John 6:41-45

John 6:41-45 At this the Jews began to grumble about him 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. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me."

If we believe Jesus is the Son of God, we will believe in the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah repeated in Hebrews: This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. (Isaiah 10:19 & Hebrews 10:16) Jesus said I am the One the prophets said would establish this new covenant to open the gates to heaven, to bring the mercy and grace of God and the Spirit to abide with mankind forever. Jesus was Moses to lead all people out of Egypt and through every wilderness of life without fail. Who is He to you today? Is He just another wise man with wisdom who performed a few amazing miracles while He walked this Earth or is He Christ in us our hope of Glory, the Bright and Morning Star, our Hope for living, Emmanuel--God with us, our reason for living, our Everything. Is He God? Is He a living presence in the room right now, with us, nigh us or is He a powerless figment of our imagination? Are we still back in Egypt in our minds as a slave to the world and the customs of the world or are we with Jesus on a journey to the Promised Land? Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Living Water, our sustenance in a sterile and thirsty land. Do we partake of this daily bread and drink of the water of the Spirit, or do we allow our minds to wander back to Egypt?

The children of Israel experienced countless difficulties believing they were free from Egypt. In fact, many times after God purchased their freedom, when the journey through the desert seemed too much for them, they begged Moses to let them go back to the bondage of Egypt where at least they had food and shelter in spite of their cruel taskmasters, the beatings, the servitude and the lack of freedom. They forgot the parting of the Red Sea and grew tired of manna. Moses despaired of their faithlessness and grew weary of their whining. Even though they progressed towards the Promised Land, their hearts and minds remained in Egypt. A lot of Christians behave like the Children of Israel. The writer of Hebrews wrote a long passage on faith in chapter three to Christians about the possibility of failing to enter into God's rest as the children of Israel failed to enter into the Promised Land. So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:18

As Children of the Most High, our minds have to be on JESUS. We must live in the Promised Land with him, hid with Christ in God. If we eat the things of this world and feed mainly on what it has to offer and not at the table of the Lord, we will shrivel up and die spiritually. We will look and act pretty much like everyone else. We will fight with our spouses, yell at our children, argue with our co-workers, cut off people in traffic, frown at people who get in front of us in the grocery line, ignore needy people who cross our paths, get mad at people who don't meet our needs, stop talking to people who offend us or let us down, and the list goes on and on. We are flesh, and unless our daily bread is Jesus, we will not thrive and become like He is. He is our portion: He is our daily manna. We can't go back to Egypt either in body or mind, for if we do, we will be of all people most miserable, most troubled. Paul could not go back to Egypt. He could not dwell on his past life of persecuting the church, of destroying Christ's body. If he would have, he would have never been free from that life. The entanglements of his old life, the fears of his old life, the hatred of his old life, would have bound him once again to this world. He had to move on as a free person IN CHRIST, set free from the penalty and condemnation of his old life. Paul knew Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. He knew Christ would raise him up at the last day. Praise God, dear friends, we are free today, free indeed!