“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)
What precious words these are to Christians! What comfort, hope and assurance they give. As Jesus continues his metaphor of being the “good shepherd” we see the confidence this gives his people, and the certain hope of heaven.
As Christians, we can have certainty that we will keep going and not fall away, not because our hold on Jesus is strong, but because his hold on us is strong. If a parent is walking with an unsteady toddler, they may let the toddler hold onto their hand, or even just a finger, to steady themselves. But of course the toddler may let go at any point, or may stumble and lose their grip. But if you see a parent walking with a toddler by a busy road, they hold hands in a very different way. The parent’s hand completely envelops and grips the toddlers hand – and there is no way the toddler could let go, even if they wanted to. If the toddler stumles, or lurches towards the road, their Mum or Dad has got them, and will not let them fall.
So it is with us as Christians. Whilst we read elsewhere of our responsibility to cling onto Jesus (e.g. “remain in me” John 15:4), and there are warnings of what would happen if we didn’t, nevertheless our ultimate confidence rests not on how hard we are clinging on to Jesus, but on how hard he is clinging on to us. Like the toddler we are safe – Jesus has not just got hold of our hand, but our whole self is safe in his hand. If it is Jesus who has got hold of us, no wonder no-one can snatch us our of his hand.
So our first reason for confidence is that God has got hold of us –salvation is his initiative, and “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus .“(Phil 1:6)
But there is even more reason for confidence here: “My Father, who has given them to me.” As Christians not only have we been chosen by God (the doctrine of election that underpins all the discussion above) but we have also been given by the Father to the Son. Like any good father, God gives good gifts to his son. What is almost too wonderful to believe is that what he has chosen to give to his Son is “a people that are his very own” (Titus 2:14) This may not seem much of a gift – to give a bunch of weak, sinful no-hopers like us. But like the unwanted abandoned girl of Ezekiel 16, God has washed us, clothed us, cared for us and made us beautiful – with the washing of Christ’s blood, with the clothing of Christ’s righteousness, and the beauty of the Holy Spirit within us making us daily more like Christ. We are God the Father’s gift to God the Son for eternity!
How could we who now belong to Jesus ever be lost? How could we ever fail to reach heaven? How could we fail to persevere in faith? We’ve been given by God the Father to God the Son to be his people forever. And God the Father doesn’t give rubbish gifts. If he’s promised it to the Son, it will happen. We can be utterly confident that Father and Son will hold us in their hand until the day of Christ Jesus, when we will be Jesus’ people forever. Our confidence doesn’t rest in how much we love God, it doesn’t even rest in how much God loves us. Our confidence rests in how much God the Father loves God the Son! Picture that blazing, pure, delighted love between God the Father and God the Son – infinitely greater than the best Father-Son relationship we know on earth. Picture that love that was, and is, and evermore shall be between Father and Son. That is the ground of our confidence! That is the ground of our salvation! How well we need to remember that, when we sin, when we doubt, or when we wonder if we will ever keep going. God the Father doesn’t give the Son rubbish gifts! Hallelujah!
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