Only Those Who Belong

I’ve heard atheists accuse God of being a monster because, “What kind of a Father would offer His kid as a sacrifice for someone else’s sins?” I ask, what kind of Love would volunteer to offer His own life for our sins?

Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own sheep and My own sheep know Me. In the same way, the Father knows Me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before Myself, sacrificing Myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize My voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves Me: because I freely lay down My life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from Me. I lay it down of My own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from My Father."

"You don't believe because you're not My sheep. My sheep recognize My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of My hand. The Father who put them under My care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from Him. I and the Father are one heart and mind."

Jesus said, "I'm only quoting your inspired Scriptures, where God said, 'I tell you—you are gods.' If God called your ancestors 'gods'—and Scripture doesn't lie—why do you yell, 'Blasphemer! Blasphemer!' at the unique One the Father consecrated and sent into the world, just because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I don't do the things my Father does, well and good; don't believe me. But if I am doing them, put aside for a moment what you hear Me say about Myself and just take the evidence of the actions that are right before your eyes. Then perhaps things will come together for you, and you'll see that not only are We doing the same thing, We are the same—Father and Son. He is in Me; I am in him."
John 10:14-18,25-30,34-38