Series on "The Message of the Cross" - (24)
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 11371 |
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June 25, 2007 |
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 Eternal Life (2): No Eternal Life without Eating of the Flesh and Drinking of the Blood of the Son of Man (1)
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves … For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink'" (John 6:53-55).
When a person acknowledges Jesus to be his Savior and repents of his sins, he will be born again and gain eternal life as God gives him the Holy Spirit. Rebirth after accepting the Lord, however, does not signify that one has gained eternal life; he needs to continue growing by consuming spiritual food in order to attain "to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."
"Spiritual food" required for spiritual growth refers to "the flesh of the Son of Man" and "His blood." Only when we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man can we gain eternal life (John 6:53-55).
Let us today delve into the eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of the Son of Man.
1.Significance of "Eating of the Flesh and Drinking of the Blood of the Son of Man"
"The flesh of the Son of Man" is the flesh of Jesus, which is "God's Word" recorded in the Bible. As John 1:14 tells us, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth," the Bible could not be clearer in its affirmation of God's Word having donned flesh and that "flesh" was Jesus.
Jesus also described Himself as "the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh" (John 6:51).
Eating of the flesh of the Son of Man – God's Word, the bread of life – is closely related to the likening of Jesus to the "Lamb." In John 1, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (v. 29).
Generally speaking, lambs obey only to the voice of their shepherd, are gentle, and provide man only with benefits. Likewise, Jesus was obedient only to the will of the Father, thus became an atoning sacrifice like a gentle lamb, and also gave mankind only good things. Among the lambs, those less than one year of age are especially pure as they have yet to copulate and in spiritual terms, they are likened to Our Jesus who is spotless and blameless.
When the Plague of striking of the firstborn swept through all of Egypt, as depicted in Exodus 12, God instructed the Israelites to take a lamb – "an unblemished male a year old" – for themselves and "take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat" the lamb. God also gave the people of Israel very detailed instructions on how to eat the lamb (Exodus 12:8-10), because there in it is a spiritual lesson related directly to our life.
"They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire" (Exodus 12:8-10).
2.Eating of the Lamb
1)It is not to be eaten "raw or boiled at all with water," but roasted with fire.
Here, "fire" represents the fire of the Holy Spirit and we are to understand and make bread of God's Word in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In order to kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit, fervent prayer is also necessary.
2 Peter 1:20-21 remind us, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." 2 Peter 3:16 warns us that interpretation of God's Word not in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but in a distorted manner will drive us away from the truth and ultimately lead us to destruction. "Distorting" of God's Word without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the same as eating of the lamb "raw or boiled at all with water."
What does it mean to "eat God's Word raw"? It is the literal interpretation of God's Word without understanding the spiritual significance embedded in it. Consuming raw food can lead to indigestion or stomachaches. By the same token, "eating God's Word raw" can lead to imprudent and false interpretations of the Bible.
For instance, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:6, "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." Literal interpretation of this particular verse would lead us to build an inner room in which we can pray. Yet, nowhere in the Bible do we read about any fathers of faith praying in "an inner room"; Jesus likewise never prayed in an inner room but rather in a garden or at a remote place.
In spiritual terms, the "room" refers to the heart of man. You would be cut off from the rest of the world if you went into an inner room and closed its door behind you. Jesus' command, "Go into your inner room," reminds us that when we pray, we are not to do it to "show off" or be caught in worldly needs and concerns and thus repeat the same things; we must communicate with God from the depths of our heart.
What does the Bible mean when it tells us that the lamb is not to be eaten "boiled at all with water"? It tells us that no elements of this world are to be added onto God's Word. In preaching God's Word, there are those who incorporate such fleshly things as politics or current affairs into their messages, or readily quote the words of philosophers and other worldly knowledge and present them as the truth. However, man's thought and knowledge are extremely limited and no great ideology of this world is perfect. 1 Corinthians 1:25 blatantly reminds us, "[T]he foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
God's Word surpasses any worldly knowledge and it is the only lasting and unchanging truth. Keeping these in mind, one must testify to not to the knowledge or speculations of this world but to God's Word found in the Bible as interpreted only in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He has to teach layman brothers and sisters about the living God, ways in which they can meet Him, His will towards them, and the correct model of a life in Christ necessary for salvation. For this reason, Exodus tells us not to eat the lamb "boiled at all with water."
2) "Both its head and its legs along with its entrails" as a whole must be eaten.
This means that we are to make bread of God's Word found in all of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. When reading the Bible, some people omit such difficult parts as Leviticus while others either refuse or are reluctant to believe in the instances of signs and wonders plainly recorded in the Bible.
If people dice up parts of the Bible that are not in agreement with their thoughts and speculations, the remainder is neither the truth nor faith, as only ethics and morals would remain. On top of that, if they do not even harbor in their heart God's commandments that are seemingly difficult for them to keep, they will not gain eternal life no matter how many times or how frequently they may read the Bible.
God's Word is not to be taken in portions and parts but must be made bread as a whole. For that reason God commanded the Israelites to eat "both its head and its legs along with its entrails."
3) No Part of the Lamb is to Be Left Over until Morning; Any Leftover Must be Burned with Fire
If the Israelites were unable to finish eating the lamb before dawn, they were to burn with fire any leftovers. In spiritual terms, "night" refers to the period of time during which the enemy devil and Satan wield authority over this world. In the last days, as the world becomes increasingly drenched in sin and evil, darkness will only grow. When the Lord returns to us at the time of God's choosing, the darkness will be driven away and the light will bring forth the morning.
At that time, people will realize that everything that had been written in the Bible – about the Lord's Advent, Rapture, and others – was true. Also made evident will be the extent to which believers have accomplished sanctification and stored their rewards in heaven. People will then come to realize how foolish their righteousness, geed, self-respect had been and how flawed their love for the world and its ways had been.
However, there is nothing they can do about what they have already done. No matter how much they regret, it will be too late for them. Therefore, before morning comes – before Our Lord returns – we must diligently make bread of all of God's Word, complete our preparations as the Lord's bride, and await His coming.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the extent to which how well we have made bread of God's Word will determine the quality of life in this world as well as in heaven (i.e., in terms of heavenly dwelling places and rewards).
Therefore, may each of you make bread of every bit of God's Word and enter the most glorious place in all of heaven, in the name of Our Lord I bless!
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