I Am The Bread Of Life
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 31st August service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verse is:
Jhn 6:35 And Jesus 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.
Jhn 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
On seven occasions recorded in John’s Gospel the Lord Jesus describes Himself using the words ‘I am’. He calls Himself ‘The Bread of Life’ in John chapter 6, ‘The Light of the World’ in John 8, ‘The Door’ and ‘The Good Shepherd’ in John 10, ‘The Resurrection and the Life’ in John 11, ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’ in John 14, and ‘The True Vine’ in John 15. These names have become known as the ‘I am’ sayings of Christ. Over the next seven weeks we shall, God willing, consider each of these titles individually.
I Am The Bread Of Life
The day after the Lord Jesus fed more than five thousand people with five loaves and two small fish He enlarged upon this miracle in the synagogue at Capernaum by applying its message spiritually. It was here the Saviour titled Himself the Bread of Life, saying, ‘I am the Bread of Life’ and ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven’. He says, ‘except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life.’
Food that does not perish
The Lord is speaking about spiritual life. The word ‘meat’ in our Bible does not mean animal flesh as it is used today. It means all kinds of food, usually grain. When the Lord says there is meat that perishes He is speaking of ordinary, physical food that wastes and passes away, either by consumption or deterioration. When He talks of meat that sustains to everlasting life He is referring to spiritual food; soul food and gospel blessings that nourish the new creation and feed the new man who now lives the life of faith in Jesus Christ. This food does not perish.
Physical and spiritual
The Jews mocked the Lord’s words and said, ‘how can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ True believers understand the Lord’s meaning. The Lord speaks to those who have ears to hear. We have come to learn that spiritual food is essential for spiritual life and spiritual growth just as physical food nourishes the body. The Lord’s people have an appetite for Christ and His Gospel. As His true followers we hunger and thirst after the righteousness He alone gives. We yearn for Him. We cry, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread’.
Growing in grace
There is a living relationship and a spiritual union that exists individually between Christ and all of His people. Paul tells the Galatians, ‘Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me’. This lively union is fed and nourished by spiritual graces, first by the sincere milk of the word, leading to strong meat, or solid food, imparted by the Lord as we grow in grace and a knowledge of the truth.
The covenant again!
In John 6 Christ is telling us that all spiritual life derives from Him and is sustained by Him. He is the ever-present ‘I am’, the Redeemer, Mediator and Intercessor of the everlasting covenant of grace, sealed by God the Father. By this sealing, the salvation of all the elect of God who have been placed into Christ’s hands is certain and sure. He says, ‘All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.’
Coming and believing
Coming to the Lord Jesus and believing in Him is the means and method by which God’s children are nourished and fed. The just live by faith in Christ. The justified live by feeding upon the Lord Jesus. He is our table in the presence of our enemies, our feast in the wilderness. We value and cherish every means of grace that God has instituted for our development and maturity. Certainly there is a first coming to Christ in conversion but believers never stop coming to Christ. There is a first believing in Christ for salvation but believers never stop believing. He that believeth (present tense) in me, says the Lord Jesus, hath (present tense) everlasting life’.
Ever looking to the cross
Referring to His crucifixion and death our Saviour tells His church, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’. Christ came from heaven in a real body. He gave His physical flesh as a ransom for sin to justify many. His physical death in our place secures our spiritual life. We live spiritually because He died physically. We live and grow by trusting in the efficacy of His death.
Amen
Hymn 64
God’s Decrees. Eccles. 3. 1-8, 17; Ps. 31. 14, 15
J. Ryland 7s
1
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise;
All my times are in thy hand,
All events at thy command.
2
His decree who formed the earth
Fixed my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time,
All appointed were by him.
3
He that formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb:
All my times shall ever be
Ordered by his wise decree.
4
Times of sickness; times of health;
Times of penury and wealth;
Times of trial and of grief;
Times of triumph and relief;
5
Times the tempter’s power to prove;
Times to taste the Saviour’s love;
All must come, and last, and end,
As shall please my heavenly Friend.
6
Plagues and deaths around me fly;
Till he bids, I cannot die;
Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit.
Hymn 566
Christ All and in All. Col. 3. 11; 1. 19; 2. 9
W. Gadsby 8s
1
Ye famishing, naked, and poor,
Distressèd, tormented, forlorn,
In Christ is a suitable store,
For all that unto him will come;
He’s Bread, and the Bread of Life too;
Well suited the hungry to fill;
Nor one that unto him shall go,
But what will approve the Bread well.
2
Yes, he is the true paschal Lamb,
Of which all his Israel must eat;
Not sodden, but roast in the flame
Of Sinai’s most horrible heat.
This, this is the true fatted calf
The Father gave orders to kill,
That prodigals might have enough
When feasting on fair Zion’s hill.
3
The Wine of the Kingdom is Christ,
Provided for beggars distressed!
Which makes broken hearts to rejoice,
When with it the soul is refreshed.
He’s Water to cleanse and to heal;
The thirsty are welcome to drink;
A River that never can fail;
A Fountain that never can sink.
4
It always is full to the brim,
Of water of life and of peace;
From which blessings flow like a stream,
As free as the sun runs its race.
He’s marrow and fatness as well,
A fulness of every good;
Nor Gabriel is able to tell,
The blessings that in him are stored.
The Lord Jesus Christ teaches His people that He is spiritual food for His church. All who come to Him and believe in Him will have everlasting life and shall not die.