What Bread Are You Feeding On? -Part 2

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.

To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).

In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)

The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.

Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)

We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!

What Bread Are You Feeding On?

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

What was Jesus saying here? Was he saying that we should read the Bible every day and obey all the scriptures? (Don’t misunderstand; I am all for reading the Bible). Let’s examine prayerfully and with an open mind!

Jesus was quoting from Deut 8:3 which says, He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna ……………. that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone (physical bread), but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD - NASB.(brackets mine). What is the thing that came from the mouth of the Lord - - It is manna, the heavenly bread. So God is saying, He fed them with this heavenly bread manna which came from Him, and not with physical/earthly bread, to show that they can live by what comes from God and not just by physical bread.

Now, when Jesus quoted this same verse to satan, He replaced “everything or manna” with “rhema – which means “utterance” or word that comes from the mouth of God. So what is this word or rhema that comes out of the mouth of God that we are supposed to eat and live by? It is the word of God, who came from God, in the form of flesh, His name is Jesus!

Let me explain! The manna in the Old Testament was only a type and shadow of the real heavenly bread Jesus. This heavenly bread became flesh. Jesus said in John 6:50 this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Hallelujah! The bread from heaven became flesh.

Jesus was referring to Himself when He told satan, that man shall live by every “word” that comes out from God. Jesus is the embodiment of every word that comes out of the mouth of God. When John talks about the “word” becoming flesh, he uses the greek word “logos”. Logos means the reasoning or computation of God or the essence of the word of God. Jesus is the essence of all the word or rhema or utterances of God. This logos (word) or Jesus is full of grace and truth. There is no condemnation His word.

What is God’s reasoning or logos word? It is simply that, by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, but by the obedience of another man, many shall be made righteous (Rom 5:19). His reasoning is that because of Jesus’s obedience to the law and taking upon Himself the curse of the law, the righteousness of God comes as a FREE gift upon all who believe in this reasoning or logos of God. Can you align your reasoning with that of God’s and see yourself as He sees you – righteous and holy? Or are you trying to look for the do’s and don’ts in the scripture and still trying to become righteous and attain eternal life by obeying those scriptures like the Pharisees (John 5:38-40).

If you feed on the bread of life Jesus, you will never need the bread from stones (Law). Which bread are you eating and living by? The one leads to life the other to death! Don't mix the two breads either, because a little poison will poison the whole lump!

Please check Part 2 of this article......

Love not the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life

1 John 2:15-17

15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The apostle John exhorts us, not to love the world and the things in the world namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. For these things are not of the Father, but of the world.

The "world" here refers to the world's system in general. The whole world runs by the system of knowing right & wrong, good & evil and doing the good or right thing as much as possible. The reward is determined by ones performance. The driving forces behind this system are called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh denotes human strength and ability. The flesh always wants to live life based on ones strength, will-power and ability. The prospect of living a life based on ones resources and ability and acheiving the end result looks very appealing (lust of the eyes). Pride in one's ability is also a factor.

Verse 16 says that this system is not of the Father. In the garden of Eden, God told man, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. God never wanted man to live by knowing good & evil or right & wrong (Law), but He wanted them to live by eating from the tree of Life (God's life). God made them in His image and likeness - just like Him. All they had to do was to live by His life and enjoy everything that He had created for them to enjoy freely. He did not give them 10 or 15 rules or principles on how to live a holy, moral, successful and prosperous life. The only command he gave them was to stay away from living by knowing good and evil or living by rules or principles. He warned them that eating that fruit would result in death.

But the tempter came and told Eve that eating this fruit would cause her to be like God. Remember, they were already like God, not by any of their works, but because they were created in His image and likeness. So Satan, put this idea in the mind of Eve, that she could be like God by her own doing and not by how God made her to be. She decided that she wanted to be like God, independent of God, by her own works by knowing good & evil. Gen 3:6 says that the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and a tree desired to make one wise (pride of life). By eating that fruit, man implemented this system of works or performance for the whole humanity.

Beloved, are you still eating from that forbidden tree by living by knowing good & evil or rules & regulations or are you living by the tree of life (the life of Jesus in you)? Living by rules and commandments may appear very good, may boost your ego by your performance and will satisfy your flesh, but the end result is death. Are you satisfied with how God has made you to be like Him - holy and righteous in Christ Jesus or are you trying to become like God by your holy living and good works? Verse 17 says that the world and it's system will pass away, but he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. The will of the Father for you is to believe on the good news of the removal of your sins by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, whereby He has made you perfectly holy and righteous, just like Him, free from any of your works!

What's wrong with knowing good and evil (eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil)?

God did not want man to live by knowing what is good and evil, or right or wrong, and thereby doing good and avoiding evil (this tree represents the LAW - what to do and what not to do). God knew that man, by his own strength, will power and determination would always fall short. Instead, He wanted man to live off of the tree of life, (which is the very life of God in us). Adam and Eve were created in the very image and likeness of God (they were already like God) and they had the very life of God in them. But man chose to become (like God) what they already were (like God) by their own self effort. God had made man perfect and saw that His creation was GOOD. Yet man wanted to become like God by knowing good and evil and then doing the good thing (keeping the LAW). Only God is capable of doing that and that is why He wants man to live by His life inside of us. Satan deceived man into thinking that he could become like God, independant of God by His own self efforts, when in reality man was already created like God. Satan himself tried this when God has already placed him(satan) in a very high position. Lucifer was the covering archangel over the mercy seat, he was right there, infact above the mercy seat where God sits. But he was not happy with that, he wanted to ascend above God and become like God by His own self effort. In other words he want to be something that God had already made him to be and he wanted man to do the same. This same deception of Satan is still working in the church today.

Let's fast forward some thousands of year. Jesus Christ came to reverse what happened in Eden. He came as the last Adam and as our representative fulfilled every LAW perfectly, took our sins and died for them and rose again victorious and is in His glorified body at the right hand of the Father. His perfect sacrifice has made us holy, righteous, sanctified and perfected for ever(heb 9 and 10). Paul says that "I am crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me." We had a co-crucifixion with Christ 2000 years ago. Now it is no longer us, but Christ HIMSELF is living in us by the Holy Spirit. We are to live by His life (tree of LIFE) in us leading us, animating our actions and thoughts. We are freed from the LAW (knowing good and evil and thereby doing good and avoiding evil). All religions basically teach a set of moral principles (good and evil) and command men to become holy by observing those. But true biblical Christianity is not living by laws or moral principles, but living powered by the very life of God in us. Jesus said several times in the N.T. that He has come to give us life and that He is that very life. When He comes inside of us, the Bible says, we become one spirit with the Lord. We are a brand new CREATION, holy and completey righteous. The Bible says we are "complete in Him". Now mind you this spiritual act has taken place in our spirits (which is our true self). God is a spirit and sees us in the spirit. Now God, by His one perfect sacrifice, has made us Holy. We look at our five senses and our thougts and conclude that we are unholy, and are trying to become holy by keeping the law and by our own self effort. This is the deception that Satan is still playing in the church 6000 years later. Eve was not tempted to do something bad, she was tempted to be like God or godly. This is what is being preaced is that we have to become godly by obeying rules and commands, when God has already made us godly and holy. He obeyed on my behalf perfectly and when I believe in Him that obedience or righteousness is imputed to me. We have the very DNA of God in our spirits when we are born of Him (born again). We need to live out of this new identity that God has given us and let His life in us (which is holy and righteous) manifest in our minds and bodies. We have to renew our minds to this spiritual reality of what took place at the cross (our co-crucifixion) and the reality of His life now in us. It's NO LONGER I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. Just yield to him, moment by moment and you will see an automatic transformation in your actions and thoughts. The price has been paid for the redemption of our souls and bodies, but our souls(mind, will and emotions are being renewed) and our bodies will be changed in the future.

Look at yourselves as how God has made you. Righteousness has been given to you as a gift, not by our doing good or avoiding evil. If righteousness could come by our works, the Bible says, then Christ died in vain. He needn't have come and died. You may say that if we don't have any laws then we won't have any guiding principles in our life. We don't need the law, but the very life of God in us becomes our guiding principle. The bible says that the law is not for the righteous. Let's trust God to be who He is and His perfect work He has done in us. As we behold ourselves as He has made us to be, we will be changed in our souls and bodies, from glory to glory by the indwelling Spirit of God. Let's get away from Satan's deception of "I am not holy, blessed etc...but I will be by knowing good and evil, right and wrong and then doing the right thing." "I will become holy by my fasting and praying and Bible reading, I will become blessed by obeying and sowing and reaping." NO! I will read the Bible, pray and fast to know Him and what He has done for me by His finished work and to grow in that relationship. I will give money to the work of God and the poor because I am already blessed by God, NOT to become blessed. You see the difference is very subtle and satan is using religion to trap people in his mindset of "I am not, but I wlll become what I do". This is what Paul preached against and Christ railed against the religious people of His day who woudn't come to Him (the eternal life), but was trying to get eternal life by searching the scriptures to see what to do and what not to do(John 5:39 and 40). I am afraid that the modern day church is doing the same thing. Instead of focussing on Jesus who is our very life and living by His life and our new identity, the church is focussed on 10 steps to this, 7 steps to holiness, prosperity etc. Religion is all about what YOU must DO,DO,DO, but real christianity(GRACE) is about what HE HAS DONE IN YOU. Next time you listen to a preaching, check how many times Jesus is mentioned in that preaching. Paul says that "we preach Christ crucified"- that's it. JESUS is the answer, not religious or biblical principles. Would you trust and yield to Him to let Him live His life throught you?