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God created man and gave him an appetite for physical food which is satisfied by eating various kinds of food including bread.\u00a0 Bread is a major staple food among the Jews even in the time of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Thus when Jesus performed the miracles of feeding five thousand men with five barley loaves and two small fishes, the people saw an answer to their food needs.\u00a0 Consequently, the people followed Him wherever He went in large numbers not to listen to Him but to be fed with the miracle bread.\u00a0 Thus when Jesus made it known to them that He is the Bread of life who they must eat to have life, they took offense.\u00a0 But this is the truth!\u00a0 The spiritual life can only be satisfied and sustained by eating the Bread of life.\u00a0 The scripture expressly declare that Jesus is the Bread of life.\u00a0 He is the Bread that came down from Heaven to make the will of God known to man.\u00a0 This Bread of life is received by believing on Him, coming to Him with all our cares and identifying with Him.\u00a0 Jesus as the Word must be eaten daily by reading, studying and meditating on the Word.\u00a0 Life without the Bread of life is hopeless and set to ruin.\u00a0 This Bread of life gives eternal life as he who eats of the flesh of Jesus and drinks of His blood receives eternal life.\u00a0 The sharing of bread and the wine at communion commemorate His death till He comes.<\/p>\n
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Bread as a product of wheat flour is one of the major food items in quite a number of urban homes.\u00a0 It is easy to handle, prepare and even consume.\u00a0 It can be eaten by both the young and the elderly.\u00a0 Because of its role in the human diet, food is often referred to as bread.\u00a0 On a casual form, people at times refer to money as \u2018bread\u2019.\u00a0 This underscores the importance of bread in hum existence of bread in human existence.\u00a0 God in creating man gave him an appetite for food which can only be satisfied by taking in food substances (bread).\u00a0 Life is uncomfortable once this appetite is not satisfied.\u00a0 Persistent hunger which is not adequately satisfied results in malnutrition, disease and even death.\u00a0 Thus no life can exist without food (bread).\u00a0 This is because it serves both to nourish and build up the body of man.\u00a0 The food we take produces the energy which keeps the body system functioning. \u00a0Hence without the taking in of food the body system will stop functioning and man is said to be dead.\u00a0 Thus \u2018bread\u2019 helps to keep the human body functioning.<\/p>\n
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When God formed man out of the dust, he was a lifeless object until God breathed into his nostril the breath of life, Genesis 2:7.\u00a0 Thus the life in man is that of God.\u00a0 Hence only God can give and sustain this life.\u00a0 The breath of God also imparted to man His nature and spirit.\u00a0 Consequently, it is by the spirit we relate with God for the scriptures say \u201cGod is Spirit; and they what worship in spirit and in truth\u201d, John 4:24.<\/p>\n
Until the fall of man in the Garden of Eden the spirit of man could relate easily with the Spirit of God.\u00a0 However, this fellowship was broken by sin and man could no longer have direct access to God\u2019s Spirit to feed his spirit.\u00a0 What this means is that man will live without the spiritual food to sustain him spiritually.\u00a0 Just as man needs the physical bread (food) to sustain his physical body so also does he need the spiritual food to sustain his spiritual life.\u00a0 This \u2018food\u2019 or \u2018bread\u2019 must come from Him who made and gave life to man.\u00a0 Therefore, any good nourishing spiritual bread for man\u2019s spirit must have its source from God.<\/p>\n
The scriptures make us understand that God\u2019s word is food to the soul, Psalm 119:103; Jerimiah 15:16; 1 Peter 2:2.\u00a0 If we must grow spiritually we must earnestly desire the word of God.\u00a0 This word of God gives knowledge and understanding which is what the soul desires to live.\u00a0 Jesus in response to one of the questions by the tempter stated, \u201c. . . man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God\u201d, Matthew 4:4.\u00a0 What is significant about this statement is that fact that there is a sustaining power in the word of God.\u00a0 Thus the word of God satisfies the spiritual life just as the physical (natural) bread satisfies the physical body.<\/p>\n
In John 1:1 and 1:14, the scriptures declare that Jesus is both the written and spoken Word of God.\u00a0 He is the Word made flesh who came and dwelt among us.\u00a0 He is also the Word that bears record in Heaven, 1 John 5:7.<\/p>\n
Jesus as the Word of God has the power to sustain the life of man.\u00a0 Since life is form God, only that which is from God above can sustain life.\u00a0 He was only stating the obvious when He said, \u201cFor the Bread of God is He who cometh down from Heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread form Heaven.\u00a0 I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven\u201d, John 6:33, 51.\u00a0 Anyone who eats this bread of life -shall never die but shall have everlasting life, John 6:50, 54, 57-58.<\/p>\n
This must be a wonderful and unique Bread that all must desire and should eat as it gives eternal life.\u00a0 Thus, when one eats this Bread, he will never die because he has eaten the life sustaining power.\u00a0 It is therefore necessary for us to feed on this Bread on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
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It must be stated that this Bread of life is not physical bread but spiritual bread which has to be handled spiritually.\u00a0 It does not satisfy mere physical hunger but it does satisfy spiritual hunger.\u00a0 It is not taken through the mouth, chewed and swallowed.\u00a0 Thus as in all spiritual matters we receive this bread by faith.\u00a0 We neither can see nor handle Him.\u00a0 It is a faith venture.\u00a0 By faith we believe that He is the One sent by the Father to man to give us life.\u00a0 We receive Him by believing in Him as the Son of God that came down from God unto man on earth.\u00a0 \u201cVerily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life\u201d, John 6:47.\u00a0 The Bible also states, \u201cAs many as receive (believe) Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on His name.\u201d,\u00a0 John 1:12.\u00a0 Thus in receiving this Bread of life we must believe in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We must believe (receive) Him as the Son of God who came and shed His blood for man\u2019s redemption.\u00a0 We must believe that He is the one who has come to make God known unto us.\u00a0 We must have full confidence and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n
Another way by which we take this Bread of life is by identifying our lives with His.\u00a0 We must come to Him for He says, \u201cI am the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger. . .\u201d, John 6:35.\u00a0 We must allow His life to affect ours and follow in His steps.\u00a0 We come to Him to receive grace, truth and understanding.\u00a0 In coming to Him, we identify with his desires, aspirations and the work He came to perform on earth.\u00a0 We come to Him to be fed with spiritual food and be satisfied.\u00a0 Only those who the Father draws close (gives spiritual illumination and understanding) can fully appreciate His message and purpose.\u00a0 When we come to Him, we yield our lives to Him to be the Lord and Master.\u00a0 He becomes enthroned as the King and Ruler of all the affairs of our lives.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, we receive the Bread of life by studying and meditating upon His eternal Word.\u00a0 This is because we can only believe and come to Him when we know Him, His purpose and mission.\u00a0 \u201cAnd they shall be all taught of God.\u00a0 Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me\u201d, John 6:45.\u00a0 We learn of the Father by giving ourselves to reading, studying and meditating on the scriptures.\u00a0 For only the scriptures have full-proof revelations of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We thus eat, chew, swallow and digest the Word when we spend adequate time on them.\u00a0 Consequently, they become integral parts of our lives.\u00a0 In such ways they have bearing on the type of lives we live.<\/p>\n
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In the discussion of the lesson text, Jesus confronted the people of His days for their wrong motives for seeking Him.\u00a0 It is learned from verse 27 that the people misunderstood His purpose as what He has is not just for the now but more valuable and long lasting.\u00a0 They asked for signs like that of continuous manna of Moses in the wilderness which their fathers fed on daily.\u00a0 The Samaritan woman also understood naturally the quest for water.\u00a0 Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, \u201cthe natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God\u201d.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 body and blood is food and drink, v. 55, that can sustain the spiritual life now and in eternity.\u00a0 In verse 53-56 of our text, Jesus discusses the significance of eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood.\u00a0 When we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood we receive eternal life.\u00a0 Also those that partake of it will He raise on the last day unto life everlasting.\u00a0 Furthermore, He dwells in them, and they in Him.\u00a0 Thus they are united together with Him.\u00a0 Eating of the Bread of life ensures that the life we live is that of the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
Jesus, to ensure that believers eat of His flesh and drink of His blood regularly, instituted the sacrament of the Holy Communion.\u00a0 The Bible says that in the night in which he was betrayed He took bread and broke it and commanded all the disciples to eat of it for this is His body which was broken for us.\u00a0 Similarly, He took the cup of the wine signifying His blood shed for us by His death.\u00a0 We are to do this, remembering His sacrificial death on our behalf, Luke 22:15-20.<\/p>\n
Paul in His letter to the Corinthian church counseled that they should break bread often and that whilst doing this we are showing His death till He comes back again, 1 Corinthians 11:23-31.\u00a0 Furthermore, the eating of the \u2018bread\u2019 and drinking of the \u2018wine\u2019 offers us the opportunity for self-examination, repentance and cleansing.\u00a0 In doing this, we are properly discerning the Lord\u2019s body and we do not suffer the consequences of sin and sickness.<\/p>\n
Every Christian should therefore partake of the Holy Communion as often as possible in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The Bread and wine must be spiritually received as Jesus Christ\u2019s body and blood respectively.\u00a0 When we do this in righteousness, we give great value to that which has been done for us by Him.\u00a0 We must come to the table always, believing to receive newness and refreshing for our souls.\u00a0 It assures us of being in union with Him; His body in us and His blood which is His life is in us; for that which we take is no more ordinary bread and wine bought from the market.<\/p>\n
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Anyone who does not take in bread (food) faces imminent death.\u00a0 The body is undernourished, becomes emaciated and eventually dies.\u00a0 This same pattern holds for spiritual life.\u00a0 The consequences of not having the Bread of life are grievous.<\/p>\n
Except a man has the lifer of Christ in him, he has no life at all.\u00a0 Though he is exists there is no manifestation of the life of God in him.\u00a0 He is living a hopeless life devoid of any eternal reward.\u00a0 All he is living for is the now.\u00a0 He is spiritually unsatisfied, blind and lost.\u00a0 There is no connection between him and the source of life.\u00a0 He is not able to appreciate or appropriate the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.\u00a0 Consequently, he is still in his sins awaiting the wrath and judgment of God which he will visit on all sinners.\u00a0 There is no meaningful living without the Bread of life.\u00a0 The absence of the sustaining power of life in any person means that person will be dominated by wicked spiritual forces emanating from the devil.<\/p>\n
The believer who does not partake of the Holy Communion does not share of the communion of the saints of God.\u00a0 He is missing out one of the sacraments of Christ of having intimate fellowship with Him.\u00a0 He might be living an unrighteous life and does not avail himself of the opportunity of self-examination.\u00a0 His life is not fully yielded to the only Master and Savior of mankind.\u00a0 He will be lacking in the spiritual strength which he needs to live a victorious Christian life.<\/p>\n
We take in physical food (bread) to satisfy the desire for physical food or hunger and to keep soul and body together.\u00a0 The spiritual life can only be sustained by taking spiritual food or bread.\u00a0 The scriptures reveal to us that Jesus is the Bread of life.\u00a0 Without Him, no man has life.\u00a0 He is the expressed Word of God which we all must feed upon.<\/p>\n
We take the Bread of life by believing on Him, His life, death and resurrection.\u00a0 We must draw near to Christ and identify with all that pertain to Him and His work.\u00a0 Our lives must be fully yielded to Him all aspects.\u00a0 We must live our lives in obedience to Him at all times for in doing this we share in His live, grace and truth.\u00a0 We must eat the Bread of life daily by reading, studying and meditating upon the word of God.\u00a0 We partake of the Holy Communion to share and have fellowship with Christ and remind ourselves of the cross of Calvary and its significance.<\/p>\n
Our spiritual wellbeing is as important as our physical wellbeing which is sustained by eating bread (food).\u00a0 Thus we must daily feed on the spiritual food \u2013 the Bread of life, so as to sustain our spiritual life.<\/p>\n
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John 6:35 \u2013 \u201cJesus said unto them: I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jesus: The Bread of Life Central thought: \u00a0Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven. Text: John 6; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 God created man and gave him an appetite for physical food which is satisfied by eating various kinds of food including bread.\u00a0 Bread is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":526,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}