Benefits of the Bread

Welcome

So glad to be here again with you this morning

Please turn to John 6:52-59.

This will be our text this morning

So far in the chapter we have seen how Jesus set up this discourse with feeding the 5000

Then Jesus walked on water to get to a boat where he calmed the storm for his disciples

Once he got to the other side of that shore we started this discourse that we will finish today

This bread of Life discourse started with him declaring that he was the bread of life

Then he spoke to our assurance in salvation through that bread

Then he spoke to how we are to partake in that bread

And finally this morning we will end things with learning of the benefits we get when we come to Him as the bread of life

We have 2 weeks to fathers day

so we will cover the end of the discourse this morning

the offensiveness of the gospel in the final verses

then have a stand alone message for fathers day

and jump into John 7 the week after the Lord willing

So let us stand as read this weeks text

Text

John 6:52–58 “52 At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, 55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.””

Illustration

Have you ever been somewhere that just took your breath away?

Im talking about sitting on the edge of a mountain as the sun sets

displaying all of the beautiful colors of light as it shifts and moves across the horizon

with it’s amazing displays of purples, reds, pinks, and orange

and thought wow, this really is my slice of heaven

or maybe your sitting on your back porch

overlooking your pasture

or your rose garden

or your pecan trees

and think

this sure is our little bite of paradise

maybe that place is simply sitting in your living room

while you kids or grandkids are there

playing, giggling, carrying on

and thinks

this sure does taste of Home

Or how about when we describe one our children

or grandchildren that we absolutely cherish

what do we say?

they sure are the apple of my eye..

but then again maybe they are

a couch potato

instead of a busy bee

but that’s just the way the cookee crumbled

now here’s some food for thought…

what i have just described

and what you have just helped me with

are metaphors

in fact one of the best way to describe these things is

by the use of metaphors

And that is exactly what we are seeing our

Lord Jesus doing here in these verses

and throughout this entire discourse

Where he is comparing eating with salvation and belief

Now, since we are on the subject

I want to point out 5 things as we compare food with spiritual truth

First is the fact that food is useless unless it is eaten

food does no good if it is not internalized

it does no good if it only sits on the outside

and that is precisely the same way with spiritual truth

see merely knowing the truth without acting on it

does nothing for you

And just like that cheeseburger does nothing for you just sitting on the counter

neither will that bible if it only sits on the nightstand or desk in between Sunday's

You must ingest it if you want the benefits of it

The second is the fact that eating is prompted by hunger

see those who are full are not interested in food

and in that same way

if you are full from other things

such as earthly, worldly, or selfish desires

then there will never be a hunger for the things of God

see sinners who are satisfied with their sin

sitting back loving life with no regards of God

will have no hunger for the spiritual things

and thus will have no benefit of the life that comes with it

at least not until they are awakened to their condition

and see just how truly their souls hunger for God

The third is the fact that as people eat the food it becomes part of them through the digestive tract

and so it is with the spiritual

You may be impressed with Jesus

you may admire his teachings

you may even recognize his death on the cross

but not until you come to him in faith

does he become part of you

The fourth involves trust

See no one willingly eats spoiled or tainted food

the very fact that someone eats the food means that they trust it and believe it wont harm them

and it is the same with Christ when we come to him in faith

we are trusting in him as the bread of life

knowing that that trust will benefit us

and Finally

eating is personal

no one can eat a meal for you

there is no eating by proxy

just as there is no salvation by proxy

no one can get saved for you

and we must come to Christ and receive him for salvation

It is personal and it involves all of us fully being devoted to all of him

When we eat his flesh and drink his blood

which is really symbolic for the fact that

it is in Him that we find life

and really that is what this morning is all about Life

See the Benefit of the Bread

…is Life

They are

Life

An Eternal Life

A Satisfied Life

An Abiding Life

A Purposeful Life

An Energized Life

See when we come to Christ as our Savior

as what sustains us, we are promised life!

Life that is beyond whatever this world can throw at us

So… With that said.

Let’s get started

Our first benefit of the bread is life!

A New Life

Just as much of this discourse has gone

Jesus’ dialogue starts with a question or comment from the Jews

and what they are essentially doing is setting up Jesus’ next

powerful statement

and much like we kicked off last week with the Jews grumbling

this week it starts with an argument

The set up if you will starts like this

John 6:52 “52 At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?””

Now they are of course responding to where we left off last week with V51

and some are again only hearing what they want to hear

Jesus has been using metaphors his entire ministry

Jesus is in fact a genius when it comes to using metaphors of earthly things to show us spiritual things

But this crowd is mixed

On one hand we have the disciples and the followers of Jesus

We have those that are on the fence

and we have those that opposed the “Jews”

and they begin to argue

so we have moved from grumbling to arguing

this argument could also be translated as debating

they were debating and unfortunately most debates

end up as arguments

but they were debating on

is what exactly Jesus meant by

V51

again V51 reads as John 6:51 “51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.””

This is what they are arguing over

saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

some interpreted it as a parable

in a figurative or symbolic way

others didn’t have a clue as to what he meant

taking him perhaps literally

thinking cannablism, that doesn't make sense

how does eating ones flesh lead to eternal life

this makes no sense

this guy is crazy

then perhaps there were the few that understood

the genuine disciples of Jesus

Either way for most of them that statement in V51 was not clear

and it was honestly offensive

it caused them anger as they argued over what he meant

Which is why Jesus responded with V53

John 6:53 “53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.”

and by staying this he what?

what did he has he done so many times when asked these types of questions..

He doubled down

He’s saying you think it weird and crazy for me to say eat my flesh

what about the fact that not only must you eat my flesh but you must also drink my blood

how does that work!

I don’t know if that is doubling down or tripling down!

and no doubt this even more controversial than his initial statement

the kicker is the drink my blood

See crowd listening to this surely memorized as a young Hebrew passages such as

Genesis 9:4 “4 However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.”

Deuteronomy 12:23–24 “23 But don’t eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water.”

3- Leviticus 17:14 “14 Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You are not to eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.”

See the blood is in the life / it is the symbol of life

and they were taught to stay away from that

Because of their system of atonement

Blood as the symbol of life had to be treated with honor.

The Israelites were forbidden to eat meat with the blood still in it because consuming blood would have violated or denigrated the sacred act of atonement

which was how humans are made right with God.

Consuming the blood would have disregarded its divinely ordained purpose.

Yet here we have Jesus

a Hebrew / a jew

raised on the same scriptures as them

now saying they must eat his flesh and drink his blood

this goes against everything they were taught

right

Well… Lets see

what have a few things to consider with this

The first is the fact that life comes from blood - literally

with modern science we now know that life literally is carried within our blood

blood is what transports the oxygen from our lungs to our heart and to our body

it is what carries the carbon dioxide back to the lungs to gain oxygen

blood is what transports nutrients from various organs

it is what carries waste products from various organs

blood fights infections

it carries harmones

and this is just a few of the vital roles that blood plays to

sustain life within us

another thing about blood is it is what atones for our sins

just as I just mentioned from the OT law

and what we have been covering on wed night

blood is what atones for our sins

see death is the penalty for our sin

and the only way our sins are covered are through blood

just like with the sacrifices of the OT

now, This Old Testament act of atonement pointed forward to the shedding of Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins

Hebrews 9:14 “14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?”

See each time an animal was sacrificed on the altar and its blood poured out,

it communicated a picture of the Savior.

Jesus Christ suffered in our place. And his blood is the life that was given so that we might have new life.

So what Jesus is saying here is that in His life

In His blood is our new life

and the word eat and drink in this passage

if we go to the greek the they are in the tense of a once and for all act of eating or drinking

Jesus is not saying this is something we do time and time again as they did with the

animal sacrifices

He is saying his blood will be and was shed once and for all for us

And the metaphor here lies in the fact that we are to eat and drink of Him

which means

we are to receive Him

accept Him

partake in Him

appropriate ourselves to him

assimilate to him

absorb him

make him part of our very being

we are to not just know about him

we are to know him

intimately

See the receiving and partaking of Christ is to be just as intimate and nourishing as eating and drinking

The point is this,

A man must receive Christ into his heart

into his innermost being if he truly wants to live

in fact, as we discussed last week

we are spiritually dead until Christ comes into our lives

until he dwells within us

until we make Him our lord and savior

and in that we go from death to life

Our first benefit of the bread of life

is new life

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

we are no longer bound by who we used to be

we are no longer held down by our previous ways

we are no longer identified by our past

the old has passed away

the new has come!

new outlooks on life

new delights in the things of God

new purpose

new desires

and we get to bask in the new found redemption for forever!

which is our second point out of the 5

see with our new life comes Eternal Life

An Eternal Life

John 6:54 “54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,”

Lets make a couple of quick notes here

the greek word we used in our last point for eat was esthio remember that was to signify a one time once and for all type of eating

well here in this verse the greek word changes and the root word for eat is

trogo

this word is different in that it means to eat eagerly

to grasp it in chunks

to eat it with pleasure

this is a picture of hungering after Christ

The tense of the word also changes

as this word is in the present tense

which means it is a continuous action

we must hunger for Christ

as well as continue to eat and develop and grow

in the habit of feasting upon Christ

we are to grow as Christians

See it is not only the fact that we are to eat and drink of him once

as we did for new life

but we are to also eat and drink of him continually

day by day we are to seek relationship with him

month by month we are to find sanctity in him

year by year we are comprehend his grace in every aspect of our lives

because just as we took him in once for our salvation

we continually grow in him for our eternal life

remember eternal life starts the very second you put your faith in him

and that eternal life is the opposite of perishing

it is deliverance from condemnation and death

spiritually we will never deteriorate

we will never decay

we will no longer see corruption

eternal life does not mean or refer to a set number of years or living forever in vain

that would be miserable i think

no, the idea of eternal life is quality

it is a certain kind of life

a life that consistently knows

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness

all displayed through the power of God

it is life forever being known by the one who created the world

and knowing that you will forever be in His presence

because when we are in His presence

we will know true satisfaction

which is our 3rd point or benefit of the bread of life

A Satisfied Life

John 6:55 “55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”

Satisfaction is the state of being content

it is the feeling that our needs and wants are met

and satisfaction is a rare occurrence in our lives today

as many look for satisfaction in worldly things

as you have heard me say time and time again

contentment and satisfaction cannot be found in worldly pleasures

such as houses, cars, money, jobs, marriages, or even circumstances

these are things that we would say provide false satisfactions

that is…. after the initial thrill of them has worn off

we are again left empty

dissatisfied

craving more

unsure of life and wondering if this is all there is

See in some ways our human hearts are like that of a whining toddler

who, if left to himself will never be satisfied

i know this because I had 4 of them

and we tend to want more

bigger, better, flashier

I mean just look at billboards and commercials

they are all based on appealing to our journey to find satisfaction

they are designed to make us think we need more

and again this is all false satisfaction

But as Jesus is saying his flesh is true food his blood is true drink

as in true satisfaction comes from receiving Christ into your life

and it only comes through Him

Godly satisfaction comes through being pleased and grateful for his provision and his work in our lives

Therefore Jesus’ purpose and point with this verse is this

just as real life on earth comes from eating and drinking

and abundant and satisfying life comes from eating and drinking of christ

the true bread

Therefore, when we come to him we no longer look to be satisfied with the things of this world that wither away

but we are now satisfied with him

no matter our situation

no matter our hardships

we can find satisfaction in Christ

that is why the apostle Paul wrote

in Philippians 4:12–13 “12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Brothers and sisters, true satisfaction is found in Christ

true contentment is found in Christ

not in the false things of this world

Which leads us to our 4th benefit of the bread

An Abiding Life

John 6:56 “56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

See those that eat and drink of Christ

that is come to saving faith in Him

that come to him in belief

will experience a supernatural fellowship and companionship

in God

which means we are cared for and looked after by Him

it means that the very author of the universe

is looking after us

we see this in the word remains

Remains means to abide in

in means to continue

to dwell

to rest in or to rest upon

By abiding and remaining in Christ

we know we are fixed upon Him

and we will continue to be with him

we are held secure in a permanent relationship with Him

By abiding in Christ we allow His Words

to fill our minds

to direct our wills

to transform your affections and our lives

We are made one with him

we will see later in John chapter 15 Jesus says

John 15:4–9 “4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.”

Brothers and sisters when we abide in Christ we know that we will remain in the Love of the father as well as the son

A Purposeful Life

Our 5th Benefit is A Purposeful Life and is found in

John 6:57 “57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”

See we can find our meaning and purpose in Christ

through the life and provision that he has established and provided

There are so many walking around today

just empty shells of a person

lacking understanding and lacking purpose

But when we come to Christ we find the purpose of life

no longer do we have to wonder aimlessly though life wondering if this is all there is

Christ says he lives because of father and we live because of Him

and in this we find our purpose

See God originally created man to

1 - Glorify God and enjoy fellowship with Him

2 - to have good relationships with others

3 - to work

4 - to have dominion over the earth (which is stewardship and caretaking for God’s creation)

But through sin this has all been messed up

fellowship with God was broken

relationships with others are often strained or pressured

work is frustrating

and we do not maintain dominion over the earth

But through Christ, when we come to him in belief

we are restored to that original purpose

our fellowship with God is restored

we are able to love and fellowship with others in a different light

we understand that while work can be frustrating

that now we are working for the Lord we can find Joy in that

Colossians 3:23 “23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,”

and finally when we understand how we are to work for the Lord, dominion over the earth is restored as well

Which brings us to our 6th and final benefit of the bread

An Energized Life

John 6:58 “58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.””

See with this incorruptible food of Christ

we know that our bodies are not only getting the best nourishment

but also eternal nourishment

And just like coffee gives us energy in the morning to get through the day

so Christ gives us energy to last forever

to get over that next thing

to find peace that surpasses all understanding

See the bread the crowd and the jews wanted was just like the manna God provided in the wilderness

it did come down from heaven

from the clouds above

but it did not give life to people

at least not in the form that we have been describing

for they all died

But! This, as in Jesus, came down from heaven as well

and he gives eternal life

See the idea is this:

it is Christ himself that energizes and sustains a man to live forever

Christ has the quality

the power, and the substance

and He gives that to us

and through him we now have the energy to make it one more day

we have the energy to sustain

we have the energy to continue on

we have all sat down in the recliner or chair or couch at the end of the day

thinking wow, I am so tired from the days events that I just don’t have the energy to do anything else

and it is just like that in life

when we come to Christ for salvation

we wont need anything else

Gospel Presentation

Brothers and sister as John 6:59 “59 He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”

Everything we have heard about life comes from the mouth of Christ

and all of these things were fulfilled in him

through him and through his blood we have redemption

we all were or still are lost

like a sheep with no Shepard

hungry for more

hungry for purpose

well let me assure you

you can find whatever you are lacking in Christ

See each and every one of us are separated from these benefits

due to our sin and our rebellion against God

But due to his grace, mercy, justice, and love

he draws us near to him

and when we respond to his call

we can rest assured that the benefits far outweigh the cost

because it is through the bread of life that we find

new life

eternal life

satisfied life

abiding life

purposeful life

and an energized life

So I ask you this morning,

have you found this life..

if you haven’t do not harden your heart

to Gods call

turn to him

and if you have come to him in faith

let us rest assured that while we may suffer

trials and tribulations

hardships, and injustices

the benefits outweigh the cost

Let us Pray!