Monday, March 30, 2020

The Living Bread of Life - Part 2



John 6:36-47 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 

Continuing Pastor Herk’s message, he explains that without Jesus, our physical blessings really have little meaning. Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” It’s a package deal. But, there are people out there who do not really believe that. They believe that you can do enough righteous deeds and be a nice enough person to earn a guaranteed place in heaven; that you bought your ticket by just being a good person. But, that is not true. No one person has been good enough by their life. The only way that any of us are getting to heaven is through Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 6:48-51, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Jesus was not talking about real bread here. When He said, “I am the bread of life”, what He meant was that every time you look at a loaf of bread, remember that just like you need bread to live, you need Jesus to live. When Jesus said, “I am the vine”, He didn’t mean that he literally was a vine. When Jesus said, I am the gate”, He didn’t mean that he was a literal gate. In His teaching, He was talking about sacrificing His flesh and body on the Cross that we may have forgiveness and life.  

John 6:57-58 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Bread gives life, and like physical bread Jesus’ body on the Cross gives us life and life eternal. Salvation is too important to be put off until another day. Make haste to lay hold of the living Bread of Life. Pass the bread please.

In Christ, Brian

No comments: