During a sermon on God as our Shepherd (Ps 23; John 10), God revealed Himself in a new way to me.  I was explaining how Jesus in John 10 speaks of “laying His life down” for us.
 David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem explained to Saul in 1Samuel 17 that when a bear or a lion would come to destroy a sheep, David pursued the animal and delivered the sheep from the mouth of the destroyer, subsequently killing the predator. 
Well, God made a connection for me that day, that in the jaws of the lion, are sin and death.  Jesus, goes after us (incarnation) while we are in the clutches of sins jaws, being carried off to death, separated from God, and delivers us from death.  Unlike David however, Jesus had to lay His life down, placing Himself in the jaws of the bear.  2Corinthians 5:21 Speaks of this great exchange "For our sake He made Him to be sin Who know no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God"
I am thankful to God in Christ Jesus that He came and delivered Himself over, paying the penalty for my sin.  That by faith in Him I am removed from the jaws of death, and delivered to life.  Praise be to God.

            1 Sam 17:34…But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears…

            John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴  I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷  For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”