Joseph Prince - Experience the Abundant Life
Jesus said, «The thief,» that is the devil, «he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly». And God is a perfect and just God. God is love, all right? But justice, the Bible says, «Justice and righteousness is the foundation of his throne». The whole universe works because God is a God of his Word, all right. We exaggerate, God doesn’t. Now, many people know this verse, all right. We see this verse especially during our football tournaments and all that you see at the side.
Someone hangs John 3.16. You do not know it, you better know it by now, amen. It’s a message of God’s love. «God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son». He didn’t give the best angel, amen. He didn’t give just another human being, he gave his own Son, «that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life». That life that Jesus says, «I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly». But before Jesus said that… actually by the way, this is my son’s memory verse, my 10-year-old son’s memory verse last two weeks. John 10:10, he will tell you, «The thief does not come but to steal».
Who is the thief? The devil, he comes to steal, kill, destroy. Every time you are stolen from, every time your peace is stolen from, your joy is stolen from, your relationships are stolen from, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That’s what the devil does. He hates you because you are made in the image of God. Just like a lover that has been spurned by the one he loves. And what does he do? He takes the photo of that girl or the lady, you take a photo of the man, and they will crush it, they will crush it. They are not killing the man, they are killing the photo. You know what I’m saying? Because the photo is the image of that person. So, the devil can’t get to God. You are created in God’s image, he comes against you.
So, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus says, «I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly». It does not consist on the material things that you possess. You know, the one that possesses the most wins. No, there are many, many poor people who have plenty of possessions in the world. No, it is a person filled with love, joy, and peace that Jesus says, «The kingdom of God inside you manifest like this: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit». And that spills over into your relationships. When you are full of love, joy, and peace, it helps and prospers your relationships whether it’s with your spouse, whether it’s with your children, whether it’s with your colleagues and people around you. And it will prosper you in every way, amen. That’s the greatest prosperity you can have.
Now, why is there a need for the cross? If there are other ways to God, Jesus’s death… and I say this reverently, is the most stupid thing there could be. Why go through all that suffering? Why go through all that suffering If there are other ways to God? Jesus says, «I am the way, the truth, and the life. There’s no other way to the Father but by me». And why must he suffer at the cross? Because, friend, someone needs to pay for our sins. Therefore, on the cross, he who never sinned, he did no sin, he knew no sin, in him is no sin, but he became sin for us on the cross by choice, by choice. No one could arrest him. In the garden when they came to arrest him, soldiers, strong soldiers brandishing their staves and their swords. They came to arrest Jesus, one man. They came to arrest one man.
And the man spoke up when they asked, «'We seek Jesus of Nazareth.'» He stepped up and says, «'I am.'» I am is the declaration of a God of the burning bush. Many years ago, when God chose Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, and Moses asked God, «When they ask me your name, what is your name, God, I may tell them»? God says, «I am that I am». When Jesus came and they went to arrest him, they came up to arrest him, Jesus stepped up and says, «I am». You know what happened to them? They all fell. The so-called divine captive waited for them to get up to captivate him. Who is the real captive here? And who is the real captivator? But he chose to lay down his life. Jesus said it like this, you know, we think that he was murdered, he was killed.
No, no, no, he says, «No one can take my life from me, I lay down my life». And why did he lay down his life? Why did he lay down on the cross? Why did he cry, «Father, forgive them for they know not what they do»? Because the picture of the Old Testament, the Feast of Passover, is a feast to commemorate their coming out, their deliverance from Egypt, from slavery into freedom. And on that first Passover, God told them, «Put the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel». So, imagine that, picture this with me, okay. Blood on the lintel and blood on the doorposts, the two doorposts, all right. What do you have? You have the cross. And God said this, «When I see the blood on this night, I will cross over Egypt and the angel of death will be looking».
And God says, «When I see the blood, I will cause the destroyer to pass over your house». That’s why they call it Passover, the Feast of Passover. And God says, «I will not allow the destroyer to kill your firstborn,» all right. Now, God did not say, «When I see your charitable deeds, when I see your fine character, when I see your good family name, when I see your academic accomplishments». He didn’t say that. He says, «When I see the blood, I will pass over you,» amen. Is the blood on your doorpost of your heart? When I see the blood, I will pass over you. I will not allow the destroyer to enter your house when I see the blood. You know what blood is… which animal? It’s the blood of the lamb. They were all commanded to take the blood of the lamb and put it on their doorposts and on the lintel.
Why the lamb? Because in those days, after that, they had a temple, they had a tabernacle and a temple to go to. When they sinned, a person who has sinned, the offerer will bring his lamb. They get a lamb and they go to the priest. The priest represents God, okay. He speaks on God’s behalf. He is like the eyes of God. Now, when the offerer comes with the lamb, the priest does not look at the offerer. A lot of people think when they come to God, God is looking at me, at me, all right. But if you have Jesus in your life, God is not looking at you, God is looking at Jesus, the true Lamb of God, amen. If you’re without Christ, of course, if an offeror sinned, all right, the idea of offeror means you’re offering.
But let’s say he sinned and he comes boldly to the priest and says, «I’ve sinned,» and there’s no payment, no substitute. The priest will have to look at him, and judge him, and recompense him based on the crime or the sin that he did. He’s left to his own devices, right? But when he sins, God told them in those days when they sinned, «Bring a lamb as a sin offering. Bring the lamb». And the priest does not look at the offeror, he looks at the lamb. And he looks for blemishes, he looks for any disease defect, any scurvy. A lamb that is to be offered must be without blemish.
So, the priest does not examine the man. There are still believers today who think that God is looking at them, examining them. No, God is looking at your Lamb. It’s not how good you are, it’s how good your Lamb is. And who is your Lamb? If you cannot say that, you are left to your own devices. This is grace. It is not going higher, do better, try harder. No, it is receiving a finished work. You see, how did Jesus become sin on the cross? Did Jesus do sin to become sin? No, He never sinned. So, how do you and I become righteous today? By doing righteousness? No, we receive his righteousness. Just like Jesus became sin on the cross by receiving your sins into his body. By receiving my sins into his body. And he was punished for our sins in our place, amen.
And how do we become righteous? Not by doing righteous, we receive his righteousness. And then we walk away and God treats us like Jesus. Just like God treats Jesus on the cross like us, the sinner that we are. And all this is the love plan of God. Sin is not the problem today, it is a lack of revelation, amen. And when Jesus rose from the dead, the stone was rolled away. It’s a very heavy stone. And in Israel today, there’s a garden tomb you can go to. And I believe it’s a genuine garden tomb where Jesus left behind the empty tomb. Because the Bible says, «You have to stoop down».
Peter and John, when they came to the empty tomb, they had to stoop down to see the place where the place where Jesus lay. In the garden tomb, you have to stoop down to see the place where Jesus laid. And the stone was rolled away not to let Jesus out. It was rolled because you know why? In that new body, it’s a body that’s physical. When he appeared in the upper room before his disciples who were… the doors were closed for fear of the Jews and the disciples were all hidden there. And when Jesus appeared right in the midst, all right. He told them, «Handle me». A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see me have. There’s material flesh and bones.
So, in the glorified body, we have flesh and bones. We’re not floating into each other’s house. It’s flesh and bones, except that you never get tired, you never feel bored again. You can sit through your pastor’s sermon, amen. You will never fall sick ever again. And you will never die! You will never grow old. In fact, the Bible says the angel the women came, when they came to the upper room, they saw the angels, they were all young. They saw a young man sitting on the stone, almost in defiance against the stone that’s supposed to keep Jesus in, you know.
And the Romans said, they put extra guard outside to make sure, all right, the stone is not rolled away. And the angel came down and rolled the stone away and sat on it, amen. Not to let Jesus out, but to help others who came to the tomb to see in what has happened. Because Jesus’s resurrected body transcends this body. You know, our body is not that… the Bible talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15. It says that there are celestial bodies, there are terrestrial bodies, there are bodies made for fishes. You know, you don’t have a fish body unless you are Aquaman or Spiderman. Then you got arachnic body, you know. No, no, see, friend, animal body is one thing, insect body is one thing, another level. But when God made your body, God made your body the highest creation.
But then there’s a higher creation, the resurrected body of Jesus that the Bible says, «One day our bodies will be transformed like his body». And that body doesn’t come and go. Jesus in his resurrected form does not come, does not go. He appears or disappear. Therefore the stone is not needed to be rolled away for him to come out. He can appear and disappear. He’s no more subject to the laws of this earth like the law of gravity or whatever, or time and matter. He transcends them just like an aeroplane, every time an aeroplane takes off, all right, it transcends the law of gravity by the law of thrust and lift. There will be a higher law that we will all walk in. Jesus’s body is a different body than the body of Lazarus whom he raised from the dead, right?
After Lazarus was dead for four days, the sister said, «You know, by this time, he stinks». And Jesus says, «If you believe, you will see the glory of God». And he says, «Lazarus, come forth»! I’m so glad Jesus says, «Lazarus». He specified because that place has a lot of dead people around, you know. If he says, «Come forth,» everyone could come forth. Lazarus came forth bound hand and foot because in those days, when you die, the Jewish custom is to wrap you in linen cloth like a mummy, and then they’ll put spices, and when the spices harden, there’s no way you can crack open the thing. It’s hard as a rock.
And that’s very interesting because the Bible says, «When Peter and John came to the empty tomb, the woman, the first person that Jesus appeared to in his resurrected form was a woman». And all the women said. A new order has come, amen? Under the law, women, in a sense, is subjugated. They’re not even recognized. But under grace, a new order has come. The first preacher actually was a woman. Jesus told Mary, «Go», not Mary, his mother. There are a few Marys in the Bible. This Mary Magdalene, he said, «Go and tell my brethren». First time he calls them my brethren. Before that, he calls them my flock, my disciples. But this is the first time he says, «My brethren». «Tell them, tell them I’m going to their Father and my Father, your God and my God. We are now from the same family».
Once you are born again, you are born with the nature and the stock and the DNA of God himself. But I would say we are partakers of the divine nature. We are not God. Now, even for me, I’m not perfect in my behavior, I’m not perfect, just ask my wife. And guys look perfect about 3 p.m., 4 p.m. in the prime of their work and all that, they look good. But ask your wife how they are like first thing in the morning, amen? We’re all subject to these bodily sensations, our soul-ish irritability, you know, our anger, our resentment, and all that. But you know something? When God looks at the believer, God sees him in the Spirit and you are righteous. Which did not come to you as your effort or your works, it came to you as a gift through Jesus Christ.
Now, our body is lining up. There’s something called progressive sanctification. We are learning to line up our body with our spirit. But what a joy to know that at any time you are called back home, heaven is your home. All your sins are forgiven. As sure as Jesus died on the cross, your sins are forgiven. And friend, the resurrection of Lazarus is not like the Resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was for Lazarus to die again in the future. But when Jesus rose from the dead, it’s a resurrection which is no longer subject to death. It is life from the dead, life on the other side.
And all of us who are born again, amen. Spiritually, we are resurrected. You are actually a resurrected being in an unresurrected body. The only part of you that is not resurrected is your body. But will God neglect that body in the tomb? Will God neglect the body whether it’s cremated or in the ocean or whatever? No, not an atom is lost. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 that, «The body is sown in corruption,» right? «It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor,» you know, it decays, right? And it becomes bones and skeletons. «It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power,» amen.
The resurrection is not a figment of someone’s imagination. So, why did God raise Jesus? The price is paid, right, at the cross. The price is paid at the cross. When Jesus cried, «It is finished»! the Bible says, «The veil in the temple was torn in two,» amen. God stepped out and God says, «Hello, welcome home,» amen. The sin barrier between God and man is removed. The price is paid. That’s why Jesus Christ, «It is finished»! «He was delivered up for our offenses,» our sins, our transgressions, right? You ask the average Christian, «Why was Jesus delivered up to the cross»?
By the way, like I said, he laid down his life. I believe that for the first time, the Romans saw a man lie down on the cross, they never saw this before. Like I said, no one can take his life. One word and they all fall, right? He laid down his life because the price must be paid for our sins. He was that Lamb, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So, on that cross, right? «He was delivered because of our offenses». But what many people don’t realize is the second part of the verse. Why was he raised from the dead, bodily? «Because of our justification». Now, «because of» may be a little bit vague because it can mean more than one thing depending on the context, but in the Greek, Young’s Literal Translation brings it out. «He was raised up because of our being declared righteous».
In other words, the same body that bore our sins and received the treatment as if he is the worst sinner, in order for him to be raised from the dead and come back to God, it must be all our sins are perfectly put away. It must be that God says to all of us sinners, «I declare you righteous by what Jesus did». In other words, God ties up Jesus’s resurrection with your being declared righteous. In other words, If you’re not declared righteous by God, he will not be raised from the dead. Because He must understand, why did he go to the cross? On your behalf. Why was he raised from the dead? On your behalf.
God has linked his destiny and history with you. He died for your sins and he was raised because God declares you righteous. And now that you are righteous like the man who walks away with a favor of God on him, favor that you don’t deserve, blessings that you’re not worthy of, all the good things that you experience and you know, «I don’t deserve it,» that’s why your heart is full of love, joy, and peace and gratefulness and thanksgiving.
You know that you are blessed because of another. And you live your life for his glory. You have been loved, amen. If that is you, the Bible says, that is why Christianity is not you trying harder, pray harder, do more. No, it’s about receiving a gift. Righteousness is now a gift. When you receive righteousness, just like God treats Jesus like the worst sinner on the cross even though he never sinned, God will treat you like you’re the most righteous man on earth with all the blessings of the righteous. When you pray, God hears your prayer. And God works miracles in your life. Blessings on you and your family. «I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly,» amen.