Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the Bread which came down from heaven-not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6: 53-58, NKJV).
Gracious God, here we are before Your throne of grace, waiting to be fed with Words of life. In the name of Jesus we ask these blessings! Amen.
Today we shall look briefly at what it means to eat the flesh, and drink the blood, of Jesus, the Bread of life. It is interesting to observe how Jesus willingly, offers Himself to the human race! It is quite obvious that He longs to become one with us! Remember His conversation with the woman at the well? He offered her “living water….springing up into everlasting life” (John 4: 14)! He could make such an offer, because He was, that Living Water! Notice also, how receiving from Him, of Himself; always results in eternal life! Not only life in the here and now, (although that is also included, John 10: 10); but life unending, in the earth made new!
To begin to understand why this oneness with Christ is so vital, and wonderful, and something to be desired, let us look at the way Jesus spoke about His oneness with the Father; and why He requested of the Father, that we might become one with Them also. In John 17: 20-23, we read:
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (Emphasis provided).
Wow! It behooves us to desire this oneness with Christ and the Father! It is as Christ’s, and His Father’s perfection takes hold of our imperfection, that we become perfect, through our oneness with Them! Then we will be able to experience the kind of love the Father has for His Son! And when we experience it, it will show in our dealings with each other. Then, the world will know, by the quality of our love, that we belong to Christ, and that Christ came from God!
My friends, Christianity takes on a certain powerful credibility, when it is observed, at its best, in humanity! God could have sent angels to bring the message of salvation to us; but because He created us, He knew whose testimony would carry the greatest power. When one sinner, sees and hears, a living testimony, of what God’s grace did for another sinner, it will break down barriers, like nothing else can! The men of the village where the Samaritan woman lived, were compelled to come and see the Man Christ Jesus, because of the change they saw in her life! This just had to be the Messiah!
Today, is a good day to begin to eat Christ’s flesh, and drink His blood, and become One with Him, through a personal, and powerful, relationship!