The Good Shepherd – Part iv
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:29)
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (John 10:14)
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Hebrews 13:20)
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:4)
  When the Almighty God wanted to display all His goodness He sent forth His Son into the world, and He sent forth His Son into His vineyard. The world knew Him not, and the vineyard received Him not; however, the Almighty God still poured out all His goodness to Adam’s fallen race. In John Chapter 10, the Lord Jesus proclaimed, I am the good shepherd. He was declaring the goodness of God as the great “I AM” at the burning bush. In Chapter 8 of John, the Lord Jesus declared the fullness of His Deity by saying that He is the great I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As He declared to the Jews, Before Abraham was I am. (John 8:58) Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Here we have the preexistence of God the Son, the same Son that IS in the bosom of the Father in John 1:18. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. In John 1:18 we have the eternal abiding place of the Son in the bosom of the Father: a continuum of God’s goodness in the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Jesus Christ. Christ was always, and continued to be always in the bosom of the Father. Although He was manifested in the flesh, He had an abiding presence with the Father in heaven as both the Son of God, and the Son of man. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) For an omnipresent God it is not a hard thing to be manifested, and to be present in the absolute fullness of His Godhead bodily even while He is manifested on earth as the Son of God and as the Son of man. The Holy Spirit, in John Chapter 1, is the first one to declare the omnipresence of the Son of God on earth and at the same time in the bosom of the Father. The manifestation of the Son of God was to show forth all the fullness of the goodness and love of God for Adam’s fallen race. Examine the text in John Chapter 1, first it speaks of the present Oneness of the Father and the Son, even though the Son was already manifested in the flesh, Jesus Christ still had equality and position as Son in the bosom of the Father. The text states, which is in the bosom of the Father, this is a present and eternal abiding place of the Son from which He would manifest Himself as the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person. (Hebrews 1:3)
The Great and Supreme Goodness
  The Holy Scriptures set God’s goodness apart from any other goodness, for there is none good but God. All goodness has to come from the source and the center of all goodness.
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Matthew 19:17)
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God. (Mark 10:18)
  The Son of God (speaking for the Godhead) declared that there is only one source of goodness, and that is the Almighty God. When God created the heavens and the earth, God could look on everything that He had made and He could declare that it was very good. For in that moment He had displayed His goodness in the very things that He had created. (Genesis 1:31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. We notice in this text that the Almighty beheld everything that He had made, and He put His own stamp of His own goodness upon it. So why did this goodness have to end? Did God change? No. Man, in Adam, the created creature from the dust, changed God’s creation by bringing sin into the world. Sin drove out the goodness of God from the heart of man, and replaced it with a dark enmity against God and God’s goodness.
  The tree of good and evil was desired to make one wise. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6) Even though God had placed the penalty of death upon partaking of the tree of good and evil, man (in Adam) desired to be wise, but became a fool; and thus, the sentence of death was carried out upon all mankind. This act of disobedience created a rip in the spiritual universe sending out shock waves of sin and rebellion throughout the entire creation, thus, the heart of man became darkened. And without the intercession of God man could no longer know God’s goodness. No more would the Spirit of God have His sway in Adam’s heart. No more would the creature be free of death, for as Adam brought sin into the world, and death by sin, so a wave of darkness and death passed over all earth’s creation. Adam had brought the deepest darkness into the world because now all of man’s being would exist in a realm of hopelessness away from the light and goodness of God; consequently, the Holy Spirit declared, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23) The goodness of God was lost to all mankind, and only through the Good Shepherd could mankind receive enlightenment. Prior to the cross and prior to His manifestation on earth as the Son of man He tore the curtain of darkness in the Old Testament to reveal His light and goodness to mankind.
  He began with Abel by giving Abel the shroud of grace through faith, and then continued through the course of time with men like Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and David, and all His holy prophets. He rent the curtain of darkness to give each one of these men His light and His goodness. The Holy Spirit gives us a record of these men in Hebrews Chapter 11.
The Goodness of God in The Good Shepherd
  It was the Good Shepherd through the Old Testament that revealed God’s light to mankind. We have the wonderful testimony of Psalm 23 that He, the God of all comfort, is the good shepherd of the sheep. For it is the Lord Himself who is ‘my shepherd.’ (Psalm 23) The goodness of God returned in the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of time. It would take all the goodness of God to restore man to God.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (Colossians 1:21)
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:22)
  Adam and all of us were alienated from God and His goodness. We became (through Adam’s sin) the enemies of God. Our hearts, souls, spirits, and our minds became engulfed by the darkness of sin leading all of mankind to wicked works. The first recorded act of wickedness, outside of the garden, was the act of murder when Cain slew his brother Abel. Of all the sins of man, God uses the act of murder to show the depth and darkness of man’s heart and mind. Yet, in all this, God, in the fullness of time, sent forth the Goodness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ to reconcile man unto Himself. For God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. 　To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19) God would reconcile the world unto Himself, in the body of His flesh, through His death on the cross. God manifested Himself, in the flesh, to reconcile the world unto Himself so that He might present a people, a peculiar people, to Himself as holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight. Faith has taken those who were children of Adam, and through the supernatural act of the new birth transformed them into the children of God who are blameless in God’s sight. There is no claim of Adam, or the world, or sin, or death upon us because God has taken it all and nailed it to the cross, in the body of His flesh, and through His own death has redeemed us unto Himself. For after all, it was not man who was offended, but it was God who was offended by man. And instead of total vengeance, we see the goodness of God displayed by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ in reconciling the world unto Himself.
Enmity
  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15) And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: (Ephesians 2:16)
  The word ‘enmity’ is used twice in Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. Enmity is just not one person’s hatred against another for the enmity that Adam had, by bringing sin into the world, was a continuous enmity of hatred against God by Adam’s entire race. We could say, the family of Adam hated God, and so we see this in the very crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Enmity can be masked in many ways, for instance, in our modern age in 2019, there is such enmity in our political system that it reminds us of the very words of the Jews in the day of Christ, Crucify him, crucify him. This was the expression of the heart and mind in its hatred for God Almighty; however, God in His goodness, through His Good Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ, abolished in His flesh the enmity of Adam. And He took it even farther: all that we were guilty of (under the law, under the commandments, under the ordinances) He (by Himself) took it all out of the way and made IN Himself, of twain, one new man, so making peace for us by His death upon the cross of Calvary, and condemned sin in the flesh in His own body on the tree. Here is the miracle of grace: that He might reconcile both unto God, in one body by the cross, for on the cross He slew the enmity of Adam, and through His resurrection revealed the peace of God to us.
  Enmity doesn’t have to shout. Enmity can do things behind the scenes, behind closed doors, speaking low and softly to condemn the righteous. Enmity still exists in the heart of Adam’s race. God has allowed the flesh of Adam to continue to prove the depths and dregs of sin that Adam brought into the world. God shed His grace so that mankind could become a new creature in Jesus Christ. He made a way through His goodness, through His mercy, and through His love (as He manifested Himself) to take away the sin of the world for God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. The only path to God’s goodness is through God Himself. The Lord Jesus proclaimed that He is the way that He is the truth that He is the Life, and no man can return to God the Father unless they come through Him. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
The ABSOLUTE
  The emphatic words of the Lord Jesus Christ leaves no doubt of Him being the ONLY Savior, and the ONLY way to approach God. Man does not like the word ‘absolute’ when it is applied to God Almighty. It is difficult for a sinful mind and an alienated heart to see the Christ of God as God and Creator of all things. It is difficult for mankind to admit the ABSOLUTE deity of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Just as it is impossible for Adam to admit his ABSOLUTE sinful position away from the Almighty God. Adam, as a race, lives in ABSOLUTE darkness, and only through the light and life of the Lord Jesus can mankind be enlightened and quickened.
  There is a fundamental question: after the fall of Adam, did the race of Adam ask God to come into the world? The answer is — No! It was God who first revealed Himself not being asked, but appearing to both Cain and Abel, and speaking to both of them the way of reconciliation, that it must come through a blood sacrifice. They had received the knowledge in the foreshadow of the fullness of time when Christ would come to be the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world, but they did not ask for this enlightenment. It was given of God freely. Abel believed, but Cain rejected the grace and goodness of God. We have the witness of Adam’s complete enmity against God Almighty.
  Cain could not kill God, so he looked to God’s representative, the one who believed in God, and raised up his hand and bludgeoned his brother to death because of Abel’s faithfulness to God Almighty. In this beginning of treachery we have a line of blood that stretches from Abel to the cross of Christ. As Adam denied His Creator, so mankind denies His Creator today in his enmity against the Lord Jesus Christ, and against those who believe in salvation through the Son of God. Man cannot see his own Creator, for his eyes have been blinded. Man cannot accept that Christ is the Creator of all things. Man cannot accept His ABSOLUTE Deity which is confirmed in Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The last word in this tremendous verse is the word ‘bodily.’ This is the key to the express image of God Almighty in Jesus Christ. He is not only the brightness of God’s glory, but He is the manifested image of the Godhead bodily. He has revealed God to man in the COMPLETENESS of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even though the Spirit of God has revealed this truth through the Scriptures the darkened heart of mankind continues to deny the ABSOLUTE Deity of Jesus Christ the Man, Jesus Christ the Son, and Jesus Christ the Spirit. The Holy Spirit confirms this in Colossians Chapters 1 and 2 that Christ is God Himself, the fullness of the goodness of God.
  There is an ABSOLUTE bond, an inseparable link of God’s Person that unites Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Colossians 2:8, we have a warning by the Spirit of God against those who would deny what we have in Christ. The Spirit of God states Beware lest any man spoil you — take away the sweetness of your love for Christ. And how do they do this? They stain and tarnish your testimony and damage your faith through the philosophies of man, through their vain and deceitful works and words of sinful man. They take away the sweetness of Christ by the traditions of men, they mingle their traditions with the rudiments of the world, and they deny the glories of Christ. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8) It is very interesting that God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, places this verse before He reveals the fullness of the Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God gives the warning first, and then gives His truthful declaration knowing that man (with the heart of Adam) would deny this ABSOLUTE Deity and unity of the inseparable Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ. How many times have you heard notable men of philosophy quoted from the pulpit by vain preachers? The Holy Spirit tells us to beware of this philosophy because along with man’s philosophy comes vain deceit.
  Mankind left to himself cannot even figure out his beginning because it is only through the revelation of God can mankind know that he is a created being which he denies anyhow because of his enmity against the Almighty God. The sinful soul and spirit in the heart of mankind (in his lost condition) have to deny God because if he believes that God created him then man must also believe in his condition of sin before the Almighty God. This is where the glories of the traditions of men, and the rudiment of the world come in. As the Lord Jesus told us in John Chapter 10 that He, and He only, is the Author and Holder of eternal life. So the traditions of man, and the rudiments of the world try to enter into God’s goodness without Christ through philosophy, through religion, through the deception of others which leads to an endless path of destruction which leads to hell fire.
  Even in philosophy man tends to examine himself, however, he does not examine himself before God, and before God’s precepts in the Word of God. Whether it is the traditions of man, whether it is the religion of man (in Adam) mixed with the rudiments of the world (which we have unilaterally throughout the whole world today) man will follow all these different avenues to achieve the goodness of God outside of God and His Christ. They gladly follow mystics, and deceptive soothsayers, and every intellectual magician, but they will not follow Christ!
Complete in Him
  In Chapter 2 of Colossians, verse 8, we have the warning. In verse 9 we have the fullness of Christ’s Deity in the fullness of the Godhead. And then in verse 10, the Holy Spirit points His finger to faith, and we read these words, And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: . Here is the reassurance of verse 9 for us in verse 10. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Almighty God, and that He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, it is on THIS ground the Holy Spirit of God makes this declaration concerning the child of God — that we who love the Lord Jesus are complete in him. There is nothing left out. There is nothing more to add. In our present position (as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ) we ARE, at this moment, at this time, at this second, are complete in him. The Good Shepherd and Goodness of God has provided everything for us, and I beseech you, by the living God, all you have to do is BELIEVE, for all has been completed in the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we, who are saved, are complete in Him. Glory to God in the highest because, the Good Shepherd has brought the goodness of God for us to lay hold of in this time of grace.
The Great Shepherd
  Now we turn to the Great Shepherd . . . Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (Hebrews 13:20) It is the unity and Oneness of the Godhead that has brought peace to us. As a result of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has sealed our redemption in the blood of the everlasting covenant in the Man Christ Jesus that is sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The greatness of the Shepherd stems from His eternal greatness that before the foundations of the world He was the Great God, and would be the Creator of all things.
  As the Spirit of God begins the end of the book of Hebrews, we see the title of Shepherd once more drawn into the relationship of God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. That as John (in Chapter 10) gives us the manifestation of the Shepherd, now in the book of Hebrews, we see the eternality of the Shepherd in His great work upon the cross of Calvary through the blood of the everlasting covenant that can never be renounced or broken for it is sealed with the blood of the Godhead bodily.
  He has come to us as the God of peace in His manifestation. In Ephesians, He has made one new man so making peace. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace. (Ephesians 2:15) Now let us turn to the book of Titus, Chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Titus 2:13) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:14)
  Let us consider the word ‘great’ once more. If the God of peace has brought that Great Shepherd of the sheep from the dead then in the book of Titus the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ must be the same. For they are inseparable in the fullness of the Godhead bodily which Christ manifested in Himself to the world. Titus gives us a blessed hope. He gives us the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In verse 14, he states that Christ gave himself for us, and has redeemed us from all iniquity. Pay attention to the word ‘all,’ and don’t allow anyone to add anything to this word ‘all.’ For as in Colossians we are complete in Him. Also notice the word ‘purify.’ This word is the fullness of purity. There is no dross left. There is nothing left behind because He has purified unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Also in 1st John Chapter 3, verse 3 we read, And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
  Only the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ that Great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, can give you abiding peace. It is Christ Himself who is our peace for He has made peace with God for us, and therefore, we have confidence in THAT peace that in our heart, soul, and spirit we feel the presence of that peace and the security of that peace. We live in a world that is not custom to peace. Peace among men, peace among nations, peace in families, there seems to be an absence of peace: the reason for this absence of peace is that we live in a world of sin. Only the God of peace, the Great Shepherd of peace, can give us peace with God. I find it most interesting that the Holy Spirit in the last few verses in the book of Hebrews, titles the covenant, the New Testament, with these words, “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Here again, God is reminding us of the security of our peace with God that we have the peace OF God, and we belong to the God of peace. In John Chapter 14, the Lord Jesus titles this peace by calling it, ‘my peace.’
  Truly, the thoughts of the cross were always before Him, for there on the cross He would make peace for all men. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27) The Lord Himself claims His peace because He titles it ‘my peace.’ This is a particulate divine peace that only the Prince of Peace can give. Peace is another ABSOLUTE of God’s Being because of SIN only God could bring about ABSOLUTE peace for His sheep. This peace, His peace, had to be bought and paid for by the blood of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. If you have not peace with God, you have not the God of peace. If you do not know the Good Shepherd you will never partake of the grace of the Great Shepherd, and you will never have the God of peace which was given by the Great Shepherd on the cross of Calvary through the blood of the everlasting covenant, and the proof and finalization of the covenant was His resurrection from the dead. His Greatness and His Goodness has given us eternal peace.
  The entire book of Hebrews tells the wonderful story of His Person. From the brightness of God’s glory to the express image of His Person (Hebrews 1:3) then from the throne of righteousness to the throne of grace, then ending the book with the peace of God, and the God of peace embracing (through the entire book of Hebrews) the Goodness of the Great Shepherd of the sheep uniting in this last portion of the book of Hebrews the Great Shepherd and the Goodness of the Good Shepherd to bring peace by the blood of the everlasting covenant joining John Chapter 10 with Hebrews Chapter 13.
  This presents to us the Good Shepherd taking on the Greatness of the Great Shepherd, and connecting Him (in His title as Shepherd) to the everlasting covenant that God has made with us. We have the everlasting Greatness of God in the greatness of His Goodness as the Good and Great Shepherd of the sheep. In the book of Hebrews we also have the perfect blending of His many offices. He is the Perfect Priest. He is the Perfect Apostle. He is the Perfect Intercessor. He is the Perfect Representative and Voice of God Himself.
  In the unity of the Godhead the Lord Jesus proclaimed not only I AM, but that He was IN the Father and the Father was IN Him. Only God could have such a relationship with His own Being, and mankind cannot comprehend this ABSOLUTE Oneness.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)
I and my Father are one. (John 10:30)
  This ABSOLUTE Oneness is the perfect bond. This is the super glue of the divine divinity that Christ cannot be separated from the Father, nor the Father from the Son. This brings about the ABSOLUTE fullness of the Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ. The mystery of God’s Being can never be totally understood by His created beings that even the angels look on in wonder. They wonder at our redemption story, and they have been there since the beginning. They have watched mankind throughout his entire history, and they have seen the unquestionable love of God, and the relentless mercy of God displayed upon mankind. They wonder at His love toward us, and they look upon Him as He who is wonderful, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Now to the Bishop and Shepherd of your soul . . . .
Shepherd and Bishop
  In 1 Peter 2:25 we read, For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. – For ye were as sheep going astray, but there was One . . . the Shepherd and Bishop of your soul. In the game of chess, the bishop has more power than the knight; here the Shepherd of the sheep takes on the care and protection of the sheep for He cares for your soul.
  As the Creator of all things, He breathed life into Adam, and Adam became a living soul, even though Adam forfeited life in exchange for death by bringing sin into the world. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12) Through the miracle of God’s grace, Christ has once again breathed His breath into His new creation, and that is every believer of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was to return us to a life in Him. As the Word says in Psalm 23, “he restoreth my soul.” This is the Bishop and Shepherd who leads us in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake. He is the One who corrects and chastens the carnality in us. In 1st Timothy Chapter 3, verses 1 – 7 the Holy Spirit outlines the worthy life of a bishop called of God and not of man. The Lord Jesus (in His position as Bishop) sets the standard in His purity before mankind. He, as the Goodness of God and the good works that He displayed, showed the Jews that He was the Son of God. For He had come into the world to not only bring life, but to bring life more abundantly. This is to give a life that man never had before, not even in Adam. This was the abundant life of God Himself that He came to impart to those who would believe in Him. Every move Christ made was a divine path laid out for Him as the Bishop and Shepherd of your soul. He gave of everything in Himself. The sacrificial man became the sacrificial lamb, and in this, He now reigns over your life as the Bishop of your soul. The test in 1st Timothy Chapter 3 is simply a mirror for every servant to look into and to evaluate, and judge his own position before the Almighty God. If a man is to be a bishop to others, he must first be a bishop before God, and he should look higher to the example of the One who is the true Bishop of our soul. Peter reminds us of this in 1st Peter 2:21, For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Notice that it is in the sufferings of Christ that we have our great example, and that we should follow in His path, in His steps. After verse 21 we have the true Bishop’s qualifications: in verses 22 – 24.
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (1 Peter 2:22)
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:23)
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
  These are the divine qualities and qualifications of the true Bishop and Shepherd of our soul. In these qualifications we are reminded of Isaiah Chapter 53, verses 6 – 9.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:8)
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
  Let us link the above Scriptures with Isaiah Chapter 52, verses 13 – 15 . . .
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. (Isaiah 52:13)
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: (Isaiah 52:14)
So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. (Isaiah 52:15)
  In these verses alone we have not only the qualities, but the qualifications for Christ to be the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls. It is difficult to understand why God would do so much for sinful man, and yet, in His mercy and love He sent down His goodness in the Person of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I do feel in my soul that most of the professing world church does not realize the gravity and depth of their situation. They are sitting on a scarlet beast with a rope of guilt and sin around their necks with the fires of hell burning beneath the beast ready to consume them and their city of Babylon.
  In the Word of God, the Holy Spirit has presented to us the shadows of the Shepherd’s steps and His works they are written that we should follow in them, and that we should listen to the Word and to the voice of God. The voice of the Bishop of your soul has given us these words in Matthew 11:29 and 30: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The Bishop of your soul is the very One who gives rest to your soul. He is the eternal God of peace and comfort, and as the Bishop of your soul He has encompassed your soul with His own Being. Nothing can separate you from the love and the possession of the Bishop of your soul. These words calm the sheep on a stormy night because it is the voice of the Good Shepherd in all the goodness of God. It is the power of the Great Shepherd that has brought peace by the blood of His everlasting covenant. He walks with us as the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, and He has left an example for the sheep to follow. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) The footprints that Peter describes in 1st Peter 2:21 lead all the way back to Psalm 23. Again we see the assurance of the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In John Chapter 17, we see the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can also consider the Bishop of our soul for in His high priestly prayer to the Father He prayed for all who belonged to Him. In John Chapter 17 verses 9 thru 11, He prayed for your soul.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (John 17:9)
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.(John 17:10)
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (John 17:11)
  This is a neglected part of Scripture: for in the Lord’s agony in Gethsemane His thoughts and His prayers (as the Bishop) was for the souls of those who belonged to Him. Verse 9 begins with I pray for them. His sufferings were heavy on Him. He knew the path leading to the cross, and yet, in this state of anguish, as the Bishop of your soul, He prayed for ALL those who belonged to Him, and who would belong to Him. What is missing from the theological community today is that the Lord said these words and I am glorified in them, thus, connecting His glory with the souls of the redeemed. And one day, He will present to Himself a Church of glory made up of His redeemed who He has redeemed through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
The Oneness
  One more thing is covered in these three verses: in verse 11, we have the unity of the believer with both the Son and the Father that they may be one, as we are. These words are very important as Christ cannot be separated from the Godhead, so we too as Christians cannot be separated from the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. Also, in these few words, the Lord Jesus confirmed His possession with the Father (and in the Godhead) that not only His sheep should be of one mind, one heart, one spirit, but that the Godhead, Itself, is an example of what the Christian community should be; and yet, we see just the opposite in Adam (mankind) trying to deny the Godhead, and deliberately dividing the body of Christ so that there can be no godly cohesion of the true testimony of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Oneness of the Godhead, and those who He has redeemed by His blood, cannot be divided by man, or any creature.
Our Need for a Divine Bishop and Shepherd
  In the Lord’s position as the Bishop of our soul we not only hear His prayers, but we see His actions in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3. He, as the Bishop, interacts with His beloved Church discerning that which is real and that which is false sending His holy angels as ministering spirits to keep those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ: to instruct them in the ways of righteousness, and to lead them out of harm’s way. Where is the authority for this? But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? (Hebrews 1:13) Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)
  This is all part of His ministry as the Bishop of your soul. He prayed for you before His crucifixion, even though your seed was yet in the future, the Christ of Calvary prayed for you. In this we see the keeping and care of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bishop and Shepherd of His sheep. Why do we need such a Shepherd and such a Bishop? Because we are a people who are not of this world, we are a peculiar people that the world cannot understand. We are peculiar because we belong to an unseen God whom we love. We are peculiar because we know He resides in our hearts, in our souls, and in our spirit. We have within us the actual knowledge of the Spirit of Christ, and this keeps us in this ungodly world (the world that hates our God, and hates us as well). We have been severed from sin, the world, and the devil by the Good Shepherd (as the Great Shepherd) this very day is in conflict with the devil in preserving us in this ungodly world. He has sealed us with His eternal life by His act as the Great Shepherd of our soul by the blood of the everlasting covenant. And now, from the right hand of the majesty on high, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Bishop and Shepherd of our soul keeps us moment by moment. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now it is time to move on to the Chief Shepherd . . . . .
The Chief Shepherd
  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:4) From the Good Shepherd — to the Great Shepherd — to the Bishop and Shepherd of your soul, we now come to the fullness of He who is the Chief Shepherd. All the qualities of a divine Shepherd are completely fulfilled in the Chief Shepherd. This fulfillment comes in the fruition of all the prophetic writings concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. His first advent has been accomplished and completed, and we are now patiently waiting for the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. At His appearing there will be a crown of glory given to them who love Him, and this crown of glory will never fade away because it is united to the eternal life that we have in Jesus Christ. This will be a crown that displays all the qualities of not the redeemed, but all the qualities of the Redeemer. The crown will be His glory upon us. And it will never fade. This glory will go on to illuminate the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteous will dwell, and fadeth not away. When the Chief Shepherd appears He will write upon us His name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17)
  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:11) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12)
  Have your eyes been opened at all? Can you grasp the fullness of the Chief Shepherd? He will appear and we who are born of God will appear with Him. Our birth is not natural: it is supernatural. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13) We will be in the presence of this Chief Shepherd. He will give us a crown of glory that fadeth not away, and this is a wonder to behold. We will no longer carry an earthly name. He will give to us a heavenly name, and this new name will be given to a royal priesthood. He will write that name on a stone, and it will be placed on the shoulders of the redeemed to show His position in our being. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)
  After He has shown us our position before Him as a royal priesthood He will give His own name unto us to show the inseparable unity that we have with Him. He will once and for all (in heavenly life) lay claim to the prize of great price, the pearl of eternity. He will write His own name, His new name, upon the overcomer to display them for all eternity as the ones who He redeemed by the blood of the everlasting covenant.
  We will embrace the Good Shepherd as our example of life. We will embrace the Great Shepherd in the power of His redemption. We will embrace the Bishop and Shepherd of our soul as He cares for us, and ministers to our needs and circumstances in this ungodly world. And lastly, when the Chief Shepherd appears we will embrace Him as the Shepherd of all eternity. We will see in Him ALL the goodness and fullness of the love of God for us. He, in return, will present to us a crown of glory that fadeth not away. To the spirit, to the heart, and to the soul, I write these verses in 1 Peter 5:1-4 this in closing.
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: (1st Peter 5:1)
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; (1st Peter 5:2)
Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.(1st Peter 5:3)
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1st Peter 5:4)
  In the Old Testament, as God was looking upon the failure of Israel, He called a man named Ezekiel. This man was to be a voice to a nation in disgrace, and He was to relate God’s side of the story. Ezekiel was to pinpoint their iniquities and their sins. Ezekiel would also be a foreshadow of the true Son of man for Ezekiel would suffer at the hands of man, and at the hand of God. Ezekiel was to be a voice of God’s righteousness to an ungodly nation, and to the ungodly Gentiles as well. God even opened a window so that Ezekiel could record that the devil (Lucifer) had been in the garden of God.
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (Ezekiel 28:12)
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Ezekiel 28:13)
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:14)
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (Ezekiel 28:15)
  This is what God gave to Ezekiel in the day of ruin to show man where the ruin of mankind began. We go all the way back to the garden of God where man (through Adam) brought sin into the world. Man fell for the deceptive words of Satan (Lucifer), and thus, man disobeyed God in the only commandment that man had received, and man broke that one commandment and received the penalty of death. In the day of Ezekiel, God had set a path for a nation: that if they obeyed God then they would be a nation of righteousness; however, we see the heart of man almost looking for ways (even outside of the commandments) to disobey God. Mankind, in his total depravity, could not obey the least of the commandments, and definitely could not obey the greatest commandment. As recorded in Mark 12:30, Jesus said, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. So why should we bring up the day of ruin in the day of Ezekiel? Because there are many comparisons to the day in which we live. Peter warned us of this day in 1st Peter Chapter 5, verses 8 thru 11.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:9)
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)
To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:11)
  Peter instructs us that the adversary of our soul is still active in this world. In the Song of Songs, the garden of the Lord is His beloved, so we can see the Church, the Body of Christ, as a garden of the Lord. A garden inclosed [is] my sister, [my] spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. (Song of Solomon 4L12) Satan, from the very beginning of the Church, has been trying to overthrow everything that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He attacks the Lord Jesus, he attacks the Word of God, and he attacks the people of God, and has ruined the governments of the world by giving evil men control. There is no government today founded on God Almighty. Even our constitutional government and republic was not founded on God’s purity and His standard of earthly rule. God, however, has honored the ill-fated attempts of mankind to bring God into their government, but this thread of divine intervention is getting thinner and thinner each and every day. The only true government is the government of God for only God is righteous, therefore, only God’s government can be righteous. A government of sinful man cannot be directed by the righteousness of God. We found this out in the entire history of Israel that Israel could not tolerate being a theocracy; therefore, Israel cried for a king like other nations. They cast God off for a worldly king called Saul. However, in the goodness of God, as the Good Shepherd, He kept Israel and still keeps it today. He has judged Israel most harshly, and they are still under the judgment of God because of their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ.Israel is living today under the fulfillment of the prophetic writings concerning their judgment of God. When their Messiah was given to them from heaven above, they would not receive Him, and as in the days of Saul, the Jews cried out, We have no king but Caesar. (John 19:15) But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. . . .
And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. (Matthew 27:23)
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. (Matthew 27:24)
  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25) And for this statement the nation of Israel has had no king, no regal office, no priesthood, and no sacrifices for the prophecy in Lamentations 5:16 has come to pass The crown is fallen [from] our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! Hosea 3:4 completes the prophecy of the children of Israel (notice that the Spirit of God does not say, ‘the nation,’ but ‘the children of Israel’) being without a king, a prince, a sacrifice, without an image (as the images of the cherubim over the mercy seat, and on the curtains) and without an ephod and without a teraphim. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: (Hosea 3:4)
  As in the days of Saul, the first king of the nation of Israel, the people demanded a king and a kingdom like the other nations; thus, God gave them a man after their own hearts. Today, Israel is not a kingdom, but a democratic government as many other nations. The nation of Israel is still cast off by their God. Think of the position that the Jews put their own nation in when they cried out for the crucifixion of their Messiah and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. By that rejection, they set their course of history, for that was the ultimate rejection of God Himself. They will have no king until the King of righteousness comes with healing in His wings. Then they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and wail.
  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7) Not only the Jews will wail, but all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. (Zechariah 13:6)
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7)
  Even though it has been a long history of rejection by Israel, the Good Shepherd still watches over them completing the prophetic time line so that one day He can bring them unto Himself. In that day, the nation of Israel will receive the Lord Jesus (whom they crucified) as their King, the Anointed of God with the oil of gladness.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Hebrews 1:9)
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. (Psalm 45:6)
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalm 45:7)
  This will complete the prophecy of Psalm 2 verses 6 thru 12 . . . Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2:7)
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalm 2:8)
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:9)
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. (Psalm 2:10)
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:11)
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:12)
  The Good Shepherd, who is the goodness of God and the beauty of holiness, is the altogether lovely one who will come forth and show His glory to the nation of Israel.
And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. (Zechariah 9:16)
For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. (Zechariah 9:17)
  We are blessed in this age for the Holy Spirit has given us the complete divine writings concerning God’s Son. We are able to see Him as the Good Shepherd that has brought all the Goodness of God. We are able to see Him as the Great Shepherd who has made peace for us in the blood of the everlasting covenant. We are able to embrace the Bishop and Shepherd of our soul with our prayers and our life before Him. We are waiting for the Chief Shepherd to appear. We are waiting to be with Him in the place that He has prepared for us. (John 14:1) And the Chief Shepherd will give us a crown of glory that fadeth not away, and to this, we add our voices in praise and wonder to our Great God and Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ — Amen.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (Revelation 5:11)
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)
© Copyright 2019, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)