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From: Bishop Osagiede Godwin Osabuohien (sabuohien godwino) in the IVORY COAST: |
JESUS IS THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN! At
this the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because he said, "I am the
bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the
son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I
came down from heaven'?" "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus
answered. … "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna
in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down
from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread
that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world." - John 6:41-43, 48-51
One
of the sailors who sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second
voyage to the New World was a man named Juan Ponce De Leon . This
young man stayed in Hispaniola and would later become the governor of
modern day Puerto Rico . But De Leon is best known for his search for
the “Fountain of Youth”. He heard of its mystical waters which were
claimed to have power to keep one young forever. He never did find the
fountain, but the lure and desire to remain young forever continues
today.
In this lesson from John 6,
Jesus was not offering a “fountain of youth”, but he was offering
eternal life. The problem was that the Jews wanted a different type of
life than what Jesus was offering. To show them the error in their way
of thinking, Jesus took them back to a time in their history when God
fed the Children of Israel directly from heaven with manna. It was the
way that the Lord kept them alive for 40 years while they wandered in
the wilderness. This was the type of bread the people wanted from
Jesus. They wanted bread to eat that would make their lives easier and
better. What they failed to remember was that all the people in the
wilderness ended up dying. The bread kept them alive for a period of
time, but not forever.
Jesus
was a different kind of bread from heaven. He wasn’t suggesting that
the people should eat him like some sort of cannibals. He meant that
they should recognize the words that he brought were from heaven
itself. These words from God were meant to be eaten and digested
inside the mind and heart. Some of these words would be difficult to
swallow like God’s law which points out our sin and warns of the
punishment that all people deserve in hell. But the teachings of
forgiveness through Jesus are a mouth watering spiritual buffet that
Christians can return to again and again to be fully and forever
satisfied.
Ponce
De Leon learned that no one can escape old age. It is inevitable. But
Christians know that all can have eternal life. Jesus is the living
bread from heaven. Eat this Bread today and enjoy the life he gives
Prayer:
Jesus, you are the Bread from heaven that feeds my soul with the vital spiritual food of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Praise to you, O Savior, for the gift of life that lasts forever. Amen. …………………………………………………………………………….
Message produced by
Bishop Osagiede Godwin Osabuohien
The Great Commission Ministries International, Inc. Ivory Coast Charter |