Bread From Heaven
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Introduction
Introduction
Jesus had walked upon the water and come to Capernaum with His disciples. Naturally the people, who never saw Him get in the boat with His disciples, were curious as to how He got there. Jesus never really answers the question. He knew the miracles were not bringing about faith in the people.
The people saw the miracles of Jesus but they were failing to see what the miracles signified. “Instead of seeing in the bread the sign, they had seen in the sign only the bread.”
During the US civil war Abraham Lincoln met with a group of ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was not a church-goer but was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faith. At one point one of the ministers said, “Mr President, let us pray that God is on our side”. Lincoln’s response showed far greater insight, “No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side.”
During the US civil war Abraham Lincoln met with a group of ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was not a church-goer but was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faith. At one point one of the ministers said, “Mr President, let us pray that God is on our side”. Lincoln’s response showed far greater insight, “No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side.” Lincoln reminded those ministers that religion is not a tool by which we get God to do what we want but an invitation to open ourselves to being and doing what God wants.
Lincoln reminded those ministers that religion is not a tool by which we get God to do what we want but an invitation to open ourselves to being and doing what God wants.
These folks had the wrong idea about Jesus…to them He was a tool to get what they wanted…more bread! They failed to see Jesus as Messiah and place their faith in Him. They had eaten and had their bellies filled. Now they wanted more!
Jesus tells the people to stop working for food that spoils…stop spending your time and energy in pursuit of material things which won’t last. Instead work for eternal life.
Naturally the people then ask the question, “What must we do to do the works God requires.”
This is the normal response of mankind to the question of salvation…What must I do to be saved? What works must I do to save myself? It is a works based, man centered kind of salvation and it is an anathema. It is unbiblical and an affront to God. We cannot save ourselves by our works.
The people had asked what “works” and Jesus answers the “work.” There is one thing needed and one thing alone…that “work” is faith in Jesus. The original verb tense here is such that it means a continuing attitude of faith in Jesus.
We are saved by God’s grace through our faith in Him alone. This is not of works.
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
This faith in Jesus is a faith in His mission. It is faith in who HE is and why He came. He was sent and that sending is important…In order to do the work God requires we must have faith in who Jesus is and the mission He was sent to do…die on the cross for our sins.
Their mind was still on their stomach...
Bread
Bread
There was thought among the Jewish people of Jesus’ day that the Messiah would duplicate the miracle of the mana in the desert. They had just been provided bread the day before and decided to demand something more, perhaps a permanent supply of bread to prove His identity as Messiah.
They wanted to see if Jesus was greater than Moses. They wanted proof that He was the Messiah. But we have already seen that miracles produce terrible disciples. People have a tendency to place their faith in the miracle rather than what the miracles was meant to represent or teach.
The people were looking for a political leader and if Jesus acquiesced to their demands He would be affirming their desires and demands. He would also placed Himself as captive to the
So Jesus uses their desire for literal food as an opportunity to teach them of their more significant needs and His ability to meet them. He uses bread as a metaphor in doing so...
Father gave you mana — Moses was not the one who actually gave the Mana from Heaven…God is the one who did that…so get that right first!
My Father gives you the true bread from heaven — Jesus moves to the present tense here…God is giving you now bread…bread from heaven! That is the bread of God and He gives eternal life.
Give us this bread — Still looking for a belly full of bread they are looking still yet for a meal. They wanted Jesus to give them this bread and to do so again and again…So they could again and again have their physical hunger satisfied.
Like Nicodemus who thought he must literally be born a second time from his mother’s womb…Like the Samaritan woman who literally thought Jesus would give her water that would forever quench her thirst…this crowd was looking for literal bread
They wanted Jesus to give them this bread and to do so again and again…SO tehy could again and again have their physical hunger satisfied.
So Jesus takes the metaphor a step further to gain their attention and increase their understanding of the subject...
I Am The Bread of Life
I Am The Bread of Life
Jesus makes an emphatic statement here. He is the bread of Life. Anyone who comes to Him will be satisfied to the full and never be hungry. The longing for God and the great emptiness which is felt in the heart of every human being, will be completely satisfied in Jesus.
As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
All of us are born with a thirst for God. All of us are born with a hunger for Him. Not everyone may know or understand what that hunger or thirst really is but the human heart was meant for God even if not aware of it due to spiritual death.
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If we come to God through faith in the person and work of Jesus ALL of our hunger and ALL of our thirst will be satisfied and quenched.
Come to Jesus — To follow after…believe, have faith in Him and His mission.
“Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you without money,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost!
Still you do not believe — The people had seen Jesus but still they had not placed faith in Him as their Messiah. “They had seen bread and power, not what they signify. ..Only their curiosity, appetites and political ambitions had been aroused but not their faith.”
May it never been said of us that we see the miracle of Jesus but missed Jesus in the process. May it never be that we admire the works of God and miss God. May it never be said that we knew and witnessed the works of God but missed the message and the one these to whom they testified...
But Jesus makes the point here…once again it is a reminder of the grace necessary for salvation…we cannot save ourselves…nor can we ever come to salvation on our own.
The Great Paradox
The Great Paradox
Paradox — a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true
Carl Sandburg captured well the human condition: "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." That's a paradox. Seemingly contradictory statements that are nonetheless true.
Carl Sandburg captured well the human condition: "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." That's a paradox. Seemingly contradictory statements that are nonetheless true.
This is where the issue of divine sovereignty and free will leave us…We are left with a great paradox whereby we see that our salvation is a predestined work of God yet a matter of choice as well.
A newly appointed pastor who went to visit the home of a congregation member. Upon arriving there the minister discovered his host was an avid gardener, and was only too delighted to show his pastor around the garden, a magnificent sea of greens, purples, blues, whites, yellows and pinks. Wanting to set the relationship off on a strong, positive note, the pastor said, “Praise God for the beauty of his handiwork”.
A newly appointed pastor who went to visit the home of a congregation member. Upon arriving there the minister discovered his host was an avid gardener, and was only too delighted to show his pastor around the garden, a magnificent sea of greens, purples, blues, whites, yellows and pinks. Wanting to set the relationship off on a strong, positive note, the pastor said, “Praise God for the beauty of his handiwork”. But his host replied in a somewhat offended tone, “Now pastor, don’t go giving all the credit to God. You should have seen this garden when the Almighty had it to himself!”
But his host replied in a somewhat offended tone, “Now pastor, don’t go giving all the credit to God. You should have seen this garden when the Almighty had it to himself!”
The gardener, his pride an obvious problem, still in fact had very good theology. God has designed the world in such a way that God works in partnership with us, and we with God, to achieve God’s ends.
Jesus says you still do not believe…why???
The gardener in fact had very good theology. God has designed the world in such a way that God works in partnership with us, and we with God, to achieve God’s ends.
God does the work…In fact He does everything…however, as a part of that “everything” He has decided to allow us the privilege of cooperating with Him…we see the Father at work and join Him…He draws us and we respond…He takes the initiative and we receive
On the one hand we see “God so loved the world that whosoever believes shall have eternal life.” “All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Then we have passages like the one we study this morning in ;
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
All the Father Gives Me Come To Me — Salvation begins with God not man. It begins in His heart, His mind and the work of His hand. No one can come to faith in God apart from the Father in Heaven revealing the truth of salvation to Him and drawing Him to it.
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
The “called” are a gift from the Father to the Son. Jesus is certain that His ministry and mission will succeed in bringing those whom the Father calls to faith in Him.
Whoever Comes to Me I Will Not Drive Away — The nature of the Greek here means that Jesus will “keep in or preserve” those who come to Him. All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved! And they shall always be saved…nothing can take us from the hand of Jesus once we come into faith in Him.
A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that a rope would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon. Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. "Wait," he said, "I'll be back," and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, "I'll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope. He's my dad!"
A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that a rope would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon. Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. "Wait," he said, "I'll be back," and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, "I'll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope. He's my dad!"
“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
F.B. Meyer wrote about two Germans who wanted to climb the Matterhorn. They hired three guides and began their ascent at the steepest and most slippery part. The men roped themselves together in this order: guide, traveler, guide, traveler, guide. They had gone only a little way up the side when the last man lost his footing. He was held up temporarily by the other four, because each had a toehold in the niches they had cut in the ice. But then the next man slipped, and he pulled down the two above him. The only one to stand firm was the first guide, who had driven a spike deep into the ice. Because he held his ground, all the men beneath him regained their footing. F.B. Meyer concluded his story by drawing a spiritual application. He said, "I am like one of those men who slipped, but thank God, I am bound in a living partnership to Christ. And because He stands, I will never perish."
We are not perfect. We do not want to sin but we, at times, desire to sin. We still don’t want to even when we desire to…but our salvation is not contingent on whether or not we sin…our salvation is secured in the one who has a hold of us…our rock and salvation…Jesus Christ.
Jesus will not lose one of us…Our salvation begins in the heart of God…is accomplished and preserved by the work of Christ…and is one day consummated in the our resurrection on the last day!
Conclusion
Conclusion
We are all born sinners. We could never save ourselves by our works. God decided to save us and sent His Son Jesus (God incarnate) to die on the cross to pay for our sins. He shows us these things to be true, convicts us of their validity and draws us to Himself. Everyone who comes to Him is saved and that salvation is protected and assured by Jesus’ continued work on our behalf.
EVERYTHING about salvation is the love of God expressed in His grace and mercy.
Some will ask…Does God choose some for salvation and not others? I am going to live my life as thought every man, woman, boy and girl is called to salvation…chosen for such by God and in need of the saving knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why? Because God has commissioned me to make disciples not weed out who may or may not be destined to be one.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The fact is simple…Great Christians have fallen on both sides of this debate and in so doing have missed the real beauty of the message found in the Gospel...
“Once people come to Jesus, they will realize behind their willing decision to come and believe lies the mysterious, invisible work of the Father, who all along was drawing them to Christ.”
Willingness is a gift…the choice is from Him...the decision is your own…the mystery is not ours to know this side of heaven...
A newly appointed pastor who went to visit the home of a congregation member. Upon arriving there the minister discovered his host was an avid gardener, and was only too delighted to show his pastor around the garden, a magnificent sea of greens, purples, blues, whites, yellows and pinks. Wanting to set the relationship off on a strong, positive note, the pastor said, “Praise God for the beauty of his handiwork”.
A newly appointed pastor who went to visit the home of a congregation member. Upon arriving there the minister discovered his host was an avid gardener, and was only too delighted to show his pastor around the garden, a magnificent sea of greens, purples, blues, whites, yellows and pinks. Wanting to set the relationship off on a strong, positive note, the pastor said, “Praise God for the beauty of his handiwork”. But his host replied in a somewhat offended tone, “Now pastor, don’t go giving all the credit to God. You should have seen this garden when the Almighty had it to himself!” The gardener in fact had very good theology. God has designed the world in such a way that God works in partnership with us, and we with God, to achieve God’s ends.
But his host replied in a somewhat offended tone, “Now pastor, don’t go giving all the credit to God. You should have seen this garden when the Almighty had it to himself!”
The gardener in fact had very good theology. God has designed the world in such a way that God works in partnership with us, and we with God, to achieve God’s ends.
Come to Jesus…Come to Jesus…He is calling…what a wonderful, beautiful, lovely, merciful thing to consider…God is calling you to Himself today