I AM (Light of the World and Bread of Life)

I AM (Recap-Bread of Life/Light of the World) Today is going to be RECAP Sunday. What do I mean by that? As I prayed and asked God what He wanted me to preach on/What He wanted me to preach to His people My mind would not get away from the I AM statements of JESUS Christ that I started a while back and never finished. So before we go continue this series, we need to take a step back and review what we went over. During Jesus’s ministry on earth, He said many things that challenged His listeners. In fact, He often spoke in parables or in metaphors. A parable is an simple story to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. An example of a parable is the story about the boy who cried wolf, which is used to teach kids not to lie. It was a simple story/illsutartion that we could understand that taught us something valuable/meaningful. So in I AM statements Jesus Christ are the following “I am the bread of life.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the door of the sheep.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am the true vine.” He is not saying: I am literally a piece of bread I am literally a light I am literally a door etc… BUT: These descriptions have a BIGGER/MORE IMPORTANT meaning. Each statement gives us a glimpse into God’s character and what He’s like. When someone says, “I am…,” it reveals something about their identity. It reveals something about their CORE being The first one we looked at is I AM (THE BREAD OF LIFE) John 6:35 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:41 41 The Jews then murmured about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” John 6:48 48 I am the bread of life. John 6:51 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Once again, Jesus is making a VERY CLEAR point here. When we look at John 8:58 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” This is HUGE! Because in Exodus 3:14 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,”[a] and He said, “You will say this to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Jesus Christ in John was making a BOLD statement about who HE is. His character, but also His identity! This was a claim at His DEITY and ETERNALITY! The I AM of the new Testament is the I AM of the OT that sent Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt. He didn’t say I WAS……HE said I AM! Jesus’ first I AM statement was John 6:48 48 I am the bread of life. Bread is considered a staple food—i.e., a basic dietary item. When everything came out about COVID 19, aside from toilet paper, bread was one of the firstthings to sell out. WHY? Because it’s a basic food item, we can survive on bread. At the beginning of chapter 6 we see the feeding of the 5,000 What we didn’t see is that 6:1-5 is about feeding the 5,000 In verses 22-27 Those who had followed Him Those who were there for the feeding of 5,000 Followed Him across the sea over to Capernaum Said, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” His response was amazing. John 6:26 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  He said, “you are coming to me for physical food because of what you received earlier”! He continued 27 Do not work for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set His seal on Him.” He is saying, LISTEN GUYS, DON’T SEEK AFTER FOOD THAT PERISHES, SEEK AFTER FOOD THAT ENDURES! Seek true bread from Heaven! It will nourish you spiritually and eternally and manna that your forefathers received in the desert won’t even come close. Manna is life sustaining, not LIFE GIVING! EXPLAIN So, let’s bring it together. They needed food Jesus fed the 5,000 They followed Him for more food He says, “seek the eternal bread” The one that won’t perish, the one that is eternal. And then vs 35 again, …I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. Jesus now identified Himself as the bread about which He had been speaking. The eternal bread that you seek is me. Jesus did not say He had the bread of life, but that He was that bread. What does Jesus promise? Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. Let me break it down. Jesus is saying: I don’t care who you are I don’t care what your social status is I don’t care where you live I don’t care what sins you carry I don’t care what church you go to I don’t care who your parents are Whoever comes to Me shall NEVER hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall NEVER thirst. I will complete you I am everything you need to live I am everything you need to survive For you will NEVER hunger and you will NEVER thirst. IF YOU COME TO ME! I am the life sustainging bread that you seek. Jesus said: John 6:51 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If ANYONE eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 1:14 says 14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is "living" Bread, not manna, but He also "came down" from God ("out of heaven")—as manna did. CAME FROM HEAVEN Those who believe on Him (whoever "eats of this bread") will experience eternal life ("live forever"). The terms "coming to Jesus" (v. 35), "listening to Him" (v. 45), and "seeing Him" (v. 40)—all mean "believing on Him" (v. 35). Jesus would "give" His body as "bread" so the "world" could live eternally. But there is one thing in your way. Yourself Your free will As bread sustains physical life, so Christ offers and sustains spiritual life. For those who are followers of Jesus calling as we journey through life, we must continually come to Jesus and partake of him as our bread of life. Many things in our culture seem to drag us away from Jesus, trying to entice us to let them satisfy our hunger. However, we must not nibble upon the things of this world and simple substitute; we must feast upon Jesus, who alone satisfies. He is the true bread of life. BUT then we see the 2nd I AM statement. I AM (Light of the World) John 8:12 12 Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” In order to see what Christ was saying here I believe we need to also read John 1:1-5 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created.  4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.  5 The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. We see so much in just 5 verses, but let’s pick out some of the truths. 1) The Word is Jesus John 1:14 14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus was at Creation because as the Word, He was there at the beginning, He was with God in the beginning and we see that He not only was with God, but He was God. So, when we read Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We can conclude that Jesus was there We believe in the Trinity God the FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT I furthermore believe that Genesis 1:26 is proof positive that Jesus was with God in the beginning. Genesis 1:26a 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, … Also, in John 1 we see that there is life in Jesus Jesus is the light of mankind & that light shines in the darkness because darkness has not overcome it. Darkness can only prevail over light if the light is extinguished and Christ cannot be extinguished, He is the light of the world. In declaring Himself to be the Light of the world, Jesus was claiming that He is the exclusive source of spiritual light. No other source of spiritual truth is available to mankind.  BUT, how do we know that Jesus overcomes darkness? 1 John 1:5-6 5 This then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.  6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. If you have the true light. If you have that spiritual light that only comes from Jesus when you partake of Him as the bread of life, you walk in light. If you do not know Christ as Savior. If you are not saved. If you are not His child. You are walking in Spiritual Darkness Spiritual darkness is the state of a person who is living apart from God It is the absence of Gods presence! HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT AFTER YOU WERE SAVED IT WAS AS IF A LIGHT TURNED ON AND YOU SAW THINGS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT? THE THINGS I USED TO DO I DON’T DO THEM ANYMORE. SPIRITUAL darkness means not having fellowship with God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. John Piper said I am the light of the world,” is rooted in Jesus’ relationship with His Father. “Jesus speaks from God and for God and as God.” So, let’s look back at our main verse. John 8:12 12 Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Remember, light parts/splits/separates the darkness. Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD because in a world of darkness, HIS presence illuminates the area where HE is. That is why I keep saying that “YOU” Christian….must SHINE. After you accept Jesus as the bread of life, you now have the light within you and it is your job/duty/responsibility to SHINE that light EVERYWHERE you GO! In Christ claiming to be the Bread of Life, we see that as we need food and water in order to live physically, we need Jesus in order to LIVE spiritually *He who RECEIVES this bread shall not hunger nor THIRST! But Why light? Physical light is necessary for physical life. Apart from Jesus, we live in darkness. We have limited capacity to understand who we are or what we see in the world.  Can I tell you something? You may have the best life ever (in your eyes) You may have the clothes The cars The family The wealth And the lifestyle But without Jesus, you will NEVER be complete! Mark 8:36  36 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? We are all created to crave the Creator, our Father, and only through a relationship with our Savior Jesus can the dark parts of our hearts brighten.  Jesus Christ came to be the LIGHT in a world void of His presence. Void of THE LIGHT. When we are touched by the light, our view changes, We can now see. We can truly see who we are We can see how much we really do need Him. We can see how much we don’t deserve His love, grace and mercy We are self-centered and self-driven without Jesus I read somewhere that Jesus shines light into the cracks of our hearts that harbor sin. Once revealed, the conviction of the Holy Spirit instructs and guides us to repent. We grow wiser as He sanctifies our hearts to reflect His light. If you are SAVED, YOU ARE THE LIGHT BECAUSE THE LIGHT IS WITHIN YOU! Matthew 5:14  14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. You are a living testimony to those yet in darkness (those who do not yet have the light)   As light-bearers, we represent Christ to unbelievers, and should bring them the light of the gospel. The world needs to see Jesus. The world needs to KNOW Jesus The world needs to KNOW that there is something out there other than darkness The world needs to see the LIGHT! Light affects everything. It permeates truth into every situation. Charles Swindoll “You are a light in the darkness - a servant of God who is being watched, who gives off light …a very distinct message with hardly a word being said,”