“I Will Lose Nothing That He Has Given Me”

Text

John 6:35–51 (ESV) — 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Intro:

Crowd was following him because he was healing (v.2) and because he was feeding (v.26)

At one point, Jesus leaves because he perceived that they were going to take him by force and attempt to make him their king. —

Does this sound spiritual? They weren’t worshipping the real Jesus, they wanted Jesus’ power. He was a tool to get what they wanted.

Last week we noted two distinct features in the text:

First, we focused on the story of Jesus walking on the water, coming to join and comfort his disciples.

Second, we focused on Jesus’ identity. He has just given them actual bread the day before, and as they crowd flocks back to him for another meal Jesus claims Himself to be the True Bread from heaven that gives life to the world.

It’s interesting to note here the connection between Jesus’ works here in ch. 6 with God’s works in the Exodus. God showed his power and might over the physical world as he brought plagues on Egypt, liberated the Hebrew slaves, controlled the water of the Red sea, and provided manna in the wilderness. Jesus is drawing a crowd because he is taking plagues away from people, he has power over the physical world and can walk across the water, and can provide not only manna, but something better. Jesus, as Hebrews puts it, is the greater Moses. He is God. Like God who protects and provides in the wilderness, even when the people complain, so Jesus protects and provides.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself

We pick up this morning on this question of Jesus’ identity. As we move forward in the conversation we will highlight a total of four themes this morning through this rich text. Themes of Identity, Blindness, Election, and Preservation.

These themes are presented in summary in Jesus’ speech from vv.35-40, and then fleshed out in more detail from vv.41-51.

Summary:

John 6:35–40 (ESV) — 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (Identity) 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. (Blindness) 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (Election) 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (Preservation) 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus’ Identity:

(jump to bullet points first then reference text)

John 6:35 (ESV) — 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:41–42 (ESV) — 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Last week, we left off in v.34. Jesus has just described the benefits of the Bread of Heaven - Bread of Life, and the crowd asks Jesus to give them this bread always (v.34).

Jesus responds by saying, “I AM the Bread of Life” who satisfies.

Their response was to grumble (see vv.41-42). The Hebrews in the wilderness did the same thing. This was not what they were looking for or wanted.

This was an advertisement with fine print.

They question his deity by recalling what they know of his parentage. They have seen Him, but they can’t ‘see’ Him.

This teaching begins to take Jesus’ claims to the breaking point. He is either a Liar, Lunatic, or truly Lord. He forces us to choose. He will not let us use Him - He will only let us worship Him or deny Him. There is no middle ground. He is not merely ‘like Moses or Elijah or David’; He is God.

We must come to grips with Jesus’ true identity. He is not a means to one of our real idols (health, security, wealth, power, influence, etc.); He is the end of all of our longings. He is the true Bread.

Blindness:

Here we have a really interesting situation. They have just witnessed Jesus do incredible miracles of healing and provision, and yet they still ask him for more signs.

John 6:36 (ESV) — 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

John 6:25–34 (ESV) — 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” [Summary: They asked Jesus to perform more signs to earn their belief - the crowd came because of his miracles, but they still couldn’t see him]

John 6:45–47 (ESV) — 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

John 3:19–21 (ESV) — 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Romans 3:10–12 (ESV) — 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Jeremiah 31:32–34 (ESV) — 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God has to do the miracle of taking the blindness away.

You can be near Jesus, even watch Jesus, and still not see. What does that mean for us who regularly attend church or read our Bibles? Our proximity is not a guarantee of sight. We need God to help us.

Election:

God In The Dock: In their blindness they seek to judge Jesus, but it is Jesus who is truly judging them.

Jesus isn’t failing to save them or failing to communicate here. Their confusion is proving a point. You will only come, you will only eat this Bread, ou will only be saved if God mercifully removes your blindness.

John 6:37 (ESV) — 37 All that the Father gives me will (not might or maybe - will) come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:44 (ESV) — 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

How do you think about your salvation? Did God work a little and you worked a little and then you became a Christian?

Do you believe that you were cleaver enough, or moral enough, or strong enough to come to Christ on your own? The Bible never speaks of salvation in such terms.

Man gets no glory in salvation, God does.

Man has only ever earned or deserved one thing: wrath. God is bound to give justice by His very nature. He would be corrupt if He didn’t rightly judge our sin. He is not bound to give mercy, but that’s exactly what He has done. He has poured out mercy in doses that cannot be measured.

Man is humbled. But God is exalted. Man is a wretch who needs help. God is a Father who spares not His Son for the love of the world.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:1-10

Preservation:

John 6:38–40 (ESV) — 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

This salvation is God’s plan. The Spirit draws us to the Son, and the Son always points us to the Father.

We should praise God for sending the Son!

What can take us away from Jesus’ grip? Lean back on election. If we saved ourselves then we can lose it ourselves, too. If it depends on our wisdom or morality or grip, then we are doomed. But if our salvation is as sure as Jesus’ hands, then nothing can take us away from Him.

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

What is your inheritance? Imperishable, undefiled, unfading - kept for you. Guarded by God’s power.

God’s Will:

John 6:47–51 (ESV) — 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

God’s ludicrous grace!

This Bread, Jesus, is given by The Father

This Bread, Jesus, is willing to be broken on your behalf

This Bread, Jesus, is satisfying above all idols, not a means to your idols

This Bread, Jesus, was forsaken by the Father so that we may not be forsaken in our sins.

This Bread, Jesus, loses none who come to Him. Neighter hight, nor depth, nor anything in creation can separate us from His love.

This Bread, Jesus, has cleansed us of all stain of sin. Think of the most shameful thing you have ever done. In Christ, you are pardoned. In Christ, you are bound by his grip and not your own.

All of this should lead us into worship this morning.

Confession:

Pardon:

Prayer: