“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. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” -John 6:32-33
In the Old Testament, we see God providing hope in a promised Messiah and along the way, a deliverance…an Exodus… from physical oppression, as well as manna for food, and water from a rock…always keeping and sustaining a remnant of His people. In the New Testament, we see Jesus heal the sick, give strength to the weak, provide victory to the defeated, food for the hungry, and rest for the weary. And throughout the Scriptures, we read about the Holy Spirit interceding for our prayers, guiding our steps, and sealing our future in heaven…making known an eternity for His children.
By these accounts – and many more like them – God is explaining the essential nature of His grace. Grace is God providing for His people what they cannot provide for themselves.
The message in the manna is the nature of the Messiah. Just a bit later on Jesus says to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) As God sent bread from heaven to provide for His people’s physical needs and to reveal His grace to them, He also sent Jesus to provide for our spiritual, physical and emotional needs, also revealing His grace to us. In both cases, the provision was beyond the capability of His people.
By coming to the rescue of His people over and over again in Scripture, God demonstrates His salvation is not man-made but God-made. The word rescue cues us in on the fact that God is providing something we cannot provide for ourselves. Paul and Peter agree, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” And then Peter, “…and if He rescued righteous Lot…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.” (II Peter 2:7,9) His solution to our sin was to send Jesus Christ to suffer and die in our place, exchanging His righteousness for our sin…to resurrect and ascend thus revealing His power and authority over all things that His people would have an eternity secure from all worldly troubles.
This is His promise to us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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.” (John 6:47-51)God provided the solution to sin that we could not. Jesus came to our rescue. That’s grace we could never ourselves provide but can believe and receive by the work of His Spirit on our hearts. So…believe and receive this Bread of Heaven today.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
