"THE ABUNDANT GOD OF ABUNDANT LIFE!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

JOHN 10:10-15

1. ABUNDANT LIFE IS NOT ABOUT HOW LONG IT IS:
1. Many people just want to get a lot of years into their lives. Wise people are more concerned with getting a lot of life into their years. Solomon recognized that it is not just how long a person lives that matters. "A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and in the end does not even get a decent burial, I say he would have been better off born dead." Ecclesiastes 6:3 (NLT).
2. Even the person who manages to hang on for an exceptional number of years, is pretty short lived in the scope of eternity; and length of years does not guarantee the blessedness of our existence.
1. "Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone." Psalms 90:10 (NLT).
2. "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon without a trace." 1 Chronicles 29:15 (NLT).
3. "Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone - as though we had never been here." Psalms 103:15-16 (NLT).
4. James wrote, "How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog - it's here a little while, then it's gone." James 4:14 (NLT).
3. There is a huge distinction between living and merely existing. Many merely exist.
1. Existing, to me, means having no real purpose, no direction, no connection with anything beyond personal interests and pursuits, no God awareness or relationship. Existing can be measured in quantity, in numbers of years, in how long life is.
2. Living, to me, is having a reason for being beyond mere physical fulfillment, or personal realization; it is to relate to God in such a way that earth is just a detour to heaven, and our days are just a prelude to eternity. Life can be measured not only in quantity, in numbers of years, in how long it is, but in quality: how full it is; how meaningful it is; how significant it is.
4. In Florence, Italy, a young artist labored long and hard over a marble statue of an angel. When finished, he asked Michelangelo to examine it. Michelangelo studied the work carefully. The young artist waited. His heart sank when he heard, "It lacks only one thing." But the great artist didn't tell him what it lacked. For days the artist worried about it, until a friend called on Michelangelo at his studio and ask him what the statue lacked. He said, "It lacks only life." Sadly, this could be true for many people. They exist from day to day, but they lack life. They may go through the motions of life, but they lack real life which only the Lord can give to a person.

Abundant life is not about how long it is:

2. ABUNDANT LIFE IS ABOUT HOW FULL IT IS:
1. Again, many people want to get a lot of years into their lives, but wise people are more concerned with getting a lot of life into their years. The word Jesus used for "abundant" means, "exceeding some number or measure or rank or need." It means "over and above, more than is necessary, and beyond measure."
2. With what would the abundant life be filled?
1. Solomon wrote, "The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the sinner's light is snuffed out." Proverbs 13:9 (NLT).
2. The psalmist wrote, "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalms 126:3 (NIV).
3. David wrote, "Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision." Psalms 144:13 (NIV)
4. Paul wrote, "I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness." Romans 15:14 (NLT).
3. Jesus wants our lives full:
1. With David we can say, "My cup overflows with blessings." Psalm 23:5 (NLT).
2. Jesus said, "When you obey Me, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father and remain in His love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:10-11 (NLT).
3. Paul wrote, "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:19 (NLT).
4. John wrote, "We have all benefitted from the rich blessings He brought to us - one gracious blessing after another." John 1:16 (NLT).
4. Let me illustrate: Consider these two measuring cups. One is 4 cups in capacity, the other is one cup in capacity. The four cup measure represents long life, many years, but it's still empty. The one cup measure represents perhaps shorter life, but a full life. It's full of something useful and good. It is not the size alone that matters, it's the contents.

Abundant life is not about how long it is, it is about how full it is:

3. ABUNDANT LIFE IS ABOUT RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST:
1. Jesus identified Himself as the source and giver of abundant life.
2. The apostle Paul wrote,
1. "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, Who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory." Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT).
2. "For to me, living is for Christ." Philippians 1:21 (NLT). The NASB puts it like this: "For to me, to live is Christ."
3. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 (NIV).
3. One man spoke to a Christian friend who was urging him to accept Jesus, and said, "I have such a full life now. I'm busy with work, and family, and my club, and furthering my education. I just don't have room for Jesus right now." That's precisely saying, "I have no room in my life for life!" As important as are work and family and clubs and education - they are not the sum of life! You could have those and not have Jesus and not have life. You could not have those and have Jesus and you'd have life.
4. Life is not in business or society or religion or philosophy or sincerity or pleasure or good works or material possessions or status or popularity or power or success. Life is in Jesus. It has been well said, "Life without Christ is a hopeless end; life with Christ is an endless hope."

Abundant life is about right relationship with Jesus Christ. Right relationship with Jesus is to believe that He is the Son of God, to obey what He commands and to trust what He promises. Belief, trust and obedience: that's faith. And it is by God's grace and our faith that we enter into this abundant life and it is God's grace and our faith by which we live it. Jesus offers abundant life; the world offers an empty cup. Like the woman at the well, let us find the things of the world dissatisfying and empty. Let us lift up empty cups to Jesus Who has an abundant supply of grace, and mercy and abundant good things which will bring us an abundant life. Come to Him to receive all He has to give: grace upon grace, abundance upon abundance; blessing upon blessing, life abundant, full and free. Come get it - but come in faith.

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