Title: Jesus! It is the bread of life
Contents
Text: John 6:31-35
Life is precious. It is more precious than the wealth, honor, or jewels of this world. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Is there any substitute for life on this earth? So life is more precious than the world. under the sky. Under the sun, the most precious thing in this world is life.
The opposite of life is death, death. Heb 2:15-25 says, “People are afraid of death,” and in verse 14, the devil, who has the power of death, appears as a being who rules and enslaves sinners for the rest of their lives. The devil brings sickness, fear, and death, while Jesus is the giver of life, health, and blessings.
In life, there is a body life and a soul life.
①The life of the body
It was given to us by God through our ancestors, and it is to live for at least one hundred years in this temporary world.
② The life of the soul
It is the life that God directly gave. Genesis 2:7 says, “God created man and breathed into his nostrils breath of life, and he became a living soul.” Here, “breath” means breath (1 Kings 17:17), breath (Deuteronomy 20:6), energy (Job 4:9), and soul (Proverbs 10:17). Literally translated, it means the energy of life, and “living spirit” means living a-soul, that is, a living spirit → a living spirit → an eternal life.
Therefore, while you have the life of the flesh and live in this world, you have to decide, 'Are you going to live forever in heaven with the forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus?' Simply put, the physical life, the physical life, is a moment of choice (opportunity) for the next life.
But what about people? They do their best for the life of the body, but are indifferent to the life of the soul. This is at the level of a beast, not a human level.
When the beast dies, it ends. However, it does not end when a person dies. When a person dies, the body dies, and on the day the Lord comes, believers will live in heaven through the resurrection of eternal life, and unbelievers will live forever in hell through the resurrection of judgment. Therefore, the life of the body for one lifetime is precious, but the life of the soul that lives forever is more precious.
The devil tells us to ‘live for the flesh’, and Jesus tells us to ‘live for the soul’.
The background of today's sermon is the miracle of Jesus preaching from the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and the sermon was long, so when the meal was over, Jesus had compassion on the hungry. you have done Thousands of people turned to Jesus because of this. So, from the next day, they search for where Jesus is (John 6:24). So Jesus says. “Seek not the food that perishes, but the food that endures forever (verse 27). But they don't understand and talk about rice cakes, so they are talking about the rice cakes that our ancestors ate in the wilderness in the past. That bread was manna. The Greek word ‘arton’ translated as bread can be translated as grain or food. Manna, the food that God gave to the Israelites in the wilderness, was not eaten by anyone, but was a special food that God had chosen for the Israelites (Exodus 16:13-15, Num 11:7-9).
In the time of Moses, the manna, the bread, that God sent down from heaven was a shadow and a type of Jesus Christ, who is the true bread of life. So, in verse 32, Jesus connects the manna of the Old Testament with the present Jesus Himself and His own words.
Just as Jesus lived according to the word of God, and as it became food for Jesus (John 4:34), it is testifying that people will gain true life if they believe in Jesus Christ, the true bread, and live according to the word.
Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. Even if you eat manna, the bread of the world, you will become hungry and die someday when the time is right, but Jesus is the true bread of life.
Dear saints,
While we live in this world, it is natural to ask for “what we will eat and what we will wear” for the sake of our physical life. However, if you live with it, you may miss something more precious than that. So, Jesus is speaking by giving Himself as the Bread of Life for eternal life, a spiritual life that is more precious than the world and has a different dimension. I pray that you will become the main character of happy eternal life by eating Jesus who came as the Bread of Life. Amen.