“Staying on the Path”

Part 2: Jesus, the Son of Man

1 John 4:2-3; John 6:28-59

Sunday, October 18, 2009

 

DIRECTION (not intention) DETERMINES DESTINATION

“How do I get on the right path? Stay on the right path?

 

QUESTION: The destination is heaven! What’s the path? How do we get/stay on it?

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (NASV)

 

Methods: 

Safe in our cars (rough roads, weather, other crazy drivers)

Maps, replaced by GPS (Signs along the way give me security)

            Michael in my car on the way to Larry and Leslie’s

 

How can you know that coming to church isn’t just something you’ve always done, or that your parents told you was true, maybe even something so false it’s poisoning your life and spoiling your fun. 

            How can you make progress toward something real vs. going in the wrong direction

 

            Previously: Belief, Behavior, Brotherhood

Belief: John offers A SIMPLE TEST:  What do you believe about Jesus?

Last week: Jesus the son of God: 1 John 2:22 – Jesus is the “Christ”

 

1 John 4:2-3 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

 

            Jesus is the Son of MAN – all God – all man

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

(The bible gets weird. Jesus talks about himself! Sometimes the directions don’t make sense)

Imagine you’re one of the people listening to this interchange:

John 6:28-59: 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" (DESTINATION) 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (DIRECTION)

Ask for “a sign”, sort of like what Moses did when he provided manna (assurance of DIRECTION)

Jesus: “it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." (“Give us the right directions)

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life.” (DIRECTION)

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."  42 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'?" (These can’t be the right directions!)

43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life Look! Here’s the deal: 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.

 

Then this really weird statement “51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (I am the right direction, “the way”)

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (No way, makes no sense, we’re not buying it!)

53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." Talk about weird!

 

CONTEXT: “The work is to believe!” Believe what?  What’s the path that gets us to the destination?

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Doctrine of INCARNATION: God becomes man.

Matthew 1:23  "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us."

 

Colossians 2:9  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

 

1 Timothy 2:5-6  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men.

 

Here’s the key : John 17:3-4 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Fully God – fully man (so we can know God)

 

What about eating this flesh and drinking this blood? Believing in Christ includes four things:

 

1.     Appetite for Christ. Spiritual eating and drinking begins with hungering and thirsting

 

2.    Acceptance of Christ. Looking at a meal won’t nourish us..

 

3.    Delight in Christ. What Christ offers us (pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the adoption of sons, access to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life) needs to be enjoyed and “delighted” over. Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

 

4.    Derive nourishment from Christ. Depend on him for the support and comfort of our spiritual life, and the strength, growth, and energy of the new man. “If any man be in Christ…”

 

PS: (MH) “Afterwards he would institute some outward sensible signs, by which to represent our communicating of the benefits of his death, he chose those of eating and drinking, and made them sacramental actions.”