in Isaiah 61 God introduces one more sign of His design for us. He introduces the idea of a marriage contract between the bridegroom, Jesus, and the bride, His church. Now it does not say that in the Old Testament, but then again the identity of the Messiah was hidden in the prophecies of promise. He was not to be seen until He made Himself known.

John 10:24-25 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,”