‘i Am The Bread Of Life’ Sermon
In John 6, Jesus fed a large crowdfar more than 5,000 peoplewith just five loaves of barley bread and two fish . This miracle astounded the people who declared that Jesus was a great prophetthe one they had been expecting. But when Jesus saw that the people wanted to force him to be their king, he quietly slipped away to be alone in the hills.
The next day the crowds went in search of Jesus, not because they had understood his miracle, but because he had filled their appetites. The people were caught up in the day to day treadmill of getting their needs met and providing food for their hungry bellies. But Jesus was concerned with saving their souls. He told them, “Don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you” .
Lesson: Believing in Jesus Christ as the source of our spiritual existence is how we gain eternal life . When we put our faith in him, he gives us spiritual bread that will not spoil and abundant life that will never end.
Jesus wanted the people to comprehend who he was: “The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” . Again, the crowd asked for a miraculous sign, like when Moses gave the people manna to eat in the wilderness.
Only those whose spiritual hearts had been opened could comprehend that to eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood meant to grasp by faith the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross.
Many Answers Much Confusion: Meaning Of Life In The World System
Google the question what is the meaning of life, and you will get as many answers as there are philosophies. To save you the time, heres a brief selection of how the world answers the important question on what the meaning of life is
Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer. Joseph Campbell, 20th century Comparative Religion Scholar
For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Former Governor of California, Actor
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. Albert Camus, 20th century philosopher
Opinions on the meaning of life vary greatly in the World System. In this small collection of answers from worldly-wise people, they cant even agree with each other. The reason they dont get it is because they dont understand telos of people.
If you look to the world for the meaning of life, you wont find a satisfactory answer. Because the world always seeks the answers to lifes basic questions apart from the purpose of all life and meaning: the one true God.
Psychological Significance And Value In Life
Researchers in positive psychology study empirical factors that lead to life satisfaction, full engagement in activities, making a fuller contribution by utilizing one’s personal strengths, and meaning based on investing in something larger than the self. Large-data studies of flow experiences have consistently suggested that humans experience meaning and fulfillment when mastering challenging tasks and that the experience comes from the way tasks are approached and performed rather than the particular choice of task. For example, flow experiences can be obtained by prisoners in concentration camps with minimal facilities, and occur only slightly more often in billionaires. A classic example is of two workers on an apparently boring production line in a factory. One treats the work as a tedious chore while the other turns it into a game to see how fast she can make each unit and achieves flow in the process.
Neuroscience describes reward, pleasure, and motivation in terms of neurotransmitter activity, especially in the limbic system and the ventral tegmental area in particular. If one believes that the meaning of life is to maximize pleasure and to ease general life, then this allows normative predictions about how to act to achieve this. Likewise, some ethical naturalists advocate a science of moralityâthe empirical pursuit of flourishing for all conscious creatures.
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What Does This Mean
The meaning of life, according to the Christian faith, is ultimately found in Jesus Christ. In him, the questions about identity, origin, meaning, purpose, and destiny are answered with profound hope. We are the beloved children of God, created by our heavenly Father to reflect His glory, walk in His love, and do His will in our lives.
Life on earth is a journey of our transformation to become more like Jesus, who has delivered us from evil, sin, and death, until the glorious day when we spend eternity with him.
To Seek Wisdom And Knowledge
- To expand one’s perception of the world.
- To follow the clues and walk out the exit.
- To learn as many things as possible in life.
- To know as much as possible about as many things as possible.
- To obtain freedom.
- To fill the Earth and subdue it.
- To serve humankind, to prepare to meet and become more like God, to choose good over evil, and have joy.
- who created death and life to test you who is best in deed and He is Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.
- To worship God and enter heaven in afterlife.
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Who Jesus Is And How Does His Life Effect Mine
Jesus isnt just a good man who did good things and taught great lessons. He is the Son of God.
He is not one of the ways to get to Heaven, He is the only way to get to Heaven. The only way to everlasting life is through Jesus and there is just one road we must travel down. We do this by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We can ask Him into our hearts, to change us from the inside out. We turn from our old ways of living and we pick up the Bible, read it, and apply it to our daily life. We spiritually grow up and take responsibility for our Christian walk with Christ in our heart.
What Is The Purpose And Importance Of Forgiveness In My Life
We are made in the image of God and we all have the potential to do the right thing with Gods promptings and support. We have freedom of choice and we either do the right thing with a grateful heart or selfishly we react and sin. God knows this about us and that is why He sent his son as a living sacrifice for our sins. Even our good work doesnt make things right between us and God.
Forgiveness happens when we come before the Lord and we repent. Admitting what we did wrong and why that was wrong is an ongoing process that we all have to take as Christians. Not only do we need to repent, we need to accept Gods forgiveness and change our ways. After one repents, God tells us to try again and sin no more . Its vital that we forgive ourselves as well. This is no easy matter but it is crucial for our hearts.
Its when we fully forgive ourselves that we can truly forgive others. Forgiving others doesnt mean we allow them to continue hurting us, and there are consequences to our sin that we all must face. Forgiving someone who has painfully hurt us doesnt mean that we have to be around them. We need boundaries, tough love, and rules to guard our hearts from hurtful people.
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What Exactly Is The Life Bible
The Scriptural Definition of Life This is the Hebrew word usually translated as “living being” in Genesis but also as “life,” “soul or “with breath. ” Things created with nephesh are some animals and humans. Nowhere are plants, bacteria, or fungi ever referred to as having nephesh. They are always described as being made out of dust . So, everything that has life according to its creator is made out of nephsh, which only means “being” or “existence. ” Humans are made out of dust, so we have a spiritual component called “nefesh. ” This means “body” or “materiality. ” Together, these three things make up your essential self: who you are at your most basic levelâyour spirit, your mind, and your material body.
In the Old Testament, God tells the prophet Ezekiel that he will be given human flesh and blood to eat. This would normally mean that Ezekiel was going to become a creature like any otherâa plant or an animal. But instead, he became what we today would call a “spiritual being.” His soul/life was taken from his body and placed into another body. The prophet then saw this new body eaten by men with bones. But although it was eaten, it didn’t disappear. It remained alive even after its physical body did.
So, living creatures consist of two parts: a body and a soul/life.
What Is The Christian Perspective About Parenting
God loves us and calls us to be in relationship with Him. He wants us to come to Him with our needs, concerns, and battles. He brings us joy, peace, and understanding.
Its not the parents job to make their kids happy. Its the parents job to lead their kids to God, and its God who gives them joy! We show kids Gods love by our actions when we pray, read His word, and worship Him with our life.
Parents are a childs best teacher, counselor, and coach when they have Biblical strategies. Kids need to obey and listen to instructions , being responsible by doing things without being asked. They need to want to do things right before they can become independent.
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The Tree Of Life In Revelation
The River and Tree of Life – Revelation 22:1-3
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
Here the “Tree of Life” is a symbol of Christ Himself, giving immortality. It fulfills the tree of life in Paradise and the other tree of life, the Cross of the Savior, the tree of obedience , a tree of the curse . But there is no more curse in the Holy City of heaven: a reversal of the curse of Genesis 3:16-19. The fruits and leaves of the tree are completely and universally therapeutic, reversing the effects of the fruit of the tree of disobedience
Does Life Have Meaning
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Absolute futility, says the Teacher.
Absolute futility. Everything is futile.
3 What does a man gain for all his efforts
that he labors at under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets
panting, it returns to its place where it rises.
6 Gusting to the south,
turning to the north,
turning, turning, goes the wind,
and the wind returns in its cycles.
7 All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full.
The streams are flowing to the place, and they flow there again.
8 All things are wearisome
man is unable to speak.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Can one say about anything, Look, this is new?
It has already existed in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who came before
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
There appears to be no permanence .
First, Solomon saw no permanence in the world. Life is like an endless treadmill that one generation runs on for a while before getting replaced by another. Ideas and innovations come and go, but nothing appears to last. Achievements and advancements happen, but is the world really any better? Solomons answer was a resounding no!
There appears to be no productivity .
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How Can I Devote My Life To Worshipping Christ
Making the choice to embrace life as God intended becomes a source of great joy. To live for Him and embrace eternal life begins with the decision to follow God. After that decision, salvation is ensured. But after, life can be more or less devoted to Him.
For the Apostle Paul, throwing himself into a life fully devoted to the Lord was the best way to do it. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me . Through prayer, people can be shown what God intends for them.
For some it is marriage, while others never marry. Some go into full-time ministry and missions, for others it is having a good witness in an office job. Doing that call whole-heartedly is a life of obedience devoted to Christ.
Paul left the people with this sage advice for living for God:
For Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit let him turn away from evil and do good let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil .
How To Measure Our Progress In Life
In the book The Outward Mindset by the Arbinger Institute, the way to implement an outward mindset, which is to serve others, is found in the acronym S.A.M. We need to See the need for a change, then Adjust our efforts to focus on others rather than ourselves, and finally, we need to Measure the results and continue adjusting as needed.
So, how can we measure ourselves when it comes to life? The answer is found in Luke 2:52, which says, Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and people. If we are focusing on ourselves, we will likely find ourselves feeling separated from God. If we are doing all we can to just get by or get ahead of others, we may find ourselves with fabricated relationships, if any at all. God has given us grace, so we cannot earn a better right-standing with Him, but we do feel either distance or closeness with Him. Good works can draw us closer to God and encourage us to spend time with Him good works do not enable us to earn righteousness or improve our right-standing as accomplished by Christ.
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Scientific Questions About The Mind
The nature and origin of consciousness and the mind itself are also widely debated in science. The explanatory gap is generally equated with the hard problem of consciousness, and the question of free will is also considered to be of fundamental importance. These subjects are mostly addressed in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, though some evolutionary biologists and theoretical physicists have also made several allusions to the subject.
Reductionistic and eliminative materialistic approaches, for example the Multiple Drafts Model, hold that consciousness can be wholly explained by neuroscience through the workings of the brain and its neurons, thus adhering to biological naturalism.
Parapsychology
Based on the premises of non-materialistic explanations of the mind, some have suggested the existence of a cosmic consciousness, asserting that consciousness is actually the “ground of all being”. Proponents of this view cite accounts of paranormal phenomena, primarily extrasensory perceptions and psychic powers, as evidence for an incorporealhigher consciousness. In hopes of proving the existence of these phenomena, parapsychologists have orchestrated various experiments, but successful results might be due to poor experimental controls and might have alternative explanations.
Focusing On Zoe Daily
When we realize that Christs desire is for us to have His divine, eternal, zoe life, and even have it abundantly, well focus on Him enjoying Him in our spirit. We can do this by feeding on the riches in Gods Word, spending time with Christ in prayer, and experiencing Him day by day. As we enjoy the eternal life weve received, that life will increase within us, and little by little, well express Christ in our daily life on earth.
We hope youve learned more about zoe. We couldnt include all the notes on the verses mentioned in this post. But if you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to read the verses with all the enlightening commentary.
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