The Message of the Cross (25) Eating of the Flesh and Drinking of the Blood of the Son of Man (2)
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November 29, 2020 |
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 “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).
In order to sustain life of the flesh, an individual must both consume food and remain hydrated. Water allows the digestion and absorption of nutrients as well as the discharge of unnecessary wastes and poisonous matters from within the body. Although we accept Jesus Christ, receive the Holy Spirit, and become God’s children, eternal life is gained only when we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.
How can we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man? Continuing from the last issue, let us delve deeper into that subject.
1. We Should Make Bread of the Flesh of the Son of Man
Eating of the flesh of the Son of Man and thus making bread of it requires us to also drink of the blood of the Son of Man. In other words, we must not only build our knowledge of God by diligently hearing and reading of His Word, we must also make bread of the Word so that it will be engraved in our heart. What, then, is the difference between “making bread of God’s Word in the heart” and “building and storing His Word as knowledge”?
Any information stored in the brain can be forgotten, and just because we “know” the truth does not necessarily guarantee that we will act according to the truth. In reciting the Bible, we must not only memorize the verses with our lips but also make an effort to meditate on them. For instance, if we memorize the verse of Matthew 5:44 which reads, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”, then we must be able to put it into practice in our lives.
When someone does evil and persecutes us, according to God’s Word we will be able to love him and even pray for him. If we kept God’s command only in our head as mere knowledge, our hearts would be troubled, and we might even come to hate others and finally pay back evil with evil. Yet, if we made bread of this particular commandment, love and mercy would exude from within us and we will be free of hatred and temper. When we continuously make the bread of humility we will get rid of arrogance.
2. We Should Drink the Blood of the Son of Man Together
Our making bread of God’s Word requires not only the understanding of Scriptures in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but also the receipt of God’s grace and strength through fervent prayer. Also necessary at this stage is the effort of each individual to properly believe in the Word and put it into practice. This is the act of drinking of the blood of the Son of Man.
Therefore, “drinking of the Blood of the Son of Man” refers to practicing God’s Word. God’s Word can be divided into four categories. They are “Keep’s,” “Throw Away’s,” “Do’s,” and “Do Not’s, and we are to keep and obey each one of them.
With no deeds of obedience, we will not experience God’s works and without firsthand experiences of God’s works, we will not be able to go beyond the faith that is mere knowledge. James 2:22 tells us, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” Only when we show God the deeds of faith will the faith as knowledge be transformed into spiritual faith.
Even if one’s faith is as small as a mustard seed at first, when he keeps showing God deeds of his faith, God will allow him to experience His grace and power and work to nurture his faith into a great faith. When we trust in God’s Word and put it into practice every moment of our lives, we will attain “to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
On the other hand, if we do not put God’s words into practice even when we have faith the size of a mustard seed after receiving the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to have spiritual experiences nor will our hearts be transformed regardless of the length of our lives in Christ. Recognizing that in the worst case, we may even be robbed of our faith and altogether driven away from faith, I urge each of you to perfect your faith by drinking the blood of the Son of Man.
3. We Should Have Faith With Deeds to Receive Salvation, Eternal Life, Answers, and Blessings
If you trust the promises of God written in the Bible, your faith would surely be accompanied by corresponding deeds. Suppose someone promised you treasure worth millions of dollars and placed it in Washington, D.C. And he told you if you walked there all the way from New York City, covering some 331 kilometers (about 206 miles) on foot you could get it. If you really wanted the treasure and if the person who informed you of it is trustworthy, you would walk from New York to Washington.
For that reason, the second half of James 2:26 reminds us that “faith without works is dead.” Many people profess with their lips, “I believe in the almighty God” but because they are unable to wholly believe, they cannot show the kind of faith that is accompanied by deeds. Just as we find in God’s Word, only the spiritual faith accompanied by deeds can give us salvation and God’s blessings and answers to our prayers.
Some people cite Romans 10:13, which tells us, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved,” to argue that even the people living in sin can be saved if they profess their faith. They attempt to justify their sinful ways. Yet, this particular verse symbolizes the limitless love of God who has saved sinners through Jesus Christ and must not be used to justify evildoers.
As God’s Word always is and must be paired, we must look at each verse in the Bible in the context and only the interpretation of the Scriptures in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will yield accurate understanding. Romans 10:9-10 tells us, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:13 actually means that only the confessions from the lips of those who have arrived at righteousness will result in salvation.
What, then, does the Bible mean when it tells us, “…with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness”? We read in Romans 2:13, “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” In other words, when we truly believe from our heart God’s Word that we hear, we will live according to His Word and that will allow for us to become justified which in turn results in righteousness.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, by diligently eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will please God with the kind of faith that is accompanied by deeds and prosper in every affair of your life!
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