I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. — Jesus Christ, John 10:10
What is this ‘abundant life’ Jesus speaks of? I asked some good friends from church what they thought. Even though they found ‘abundant life’ hard to define, one thing was clear from our discussion: none of them thought they were living it, whatever it was.
I’ve heard John 10:10 quoted many times, mostly, and more confidently by ‘prosperity preachers’. Other believers seemed scared of the word ‘abundance’, probably fearing it meant ‘excessive’, so my ideas and opinions on this verse were largely shaped by the former. The abundant life (to me) meant feeling happy and victorious (all the time), perfect health, excess money, owning heaps of stuff, and having all your dreams fulfilled.
The first crack in my ‘abundant life’ occurred in my late teens when I started honestly questioning things and experiencing mind-bending doubt. I longed to feel happy, victorious, and full of faith. I tried everything: 5 a.m. prayer and Bible reading, ‘altar calls’, charismatic conventions, youth rallies. Confessing an ‘abundant life’ while secretly living the opposite set me up for spiritual depression. I felt like a 1st class hypocrite, a faithless fake.
The next crack was learning about the persecuted church. The poverty, pain and suffering they often willingly endured did not line up with the claims of the prosperity doctrine. The ‘abundant life’ only seemed possible in affluent western countries. What about the other 70% of the church? Surely God is not that partial.
So what is the ‘abundant life’? The first step is not finding a technical definition. The abundant life is better observed than defined. In other words, you’ll know it when you see it. And two people who stood out to me were Saint Francis of Assisi (died 1226) and Brother Lawrence (died 1691).
If we endure things patiently and with gladness thinking on the sufferings of our blessed Lord, and bearing all for the love of Him: herein is perfect joy. — St Francis of Assisi, The Voice of the Saints, Tan Books 1965 (Pg. 127)
I did not engage in a religious life but for the love of God. And I have endeavored to act only for him; whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. — Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, Hendrickson Publishers 2004, (Pg. 7)
The stories of these humble men astonished me. There lives were far from easy. They suffered much and owned little, but their lives were marked by a deep joy and love for God. What else could grace Saint Francis to say, ‘Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty’? or give Brother Lawrence the divine contentment to remain a simple cook in a Carmelite monastery? Their childlike wonder at existence and their practice of the presence of Christ in daily living demonstrated they had what Christ spoke of. They had abundant life.
It’s fine to cite examples like Saint Francis and Brother Lawrence, but what about the one who made the offer? Did Jesus Christ have life abundant? The fact I never hear Him mentioned when this topic is discussed clearly shows there is something drastically wrong in our thinking. Christ cannot offer something He did not have Himself! He is our ‘life’ example, the one we look to.
…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. — Hebrews 12:1b-2a
God defines reality. And according to Him the abundant life is the Christ life. Jesus Christ’s offer to experience abundant life in John 10:10 is an invitation to follow, to live as He did. So how did the Son of God live? What did He do? The very next verse tells us: ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’. Unlike the ‘name and claim’ preachers who influenced me when I was growing up, it’s not what we take up but what we lay down.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. — Philippians 2:5-8
The first step in living the Christ life is to lay down our life. The abundant life is about humbling ourselves and becoming servants. I now see some of my own spiritual depression was due to a lack of humility. Instead of emptying myself like Christ, I ‘grasped’ for my rights. I was full of myself. I believed God owed me a continuous spiritual high. It was ‘my right’ as good a Pentecostal.
He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. — Luke 6:12
The abundant life is also a life of prayer. This was central to Christ’s life. Jesus never wrote a book or pursued speaking engagements, but He did pray, a lot. So much so the disciples asked Him how to do it. They found Him praying in the morning, at night, in the desert, atop mountains, and even on the Cross. Through gladness and pain and ordinary days, the Son of God was always in communion with the Father.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… — Romans 8:29
The abundant life is about us conforming to His image. It’s a process of decreasing and increasing (John 3:30). The more we decrease the more He can increase. The Christ life is the only thing that can overcome the worldly life (love of money, prestige, power, comfort, self). The abundant life overpowers the ‘lusts of the flesh’ and fixes our eyes on the things that last. It sees beyond this world and lives for the next.
…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. — Hebrews 12:2b
If we want to ‘have life and have it abundantly’ then we must follow Jesus surrender our ‘rights’ and lay our life down. The Christ life is humility, and prayer, and conforming to His image. The Christ life is the abundant life.
All Bible quotes from the NASB