All-Sufficient by Dr. Abidan Shah

ALL-SUFFICIENT by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Sometime back in our series titled “Contend,” we played a portion of the sound recording of the crew of Apollo 8 reading from Genesis 1 on Christmas Eve, 1968. The following year, July 20^th, 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong stepped out and said the famous words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant step for mankind,” before the preparations began to exit the Eagle, Buzz Aldrin actually celebrated the communion. Because the previous year, Madalyn Murray O’Hair had sued the US Government for the Genesis 1 reading, Aldrin simply announced on the radio that everyone should “give thanks in his or her own way,” but he silently read John 15:5 and then took the Communion. The passage we are focused on in this series is no ordinary one. It has meant a lot to a lot of people. Today, we will see why. Main point: Christ is all-sufficient for all our essential needs. He is not just one among many sources. He is not just next in line of the many sources. He is not just better than all the other sources. He is the only true, promised, and ultimate source of all-sufficiency.

John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Context: When people come to this passage, they take one of two approaches. Some take the viticulture or horticulture approach: Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. To understand this passage, we need to understand gardening or farming. Nothing wrong with this approach, but I don’t believe that’s all God intended. Others take more of a theological approach. They hear echoes of Exodus 3    13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” So, when they read a passage like this, it immediately confirms to them the doctrine of Jesus being fully God. That is true in passages like “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM,” but that’s not the only way “I am” is used in the Gospel of John. Sometimes, it is simply a way of speaking. Again, nothing wrong with either of those approaches, and we will use them in our series, but this passage and 6 others in John have a much deeper meaning. They are God’s answers to all our deep, essential, and universal needs.

Application: Have you ever thought about what it is that you and I really need? When we go shopping, I have to ask that question: “Do I really need that?” Sometimes the answer is “No, I just want it.” Then, Nicole will remind me about what we really need!

One of John’s purposes was to show that Jesus is the only true, promised, and ultimate source of all-sufficiency for all our deep, essential, and universal needs. These needs were experienced by God’s people Israel, and they demonstrated them for our benefit. In other words, Israel became God’s object lesson for all of us, along with being the vehicle through whom the answer came. Don’t penalize them for their failures. They had to answer to God for that, but we thank God for them and believe that they still have a future and a hope in God’s promises.

So, what are the needs and how were they ultimately met in Christ?

1. Sustenance – “I am the Bread of life.”

John 6:35   And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst….48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

The point is that we are now to feed upon Christ every day.

2. Direction – “I am the Light of the world.”

John 8:12   Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus said these words at the Feast of the Tabernacles when they were celebrating their wilderness journey of how God led them with a pillar of fire by day.

The point is that we are now to follow Christ our light in the wilderness.

3. Protection – “I am the Door for the sheep.”

John 10      7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

4. Provision – “I am the Good Shepherd.”

John 10      11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

Both #3 and #4 are a reminder of the false shepherds (prophets, priests, and kings) who had misled the sheep (God’s people) – Ezekiel 34       1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered…9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 10 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” 11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out…23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.”

The point is that Jesus, the son of David, is our gate and Shepherd.

5. Sorrow and Death– “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

If you read the Old Testament, sometimes it feels like a big, long obituary, starting in the Book of Genesis. Even Job yearned for that day in Job 19     25 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

This was certainly the hope of the people of Israel.

The point is that Jesus, is our hope from Sorrow and Death.

6. Sin – “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

We don’t have enough time to discuss the problem of sin among God’s people!

Again, Jesus was the fulfillment of the ages long wish of God’s people.

7. Fruits – “I am the True Vine.”

Here, the emphasis is on “alethine” or true vine. Israel was supposed to be the vine, but she failed.

• Psalm 80 8 “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it…15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for Yourself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.”
• Hosea 10. 1 Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars;He will ruin their sacred pillars.
• Jeremiah 2:21 “Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?”
• Ezekiel 17 6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; its branches turned toward him, but its roots were under it. So it became a vine, brought forth branches, and put forth shoots. 7 “But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and stretched its branches toward him…9 “…Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, cut off its fruit, And leave it to wither? All of its spring leaves will wither, and no great power or many people will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.”
• Isaiah 5 1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

In each of these places, the vine imagery was to highlight the failure of Israel to be God’s vine. Don’t misunderstand. God still has promises towards ethnic Israel. But, Jesus has become the true vine for us to bear fruits.

Invitation: Jesus is the only true, promised, and ultimate source of all-sufficiency for all our deep, essential, and universal needs. Are you looking to him? Are you connected to him? Are you looking to other sources for your needs? Do you know Christ? Are you saved?