Introduction

The use of the phrase “I know my sheep by our Lord and great shepherd, Jesus Christ, is a profound expression of His ownership right over the sheep. The “sheep” here refers to those who have come to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their saviour and Lord; hence, they are entitled to call Him Lord. “… and my sheep knows me” implies that the sheep had shared enough fellowship with Jesus to have known Him quite intimately.

In other words, His sheep knows His saving power, His dominion over the devil, His capacity to deliver and His grace to save the penitent sinner. They know the quality of obedience He demanded, the depth of purity He exemplified and the magnitude of authority He wields as well as the force of glory He imparts to those who closely follow Him.

1.  His Signature on His sheep:

This is one sign of His approval and certification of the legal adoption of a sheep. His signature will be on a sheep as long as such a sheep shares His likeness, not just His image. His DNA in His own sheep is the evidence of the character they share (Isaiah 45: 4-5, Psalm 60:7, 62:1-2, 6-7). The Lord says: I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:16). Nobody can guarantee our certification more than the Lord who created permanent evidence of His ownership over our lives by inscribing us on His own palms.

2.  The Seal of Ownership that He has over His Sheep:

The manufacturer’s seal on a product is the authentic proof and symbol of His ownership of such a product as well as the legal right he or she has on such a brand. The seal of Christ is the emblem of royalty and power on a sheep. Every king has a seal of authority. The seal of the Master in our lives is His Holy Spirit. It is the trademark imprint on our lives until the day of our full redemption.

Ephesians 1:13-14 says “Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory. Also, in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, The scripture says: “Now he which established us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”.

This explains the finality of His ownership of His own sheep. He sealed us by His own Spirit. Every product comes with the seal of its manufacturer. It can be in the form of a logo, trademark, or design form. The seal is the final ownership proof that distinguishes a brand from another.

The arrival of Pentecost came as the identity marker for the true followers of Christ. The Holy Spirit came to validate the point of difference between those who are simply religious and those who are simply religious and those who have been adopted by grace. Now, if any man has not, the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (Romans 8:9). Our claims cannot guarantee His ownership over us, only His Spirit, will.

We have a lot of strange spirits everywhere today parading themselves as the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of apostasy has destroyed many ignorant religious proselytes pretending as saints. Can you openly tell the world that you really belong to Christ? If you belong to Him and are possessed by His Spirit, where did you get the practices of sin and compromises from?

I have seen people whose car engine is faulty, but they chose to put an engine of another brand of car inside their own brand. Although it worked for a while but the mechanism collapsed sooner than later. The Holy Spirit will not function in Simon, the sorcerer, as He will function in Apostle Paul.

The optimal performance of a believer is tied to his or her configuration and seal of ownership from the manufacturer. If you’re not functioning to full capacity, then you must have to surrender yourself to return to a factory setting. The Holy Spirit is the operating system engineer that can fix your identity issues. Run to Him immediately.

3.  His Supremacy over His sheep:

This is His dominion and Lordship over all creation. His supreme ability to change times and seasons as well as the power to rule over all things. He gave His disciples (His immediate sheep) a great fish catch in daylight as against the law of natural fishing. He is supreme over the fiercest expression of force in creation and humanity. His dominion silenced the stormy wind on the high seas to the amazement of His sheep disciple.

4.  His Sustenance on His sheep:

This is about His grace of providence amid famine as well as the power to retain surplus amidst abundance. Nobody has the power to feed 5,000 men without counting women and children in terrain with no visible, ready-made food except for 5 loaves of bread and two fish. It is unfortunate to see many believers today who claim to be sheep of the Lord and yet cannot trust Him for a loaf of bread.

5. The Sanctification of His sheep:

This is His purifying grace over His own redeemed men and women. We are made pure by His sanctifying power. We cannot live a life of holiness by human strength as we are bombarded with temptation constantly. His Spirit is the sanctifying agent in our lives. John 17:17

6.  His Brand Equity:

Branding is the comprehensive creation of product identity with the use of a distinctive name, symbol, colour, typography and other visuals. A brand can be described as a promise of value to assist a consumer’s memory process. Brand equity is the value that is offered by a brand. No believer is valuable without Christ. Every sheep generates his or her identity from the shepherd and receives unique strength and resources from the shepherd to fulfil his or her calling. Proverbs 8:10-21

Conclusion

Unlike the sheep, every other animal draws their identity from their species in their jungles. Although, most of the animals in creation have been tamed by men. Very deadly creatures have been tamed into human pets while some of those predators are being named by very depraved men and women.

However, it is only the sheep that draws its own identity from the shepherd. If we are His sheep, we must be ready to live like Him and share His character. No sheep is expected to flock with tigers except such a sheep is ready to be prey in such a dangerous relationship. Don’t tell me you’re a sheep if a Leopard is fathering you!